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-three: Medali Madness
The Jelly-Filled Donut was seen flying overhead in the area of West Province Area Three, in which was the Paldea city of Medali. The crew of the flying ship, after the ship had landed in a clearing just outside of Medali's southern most point of entry, got out and stretched a bit. The reborn trainers also took the chance to try and find new species of Pokémon to catch in West Province Area Three, but only Trip found one, that being a male Cetoddle that he ended up naming Oil.
As everyone took a break before heading into the city proper for Medali, Dawn said to the crew, "Alright, we're here in Medali, where Kenny, Trip, and I can have our respective fifth gym battles with the local gym leader, a man named Larry."
"Who, according to Rimu's word, often suffers under Geeta," Kenny said to the rest of the group.
"Aside from Larry, what other business do we have here in Medali?" Mina asked.
Shrugging, Dawn replied, "None, actually. Once Kenny, Trip, and I each have a badge from Larry's gym, we can move onto the next destination of our journey."
Rhyanna was about to ask what the next destination was, but she was cut off by some excited snorting noises, like those coming from a cute little dog, sounding out. Suddenly, a wild Greavard came scampering over to the group. It made a beeline for Trip and jumped excitedly before him. "Well now, what do we have here?" Leona asked, some amusement in her tone and expression as she and the others beheld Greavard excitedly greeting Trip.
Taking out a Pokéball, Kenny said, "The next Pokémon I'm going to catch! Trip caught the last one, so this one here ought to-" Kenny was cut off when the Greavard turned around and growled at him in an annoyed tone, making it clear that it wasn't amused with Kenny. The Greavard then turned back around to face Trip and excitedly greeted him.
"This little one here, for reasons that escape me," Sho began as he gestured to the wild Greavard, "Has some sort of inexplicable fondness for Trip."
Trip, smiling in amusement, reached down to gently pet Greavard on the head, carefully avoiding the lit candle on Greavard's head. Trip's hand was halfway to giving Greavard head scritches when the little fellah met Trip's hand halfway and licked it furiously, eliciting some chuckling out of Trip. "Wow, you sure are affectionate, little guy," Trip remarked.
The wild Greavard broke away from Trip and, looking like it heard something, proceeded to scamper off immediately, running right into Medali. "Regardless of its friendly nature, that Greavard is still a wild Pokémon," Dawn said, "We need to report it as soon as we head into the city."
The others agreed, with Trip nodding firmly in agreement. Friendly or not, wild Pokémon shouldn't be allowed to roam freely in human populated areas like cities such as Medali. As such, they had to keep an eye out for that wild Greavard and handle it before it gets into any sort of trouble. With that thought in mind, the heroes made their way into Medali.
Later, the usual group from The Jelly-Filled Donut made their way into Medali. Right away, Dawn's group was hailed down by, surprisingly enough, Nemona the Champion ranked trainer of Paldea. "What brings you guys to Medali?" Nemona asked.
"We could ask the same of you," Leona replied.
Hands on her hips, Nemona explained, "I heard talk that Rimu took Penny here for a lunch date. Medali has a number of good restaurants, so it makes sense that Rimu would treat Penny to lunch here. I'm just trying to find which restaurant Rimu took Penny to."
"Are you trying to find Rimu or Penny or both of them?" Kenny asked.
"Just Rimu," Nemona replied, "I've got the itch to battle, so I was going to track Rimu down and challenge him."
"While knowing he's on a date with his girlfriend," Trip pointed out dryly.
Nemona opened her mouth to speak, but before one word got out she stopped short, a look of consideration on her face. "...Aww crud, I was almost as thoughtless as La Primera has been as of late. Some friend I am."
Picking up on some hints in Nemona's tone, Dawn said, "You normally have nothing but praise for Geeta, I take it?"
"Well she's Paldea's Top Champion," Nemona began, "But as of late she's made some questionable choices that even I in my usual haste to battle can't overlook. And here I was thinking that she's a flawless and awesome trainer."
"My guess is that the chaos of dealing with Team Scorn acting up in Paldea is stressing Geeta out a bit," Dawn remarked, "And Geeta isn't used to dealing with stress, or at least the kind of stress that Team Scorn brings to the table."
Taking out a Pokéball, Mina said, "I can try to satisfy your battle lust if you want. Kenny, Trip, and Dawn have to conserve themselves for the gym lea-"
"Garf garf!"
Mina was cut off by the snorting barking of the wild Greavard from earlier. Indeed, that same little fellah came scampering back over, focusing on Trip again. It sat its little doggo butt right on the ground and looked up at Trip, a happy panting look on its face as if it was expecting good words of praise out of Trip for it.
Curious, Trip knelt down and was able to give Greavard head scratches this time. "You found us again, little fellah," Trip said to the Greavard, "And you-"
"Hey, there's the wild Greavard!" a random male voice called out, cutting Trip off and making him plus the others turn to look and see someone dressed as a grocery store employee come running up to them, followed by a salary man looking fellow who Dawn was able to identify as Larry, the gym leader of Medali's gym and the man she and the others were looking for.
Gesturing to the Greavard, the grocery store employee said, "This one here ran into the grocery store that I work at as I was bringing in a load of merchandise into the store, scampered around for a little bit, then ran off." Jerking a thumb at Larry, the grocery store employee went on, "Larry here saw what happened as he was coming in to get a to go cup of coffee from the in-store coffee shop."
"Their barista knows just the right way to make coffee perfect," Larry said, "At least if you ask me."
Looking to Trip, the grocery store employee asked, "Is the Greavard yours, young man? If so then I guess that it isn't a wild Pokémon. That being said, you need to control your Pokémon better."
"Actually it is a wild Greavard," Trip explained, "It's just inexplicably fond of me for some odd reason. I'm not sure why it's so drawn to me, though." Trip then ended up apologizing to the grocery store employee for the wild Greavard's actions.
Nodding once I'm understanding, the grocery store employee actually relented. "That wouldn't surprise me, actually," the grocery store employee said, "Greavards are known to love being in the company of people and are among the most affectionate of dog Pokémon. It probably thought that it could get you to take it in and keep it."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Larry asked, "Why is it so hyper, though?"
The grocery store employee shrugged, unable to ascertain why the Greavard was being the way that it was. After the situation was settled, the grocery store employee took his leave. Larry was about to do so as well, but Nemona seeing him try to leave said, "Larry, hold up!"
Turning to look at Nemona, Larry said, "You aren't aiming to challenge me to a battle are you, Champion Nemona? I need to keep myself conserved for challengers to the Medali gym who want to try to earn the badge there."
"That's why I called for you to hold up," Nemona began to explain, "Mina here says that Dawn, Kenny, and Trip are all interested in challenging you. Or at least that's what I think that she was trying to say but was cut off before she could finish due to the Greavard running up to us." Mina nodded a bit in confirmation, saying that Nemona was right on the money.
Larry regarded Dawn, Kenny, and Trip who was still keeping a hold of the wild Greavard that's fond of him for some inexplicable reason. "It looks like my schedule will be packed for a bit, then," Larry said, "Although it figures that today's the first day of my week long paid vacation off from my other job, and it's kicked off by three challengers to my gym." Turning around, Larry said, "Come on, the Treasury Eatery also doubles as a gym. I can take the first challenger now."
The heroes all agreed and proceeded to follow Larry to the Treasury Eatery. Nemona said that she and Mina can find a place outside to have their battle, as Mina had volunteered to battle her. "Rimu, the good young man that he is, told me that it's a job in and of itself to keep Nemona's battle lust satiated," Larry whispered to Dawn, a whisper only Dawn heard, "I can see why he'd say that."
The first of the reborn trainers aiming to collect the gym badges of Paldea to battle Larry was Dawn, who swept his entire team using only her named Lucario Leni. Dawn also Terastallized Leni when Larry did the same with his Staraptor; Leni's Tera Type ended up being Fighting, with Larry's Staraptor having the Normal Tera Type. Regardless, Leni knocked out all of Larry's normal type Pokémon with one Aura Sphere each.
As a result of her win, Dawn was awarded the Normal Badge by Larry. With the battle over and the Pokémon who fought being treated at the Pokémon Center that was nearby, Larry said, "We ought to go check on your friend who's battling Nemona. Given how much time has passed, I'd say that the battle between them either is over or close to it."
"Yeah, I'm kind of worried about what a crazy girl like Nemona may do if left alone with my girlfriend for a long enough period of time," Kenny said. The rest of Dawn's group who was present, having heard Kenny refer to someone else as 'crazy', all shot him dry looks that made it clear that they all thought that he was a pot calling the kettle black.
Eventually, the group found Mina and Nemona battling on an outdoor battlefield located within Medali city limits. A crowd had gathered to watch the battle, and it was to the surprise of Dawn and the others that Rimu and Penny were among those watching the battle. "I see that the rest of your company is also in Medali," Rimu remarked when Dawn's group came over to him and Penny.
"One of Paldea's gyms is located here," Dawn said, "And as a matter of fact I just won against Larry and earned the badge from his gym."
Rimu nodded once in acknowledgement. "Larry is a good man if you ask me, and one of the best gym leaders Paldea has, if not the best."
"It still escapes me why you and so many others hold me in such high regard," Larry remarked. Looking to the battle between Nemona and Mina, Larry asked, "How's the battle between the girls over there going?"
"It's a full battle, single style," Penny said, "Each girl at this point has three Pokémon each left." Gushing a bit, Penny went on, "Mina has so many Veevees, and all of them are shiny!"
"Veevees?" Trip, who was carrying the wild Greavard that's fond of him now, said curiously.
"That's Penny's nickname for the Eevee species and its evolved forms," Rimu explained, "All of the Pokémon that Penny owns are various kinds of evolved Eevees."
Looking over to the battle, Dawn saw that Nemona had her Orthworm out against Mina's Lucario, and both looked relatively fresh; from Dawn's estimation, both were very recently just sent out. Dawn got it from Rimu that Nemona's Dudunsparce, Pawmot, and Lycanroc had all gone down in the battle thus far, whereas Mina saw her Espeon, Umbreon, and Jolteon all go down.
From what Dawn had on the subject, Nemona is one of Paldea's strongest Champion ranked trainers. And yet Mina, who isn't exactly spec'd for battling unlike the other reborn trainers, has been able to keep up with her. Dawn wasn't sure if being a reborn trainer gave one some manner of boost, or if Mina being able to keep up in battle with a trainer of Nemona's level was just plain ol' strength, skill, and a little bit of luck.
Dawn would have gone on pondering how Mina's been able to keep up with Nemona, but her trail of thought was interrupted by a loud explosion coming from the area in Medali where the warehouses were located. The following panicking screams coming from that area also alerted the attention of everyone watching the Mina versus Nemona battle. "What the heck's going on?" Nemona asked, the sudden development being enough to break through her battle lust and reach her truly.
A group of Medali citizens soon came stampeding over, with someone dressed like they work at the Treasury Eatery stopping short in front of Larry upon spotting him. "Larry! It's Team Scorn!" cried the restaurant employee, "They're attacking the warehouses!"
"Team Scorn is in Medali?!" the reborn trainers exclaimed.
Scowling, Larry said, "And of all the times for my team for gym battles to be pooped. I guess that I'll have to go and-"
"We can help take care of things, Larry!" Dawn said before she, Kenny, and Trip ran off in the direction of the attack on Medali, with Trip still carrying the wild Greavard that's inexplicably fond of him for. Rimu and Penny ran after them to help, and even Nemona and Mina agreed to put the battle that they were having on hold to go help fight off Team Scorn.
Sighing, Larry muttered to himself too quietly for others around him to hear, "At least they're saving me some effort."
...
Over in the area of the warehouses in Medali, the reborn trainers and what allies were with them stopped to see a fair number of Team Scorn grunts milling about. From the looks of it, they were all raiding a choice few of the warehouses for what goods were in them, as well as just straight up setting fire to one or two others. It was Dawn who first saw that it that this attack was being led by Captain Ichimichi and her Captain's Assistant Eri, who Dawn pointed out to the others.
"It's the big tittied Team Scorn Captain and her tall schoolgirl Assistant!" Mina declared while pointing at Ichimichi and Eri.
"'AY!" Ichimichi exclaimed at Mina, "Why are you so fixated on pointing out how well endowed I am every time you see me?!"
"Not to mention how you always have to remind me about what I had lost because spoiled brats always have to have their way unconditionally," Eri added.
Stepping forward, Nemona said, "Why are you doing this, Team Scorn?! Why are you being villains?!"
Arching a wry eyebrow, Ichimichi said, "...Hey wait, aren't you the child of the couple who runs that big major Rotom Phone business out in Levincia that has influence all over Paldea?" Ichimichi took a stance to be ready to fight. "That means you're just like-"
"She's not one of the spoiled brat rich legacy kids who's being allowed to ruin things over at Naranja Academy, Ms. Ichimichi," Eri cut in, "I know of this one to an extent. She's got the building blocks sure, but she's too... lacking in certain areas to put things nicely... to be one of those brats."
Dawn scowled bitterly. "You guys still have beef with how the wealthy elite of Paldea have been allowed to get away scot free with making the region their personal stomping grounds."
"I lost my job solely because those spoiled brats can't stand so much as a slap on the wrist," said Ichimichi, "Even if they have some manner of actual punishment due to them, which they often do due to how horrible they often are!"
"They consider it a crime of the worst degree to stand up to them," Eri said, "And Paldea has no future ahead where those spoiled brats WON'T grow up to take over running everything." Swinging her right hand from her left side to her right in a wide gesture, Eri said, "Even the totally messed up business coming out of Blackthorn City Academy over in the Johto region, about what a legacy hire teacher was allowed to get away with, pales in comparison to how Naranja Academy here in Paldea is forced to bend knee and bow head to those pompous, stuck up spoiled brats!"
"Where, I ask you," Ichimichi said, "Is the justice there? Where is the justice in a situation where there isn't any justice permitted?!"
"You guys have killed people!" Mina said, "Multiple people! Multiple times!"
Scowling bitterly, Ichimichi replied, "What we did is the only way to make those Houdinis who oh so often get away from karma face the due that they have coming! Believe you me, they'll successfully slink away if any other methods are tried!"
"Some of the victims were kids!" Kenny pointed out, "Kids no older than me and the lads here!"
Gently shaking her head, Ichimichi went on, "You would be heroes have to get it through your heads that our justice is the only justice that can be done here to Paldea's wealthy elite! Anything else that is tried will simply be brushed aside by the uncaring..." Sniffing the air, Ichimichi said, "...The hell is that smell? It smells li-"
"Eww!" Eri exclaimed while looking down near Ichimichi's feet, "Ms. Ichimichi, that Greavard is relieving itself on you!" Looking down at Ichimichi's feet, everyone saw that the wild Greavard that's inexplicably fond of Trip had jumped from his arms without anyone noticing, ran over to Ichimichi, raised a hind leg, and proceeded to pee on her shoes. Finishing up his business, the Greavard went on to scamper away but turned around halfway back to Trip to scoff at Ichimichi and Eri in a clearly challenging manner.
A lot of the heroes laughed in amusement at what Greavard had Done. Ones like Trip, Kenny, Mina, Nemona, and Penny bursting out with laughter, and the more composed ones like Dawn and Rimu giving off a little bit of contained chuckling, trying to keep themselves composed but still finding at least a little bit of humor in what the wild Greavard had done to air what grievances it had with Team Scorn and what they were doing.
"What is wrong with that Greavard?!" Ichimichi exclaimed, "It just up and urinated on my shoes! While I'm wearing them no less!" Tossing up a Pokéball, Ichimichi said, "Go, Dachsbun! Use Play Rough on Greavard!" Ichimichi's Dachsbun came out and, at Ichimichi's cue, made a lunge for the wild Greavard that's inexplicably fond of Trip. Greavard, seeing the attack come at it, let out a panicked yelp and hunch up.
...Only for Dachsbun's attack to be stopped cold because Trip, with him and the others stopping their laughter, sent out his named Empoleon Myde who tanked the attack no problem. As Greavard looked up at Myde's back, Trip ran in and scooped the little fellah up. "...Alright," Trip scowled at Ichimichi and Eri, "I was gonna play nice and let my sister and Mina handle you two, but now I'm stepping in." Trip then called out Launchpad, his named Quaquaval, and said, "I'm gonna be battling the both of you."
Ichimichi scowled as she and Eri accepted the challenge from Trip while the other heroes took care of the surrounding Team Scorn grunts. Eri sent her Toxicroak out to back up Ichimichi. "Toxicroak, use Brick Break on Empoleon!" Eri ordered.
"Dachsbun, use Play Rough on Quaquaval!" Ichimichi commanded.
"Myde, use Flash Cannon on Dachsbun!" Trip called out, "Launchpad, use Wing Attack on Toxicroak!"
The melee got underway, with Myde at a distance striking down Ichimichi's Dachsbun with Flash Cannon. Launchpad intercepted Toxicroak on its way to strike Myde, then struck it down in close quarters with Wing Attack. Ichimichi and Eri were forced to call back their fainted Pokémon and send their next ones each out; Espathra for Ichimichi and Annihilape for Eri.
Gesturing forward, Ichimichi called out, "Espathra, use Dazzling Gleam on Quaquaval!"
"Annihilape, use Drain Punch on Empoleon!" Eri ordered.
"Myde, use Grass Knot on Espathra!" Trip commanded, "Launchpad, use Wing Attack on Annihilape!"
The combat contest resumed, with Myde tripping up Espathra thus keeping it from being able to strike at Launchpad. As for the named Quaquaval, it saved Myde from a super effective blow again by striking down Annihilape with a critical Wing Attack. An Ice Beam from Myde finished off the Espathra who was in the middle of trying to pick itself back up.
For a second time, Ichimichi and Eri were forced to call back their fainted Pokémon, before sending out their respective third and final Pokémon each, that being Bellibolt for Ichimichi and Passimian for Eri. "Bellibolt, use Thunderbolt on Quaquaval!" Ichimichi commanded.
"Passimian, use Brick Break on Empoleon!" Eri called out.
"Myde, use Ice Beam on Bellibolt!" Trip ordered, "Launchpad, use Wing Attack on Passimian!"
As Thunderbolt and Ice Beam proceeded to have a beam war with one another, Launchpad once more intercepted a Pokémon aiming to strike Myde super effectively, saving Myde from the blow and striking down his would be assailant. As for the beam war, Myde won out, his Ice Beam besting Bellibolt's Thunderbolt and going on to strike right into Bellibolt itself and freezing it.
Bellibolt barely hung in, but a call from Trip for Launchpad to use Low Sweep ended up resulting in Bellibolt being knocked out. Ichimichi and Eri were forced to call back their fainted Pokémon, and now both of them were out of Pokémon who could still battle. "What was it that you came here to Medali for in the first place, Team Scorn?" Trip demanded as Myde and Launchpad stood before the bested Team Scorn members. Trip was still holding Greavard after picking him back up.
"We were simply raiding the warehouses for what gear, supplies, and other goods we wanted and needed," Ichimichi said, "And destroying what all we didn't need or couldn't get away with." Pointing at the Greavard that Trip was holding, Ichimichi went on, "And that gross little one needs a beating for pissing on my shoes just now while I'm still wearing them!"
"Oh like hell you're going to beat on Greavard here!" Trip snapped, "He obviously was displaying his disagreement with you Team Scorn bastards! I say good show to that!" Greavard then made some of its scoffing barks that made it sound like a little dog trying to bark at someone. Clearly it liked the fact that Trip agreed with it.
Ichimichi and Eri were going to try to push, but a Team Scorn grunt came over and informed them that their forces were being beaten back. Scowling in a mix of bitter defeat and bitter annoyance, Ichimichi called for all Team Scorn members in Medali to fall back. A bunch of smoke grenades were used to mask Team Scorn's retreat, and when the smoke settled everyone saw it that Team Scorn had pulled out of Medali in full.
It was Dawn, Kenny, and Mina who first found Trip, who was kneeling in front of where Greavard was sitting on the ground. Trip reached a hand out to Greavard to scratch it under one of its ears. Greavard leaned into the hand scratching it behind the ear as it wagged its tail and made happy sounding cute little grunting noises, as dogs do when happy. Trip, looking amused, said to the wild Greavard, "Now that the fighting is over, would you be interested in coming along with me?"
"Garf garf!"
The wild Greavard, now clearly excited, hopped up into Trip's arms as it aimed to furiously lick his face, wagging its tail all the while. Trip caught the Greavard in his arms, held it close in a hug. It was truly heartwarming to see a little doggo Pokémon so happy to have found a new home for itself with a trainer wanting to take it in.
Trip, during the clean-up efforts in Medali following the attack on the warehouses in the city by Team Scorn, ended up catching the wild Greavard. It was a male that he named Shippo, after one certain fox yokai from one certain anime back in his previous life with said anime set (mostly) in feudal Japan. Trip in his previous life had a mixed breed dog that he (then she as Piper) had named Shippo for the same reason.
When the rest of the crew of The Jelly-Filled Donut got back to the flying ship, Heath asked, "Is there a reason you guys didn't help all that much?"
"We were a bit distracted due to Nemona insisting on finishing the battle she and Mina were having at the time the Team Scorn attack on Medali kicked off," Dawn explained, "We had to settle that so we could actually get back to work."
"What happened to the Greavard that was following Trip around?" Rhyanna asked.
At that cue, Trip took out a Pokéball, expanded it, and tossed it up to call out the Greavard. "Yeah, I ended up catching Shippo here," Trip said.
"Aww, that's one of the cutest names I never heard!" Omiyo said, gushing a bit over how she found the name Trip gave his Greavard to be cute. And the species itself was also adorable. Omiyo, with the okay from Trip after she asked him, went up to pet Shippo. Dawn thought that it was rather cute how one Pokémon can love being adored by humans so much.
...
Due to the clean-up efforts in Medali in the wake of the Team Scorn attack on the city, Larry wasn't able to take challenges from either Kenny or Trip for the rest of the day. However, he was available first thing in the morning after he had a light breakfast at the Treasury Eatery. ...Well, it was apparently light by Larry's standards; according to what Dawn and the usual group from The Jelly-Filled Donut heard as they all entered for Kenny's challenge to Larry, Larry's 'light breakfast' was a pile of onigiris.
"You mean a pile of jelly-filled donuts," Kenny countered.
Regardless, Kenny won against Larry, sweeping Larry's entire party with Zarbon who gave Larry's team a long and hard pounding. Later in the day, after Larry's team was fully rested, Trip had his go at him and won, sweeping with Myde. As a side note, Trip had Shippo watch the battle from the sidelines so he would get an idea on how things worked, Shippo being held by Omiyo who stood with Dawn, Kenny, Mina, and the other usual group from The Jelly-Filled Donut.
With Dawn, Kenny, and Trip now sitting at five Paldea gym badges each, they were more than half way done with gathering all of the Paldea gym badges. "If you're going in order from lowest level of power to highest for challenging all of the Paldea gyms," Larry said as everyone stood outside of the Treasury Eatery, "Then the gym in Montenevera will be your next destination."
"Montenevera, huh?" Dawn replied.
Larry gave an affirmative nod. "The gym leader there, Ryme, is a ghost type Pokémon user. Also, challenges to her gym are always done in tag team battles, so you'll be using two Pokémon at a time. Be ready for that."
"Ryme is the sister of Ms. Tyme, who is a teacher at Naranja Academy," Nemona said, making the others turn to face her, Rimu, and Penny, "You'll know Ryme when you see her. She fancies herself as a rapper."
"She also has dreads resembling a human skeleton's arm," Penny added, "And no I am not making this up, that's how she actually styles it. I'm not even sure how she pulls it off."
Looking to the heroes, Rimu said, "You guys be careful now. Team Scorn hasn't often tried to raise a stink outside of raids they do on the Team Star bases as they're cleared away, but they should still be treated with the utmost caution."
"Oh yeah, I heard about how the Team Star bases are being cleared away now," Larry said, "How many of the bases are left?"
Holding up two fingers, Rimu said, "Just two. And Geeta needs to have a few things ready before the next clearing."
A knowing look on his face, Larry remarked, "Well hopefully she won't mess things up again." Larry then turned around to take his leave, citing how he still had a good few days left in his vacation time off from work.
After Larry was gone, Rimu remarked, "Larry normally would never of verbalize any kind of negative thoughts or comments against Geeta, especially in front of those who could be reasoned would tell Geeta what he said, given his less than stellar dealings with her. But the recent string of mud being thrown into Geeta's face, the fact pretty much every Paldea gym leader and most of the Elite Four all feeling the same about Geeta as Larry does and agrees she's messing up... Larry's emboldened."
"Why would someone wanna throw mud into someone else's face?" Omiyo asked, "Wouldn't that be messy?"
"The phrase 'throwing mud into someone's face' is a saying to describe how said someone took a hit to their reputation," Nemona explained, "There's no actual mud being thrown into anyone's face."
"...Oh," Omiyo remarked.
To the folks from The Jelly-Filled Donut, Rimu said, "Well I ought to be taking my leave. Aside from needing to take Penny back to the dorms at Naranja Academy, there's a few things that I need to take care of."
Gesturing to herself, Nemona said, "Like battling me?"
Rimu, the driest of looks on his face, said, "If I have the time later."
"Aww come on, Rimu!" Nemona said, "You're one of the strongest trainers in Paldea! Not to mention how you ended the most recent season of the World Coronation Series in the Masters Eight. That means you're officially ranked as one of the eight strongest trainers in the world! Who wouldn't want to face an opponent like that?"
"People who prioritize dealing with active threats to the safety and well being of others?" Kenny suggested, "I mean, there's more important things than satisfying battle lust. At least save it for the next time there's a bunch of Team Scorn members running around. You can knock their heads with no need for worries."
"Kenny's right," Penny remarked, "Paldea is currently under threat by Team Scorn. That alone is a political and social media nightmare for Paldea. But to make things worse, Team Scorn here in Paldea has managed to recruit disenfranchised persons who had been screwed over by the rather poor way things here were managed, mostly because Paldea's wealthy elite insist that they do as they wish, how they wish, when they wish, while trying to grant themselves free passes out of ever having to deal with consequences."
Trip, looking grim, remarked, "It's not the first time Team Scorn took advantage of persons in a region screwed over by the elite of said region's society." Trip couldn't help but think of a former hero to the Kalos region who went down the dark path because Kalos basically made him do so.
Rimu and Penny then took their leave, leaving Nemona with Dawn's group. "...You know," Nemona began, "Maybe I can battle either Dawn or Kenny or Trip. Or maybe Mina and I could have another battle with one another, see who can win round two."
Dawn and the others in her group rolled their eyes as Mina sighed and said, "Fine, if it'll put out the fire in your butt right now."
"There's a fire in her butt?" Omiyo asked, looking surprised and concerned.
Later, as the flying ship was making its way to Montenevera, Dawn who was walking through the hallway in the main personal quarters area stopped in front of the door leading into where Trip slept. Knocking on the door, Dawn called out, "Is it alright for me to come in?"
"It's just me," Trip called back, "Kenny's out at the moment!" Dawn opened the door and walked in, saw Trip sitting on his bed. He sat with his back to the wall, and his named Greavard Shippo, curled up next to him.
Sitting down on the bed opposite of Trip's bed, Dawn asked, "So how are you feeling right now?"
"I'm feeling fine, just fine," Trip replied, scratching the top of Shippo's head gently while avoiding the lit candle. "You know, according to what little info that we have on the Greavard species thus far, they supposedly drain life force from humans who play with them, albeit it's not something that they do intentionally."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Dawn said, "That sounds like something that was made up solely to be scary flavor text."
"Either way, I haven't actually played with Shippo since catching him," Trip said, "We've just chilled together, like what we're doing now." Indeed, there's a distinct difference between actively playing with a Pokémon and simply chilling with a Pokémon. Either way, the Pokémon really appreciates the company and attention that it gets from its human.
Speaking of, Dawn turned her attention to Shippo, who let out a yawn as he laid curled up next to Trip. It was still rather cute that Shippo was as fond of human company as it was, and how it being so fond of Trip reminded them of the dog that Trip in his previous life had. Dawn nodded once, and took off to leave Trip and Shippo be.
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND NINETY-THREE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the crew of The Jelly-Filled Donut go to Medali so that Dawn, Kenny, and Trip can earn gym badges from Larry, AKA the most awesome gym leader that Paldea has to offer. In the process, the heroes are met up by a wild Greavard who becomes inexplicably fond of Trip for some odd reason or another.
I originally had the wild Greavard down as also being an isekai'd being, with it being the actual reincarnation of the dog Trip had in his previous life, but I felt that it'd be too much isekai, so I had edited the chapter to remove that and instead simply made the Greavard a reminder of said dog. So in case you were wondering why this chapter came out a bit later than the average, there you go.
There's also a Team Scorn attack in Medali, but it only sees warehouses raided and a few wrecked up a bit. Team Scorn is eventually driven out, Trip gets the Greavard, and the heroes are able to wrap up their time in Medali. Their next destination is Montenevera, where Ryme the rapping gym leader can be found. Will Dawn, Kenny, and Trip be able to lay down some sick beats with the top rapping artist in Paldea? Tune in next time to see. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Benimaru (male Skeledirge), Akiza (female Roserade), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), 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), Shippo (male Greavard)
Mina's Pokémon: (on hand) Scar (male Eevee; scared over one eye), Dragonite (male), Lucario (female), Umbreon (male; shiny), Espeon (male; shiny), Jolteon (male; shiny)