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-seven: Ganderin' Glaseado
The town in the Glaseado Mountains where the Glaseado Gym was located was less a town and more a ski lodge where the only thing of note aside from the skiing was the gym. It took a bit of searching, but The Jelly-Filled Donut was able to find a spot in the parking lot for the ski lodge to land the ship so that the usual crew could disembark and head on over to the ski lodge and look into asking for the gym leader.
"Alright gang," Dawn began, "We're looking for a man named Grusha. He's an ex-professional snowboarder who retired from the sport due to injury. He's also somewhat frequently mistaken for a woman, but luckily we were given a photo of him by Geeta so we know who to look out for."
"You think that the ski lodge will have hot chocolate?" Omiyo asked, "Because I'm in the mood for some hot chocolate."
Rhyanna, a look of consideration on her face, remarked, "I... actually, that does sound like a good idea right now. I mean we're at a ski lodge up in snowy mountains, and it's really chilly right now, so hot chocolate would not only warm us up but also help fit the atmosphere."
Shuddering a bit, Leona while rubbing the outsides of her biceps with her hands in a manner that showed how cold she was said, "Dang it is cold!"
"Yeah, these winter ware outfits aren't properly keeping the cold out," Rhyanna said, pointing out how everyone in the group was wearing winter ware outfits while out in the snow; this saw a return of, among other things, the winter ware outfits Dawn and Kenny first sported in Sinnoh.
Arching a wry eyebrow, Sho went on, "Or maybe you ladies simply aren't used to the cold."
"I find myself right now to be jealous of Pokémon that have the Thick Fat ability," Leona scowled as she shuddered in the cold, "They're insulated to protect them from the cold."
"Or Magma Armor," Rhyanna added, "Magma is good at keeping out cold, right?"
As Leona and Rhyanna were talking about how to get out of the cold, Dawn who was rolling her eyes at them stopped short when she and the others heard a male voice call out, "Oi! Are you guys the party from that flying ship that I was told just landed in the parking lot?" Dawn turned her gaze to see who it was that was coming, and as such she saw it as she and the company that she had brought with her was approached by Grusha, the Glaseado gym leader. He looked just like he did in the photo of him that Dawn and her company had been provided with by Geeta.
Gesturing to Grusha, Dawn said, "You're Grusha the gym leader, right?"
"You know of me," Grusha replied as he stopped short about a meter in front of Dawn's group.
"Geeta showed us what you looked like," Dawn explained, "Me and my companions Kenny and Trip are each interested in issuing challenges to your gym."
Grusha nodded in understanding. "That's fair," Grusha remarked, "You know, I have been hearing stories about a flying ship going all over Paldea. Maybe the flying ship that you and your crew have is the flying ship in question?"
"Aye me matey," Kenny said, taking on a thick and stereotypical pirate accent, "We be sailin' all over the four corners of Paldea for adventure and booty! We stopped off here at Port Glaseado for our fill of women and rum! We gots us a treasure of adventurous tales to trade with the locals!"
Looking confused, Dawn turned to Kenny and asked, "Why in the name of Odin are you talking like a pirate, Kenny? What's the po-"
Dawn stopped short suddenly when she and the others heard Grusha laughing. "Oh man, you guys are actually pretty funny," Grusha said, then went on while gesturing for everyone to follow him, "Well let's get into the lodge. The sooner we're out of the cold, the sooner we can get to discussing how to go about setting up the order in which I take challenges from your group."
As the party from The Jelly-Filled Donut proceeded to follow Grusha into the nearby lodge, Rhyanna letting off a shivering, teeth chattering sigh said, "About time we're getting out of this blasted cold!"
As the party proceeded to follow Grusha into the lodge, Omiyo pointed something out on the snowboard that Grusha was carrying. "There's a sticker of a girl from a manga on the snowboard there," Omiyo whispered. Dawn looked and saw that there was indeed a sticker of a girl drawn in manga style right there on Grusha's snowboard, a full body drawing of said girl.
Nodding once, Dawn whispered, "Yeah, but it's not like it's off brand."
"...It better not be," Mina whispered to Dawn and Omiyo, "That's a sticker of Dawn's character from the Clauncher and me movie." Taking a closer look, Dawn saw the sticker and saw that it was indeed a sticker of the fat mom character that Dawn played in the Clauncher and me movie. "It is indeed official merchandise from the Kenny Harris Studios fansite shop," Mina whispered to Dawn and Omiyo, "I never took Grusha to be a fan of the Kenny Harris Studios movies."
"Yeah, but a sticker of my character from Clauncher and me?" Dawn whispered, "Why that one out of all of the characters I've played?"
"Maybe we can ask Grusha inside?" Omiyo whispered, drawing agreeing nods out of Dawn and Mina as they and the others continued to follow Grusha into the lodge to get out of the cold.
"Oh yeah," Grusha said later in the lodge as everyone settled in a comfortable and warm seating area, mugs of hot chocolate in everyone's hands, "I'm a big fan of the Kenny Harris Studios movies. My favorite has got to Cinder-Chloe."
"Why do you have a sticker of Dawn's character from Clauncher and me on your snowboard?" Trip asked.
"Because that character reminds me of my mom, who is over there with my little sister," Grusha said as he pointed out a woman and a young teen girl standing at a counter getting mugs of hot chocolate. They looked like female Grushas, with Grusha's mom being proportionately as fat as Dawn when she's wearing the fat suit for Kenny Harris Studios movies; Grusha's little sister is about as proportionately thin as Grusha himself.
"She's as warm, welcoming, and kindly as the mom character that Dawn played," Grusha said. Giving a gentle shake of his head, Grusha went on, "But that's not here nor there. I believe we came here so as to discuss how Dawn, Kenny, and Trip can challenge my gym."
Nodding once, Dawn said, "Yeah, exactly."
Looking up at the ceiling in the lodge they were in, Grusha let out a breath. "I'm getting vibes that you Dawn are the top name, so you ought to get the last turn. You know, saving the best for last and all that good jazz. And Kenny's got some serious star power going given he's the brilliant mind that's behind Kenny Harris Studios."
"Saying Kenny is brilliant is a bit generous," Leona muttered under her breath, too quietly to have been heard by anyone else.
Gesturing to Trip, Grusha said, "As such, I feel that Trip ought to have the first crack."
"So he's the first one who will get a crack at you who specializes in ice type Pokémon," Omiyo said.
Arching a wry eyebrow, Grusha said, "I'm guessing you were able to guess it that I use ice type Pokémon because of our location up in snowy mountains? Or the fact I'm an ex-professional snowboarder?"
"Geeta told us," Omiyo said.
Looking a bit stunned, Grusha said, "...Umm, err... yes, that works too, I suppose." To Trip, Grusha said, "I can take your first crack at my gym today and, time permitting, I can take on a challenge from Kenny as well. But the challenge from Dawn, as well as any second tries you or Kenny may need, will have to wait until tomorrow."
Nodding once in understanding, Trip replied, "That's fair." Trip said that he was actually ready to take Grusha on right now, so everyone went out onto the battlefield that was prepared for gym battles that Grusha had against challengers. This battle, as well as being entertaining, was also a chance for Dawn and Kenny to learn what Grusha had ahead of time so that they can plan on how to best take on the final gym leader in Paldea.
Grusha, according to Geeta, is the strongest gym leader that the Paldea region has to offer. Trainers typically save challenging Grusha for last unless their party just so happens to have a decently solid selection of Pokémon that are strong against ice type Pokémon, and even then it's reportedly a bit on the risky side. Plus the location of Grusha's gym up in cold snowy mountains makes for a rather risky and potentially harmful trek, meaning all but the hardiest of trainers reach the top.
But Trip was not deterred, nor would Kenny or Dawn be. They would all face Grusha and give their respective battles with him their all, and none of them would give up until they respectively succeed, all three of them walking away from the Glaseado gym with an Ice Badge each in their hands. That is just how the reborn trainers rolled.
...
Trip ended up essentially steamrolling Grusha's entire team with just one Pokémon, thus earning the Ice Badge. Grusha's team of Frosmoth, Beartic, Cetitan, and Altaria which Terastallized into Tera Ice Type were all knocked out one by one, all falling at the hands of Trip's named Marmortar Mr. Popo. Grusha, despite losing, wasn't all that upset. Surprisingly, he only had one thing to say after all four of his Pokémon were spanked.
Pointing at Mr. Popo the Magmortar, Grusha asked Trip, "Is your Magmortar here the inspiration for the character you played in Poké Sphere P?"
"Ah, you mean my character Mr. Trippo," Trip said, "Yes and fun fact, Indigo League Champion Lance is actually scared of Mr. Popo." The named Magmortar merely chuckled in (dark) amusement at the fact a person as highly ranked and renowned as the Indigo League Champion is afraid of him.
A short while later, after Grusha's team had time to rest, he took on Kenny's challenge and lost, seeing Kenny earn an Ice Badge as well. Kenny simply used Zarbon, his named Machamp, to give all of Grusha's Pokémon a long and hard pounding. With that, Grusha could take no more challenges for the day, saying sorry to Dawn that she had to wait.
Dawn was fine, as the extra time to work with her newly caught Pokémon, as well as getting to relax at a lovely looking ski lodge, was just as welcomed. It was then that the others realized... that they were at a lovely looking ski lodge up in the mountains. This was, like, a prime vacation destination for crying out loud! Why waste being here solely on focusing on work? Dawn had the right idea with wanting to enjoy the cozy comfort the ski lodge had to offer!
The following morning, after everyone was ready for the day, Dawn took on Grusha at his gym and totally owned his icy ass. She swept his entire team using just Argent, her alpha Hisuian Arcanine. As a result of her win, Dawn netted the Ice Badge. With that, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip had just finished earning eight Paldean gym badges each, putting an end to their trek through Paldea to earn all of the gym badges.
...However, none of them, nor anyone else in the crew of The Jelly-Filled Donut, had any idea that this instance would be the last event they'd get to enjoy before a signal indicating the approaching of a world changing event, an event that, once it began, it would alter the very course of history in the world. Dawn and her companions, her family and friends, were going to be going through quite the adventure within due time.
An adventure that, even WITH what all that Dawn and Kenny and Trip and the others all have at their disposal, may be a bit too tall of an order for them to walk away from and still be able to have things in flawless form afterwards.
A few days after Dawn earned the Ice Badge from Grusha, the heroes were still going around the Paldea region. The crew of The Jelly-Filled Donut was still waiting for the cue from Geeta to look into the Team Star bases, so Dawn, Kenny, and Trip were putting efforts into the task of getting one of each Paldean species of Pokémon registered as caught, as per the request of Jacq. And they had made quite a bit of progress.
Kenny caught a female Primeape that he named Queen and, after she used a specific attack enough times in a row, she ended up evolving into Annihilape. Dawn had caught a female Frigibax who she named Milim, evolving her all the way to Baxcalibur. In the process, Dawn had crossed off Frigibax, Arctibax, and Baxcalibur from the list.
Trip evolved Shippo, his Greavard who is very much fond of him, into Houndstone. Using an Ice Stone, Trip evolved his Cetoddle Oil into Cetitan. Trip also caught a male Finizen he had named Iruka and evolved into Palafin, a male Rellor he named Scarab and evolved into Rabsca, a male Girafarig he named Marlin and evolved into Farigiraf, a male Dunsparce he named Tsuchinoko and evolved into Dudunsparce, and a male Bisharp that he named GaoGaiGar and evolved into Kingambit. Surprisingly, GaoGaiGar is a shiny Kingambit.
The reborn trainers were almost done getting one of each Paldean species of Pokémon registered as caught for the research Jacq is wanting to do; they just need to get a few more species. And in a convenient twist, all three missing species can be caught at Casseroya Lake.
...
When Dawn spotted Casseroya Lake appearing in the distance, even where she was at looking from behind a window on The Jelly-Filled Donut she could tell that there were a number of boats on the water. "What in the name of Odin..." Dawn muttered under her breath as she went to the pilot room of the flying ship, getting the attention of Heath the helmsmen. "Hey Heath," Dawn began, "Are you seeing what all is-"
"Out on the lake? Yeah," Heath replied, "We're also expected to meet the party from Princess Salvia's nation at Casseroya Lake today, so these fishing boats out on the lake are not going to help us out at all." Heath brought The Jelly-Filled Donut in and landed it on an island in the middle of Casseroya Lake. As the ship settled down, they saw one of the fishing boats sail up to greet them, and Dawn was expecting an argument with fishermen.
But to her pleasant surprise, instead she was greeted by the sight of not just Kofu the water type Pokémon gym leader, but also Arven the Herba Mystica hunter, getting off of the boat to come and greet her. "Vaultin' Veluza! It really is Dawn!" Kofu remarked, "What brings you and your flying ship to Casseroya Lake?"
"Kenny, Trip, and I are a few species short from having gotten all known species of Pokémon exclusive to Paldea registered as caught for Jacq's research," Dawn said, "We came here looking to catch a Veluza, a Tatsugiri, and a Dondozo." Looking to Kofu and Arven, Dawn asked, "Now I can ask the same of you two on what you're doing at Casseroya Lake, although I can probably guess it that Arven is hot on the trail of the last Herba Mystica he's trying to hunt down."
Nodding once in confirmation, Arven said, "Aye. From what I've gathered, the last Herba Mystica is located somewhere here at Casseroya Lake. I aim to find it."
"We're also expecting to welcome a group of persons from Princess Salvia's nation here so that they can capture a few Tatsugiris and Dodonzos to take back home to their homeland," Heath added, "So seeing the fishing boats here kind of caught us off guard."
"Oh, we're looking to fish up some Veluzas because we got an order for Veluza fillets," Kofu said.
"You're... gonna prep Pokémon to be eaten..." Dawn said.
"Ah ha ha, no," Kofu said, "We're gonna catch a bunch of Veluzas and have them use their move that's called Fillet Away, where they shave off spare flesh to move more nimbly. It's ultimately harmless, and Veluzas have top notch regenerative abilities so what they shave off with Fillet Away will grow back. No harm, no foul."
Folding his arms over his chest, Arven said, "According to Kofu, one particularly high paying customer wants the fillets of a shiny Veluza, which are said to be even more packed with flavor than the fillets of a normal Veluza. My guess is that the diner is one of the top wealthy members of Paldean society, because who else would spring for such an expensive dish just out of the blue?"
As Dawn and Heath talked with Kofu and Arven, Kenny, Trip, and Mina all came out from the flying ship to see what was going on. "Oh snap it's our bud Arven," Kenny said, "And we're also seeing Kofu! Well ain't this a sight for sore eyes!"
"We got a lot to catch up on," Arven said, "Why don't you guys join us on the fishing boat that Kofu is managing?"
"We can also discuss how to work in Princess Salvia's company coming in soon today to catch some Tatsugiris and Dodonzos here at Casseroya Lake," Dawn remarked as she and the other reborn trainers joined Arven and Kofu aboard the fishing boat that Kofu was managing. It was a fairly big ship for commercial fishing, and there were a few of them at Casseroya Lake.
...
"So you're only needing to catch one Veluza for your purposes," Kofu said as the fishing boat that he and the others were on sailed out on Casseroya Lake.
Nodding once, Trip said, "Yeah. We'll just catch the first Veluza we see and call it good there."
"I just hope it won't be a shiny Veluza," Kofu said, "The fishing fleet here needs to catch one to get it to use Fillet Away to get shiny Veluza fillets for the top paying customer's meal. Shiny Veluza are incredibly rare, but then again shiny Pokémon are incredibly rare in gener-"
*THOOM*
Kofu was cut off when something big hit the side of the fishing boat he was on. "We're under attack!" Kenny cried out, "Abandon ship!"
Looking out towards the water, Dawn saw what was going on. "No, it's just a horde of wild Dodonzos!" Dawn pointed out, showing that there were loads and loads of Dodonzos out on the water. Some of the Dodonzos had swam over to the fishing boat that the heroes were on and were mindlessly bumping into it. A few of the Dondozos looked up at the boat when they noticed that there were people on board of it.
As Dawn and the others overlooked the virtual sea of Dodonzos, Dawn figured that this horde was just what Princess Salvia and her people had called for. Speaking of, Dawn was gearing up to catch one of the Dondozos before Princess Salvia's company got here. Looking around at all of the giant catfish Pokémon, Dawn stopped short suddenly when she spotted this one Dodonzo off to the side that had caught her attention, and not because it was bigger or smaller than the average.
"That there Dodonzo is yellow instead of blue," Dawn said as she pointed the Dodonzo in question out to the others.
"Vaultin' Veluza!" Kofu exclaimed, "That's a shiny Dodonzo!"
Dawn was about to move to catch the shiny Dodonzo, but stopped short when Arven said, "You may not need to resort to fighting it, Dawn. Dodonzos as a species are all known to be gluttons. You can easily get the shiny Dodonzo to let you catch it by feeding it."
Acting on Arven's idea, Dawn made a bunch of sandwiches, gathered them up in a basket, called out her named Latios Lincoln, and flew over to the shiny Dodonzo, getting its attention. Before the shiny Dodonzo could react, Dawn took out a sandwich and showed it to the shiny Dodonzo. "Hungry?" Dawn asked, and instantly the shiny Dodonzo opened its big wide mouth.
Dawn fed it sandwich after sandwich, eventually exhausting her supply. But the shiny Dodonzo was very clearly happy with the meal. "There's more than that in store for you if you agree to let me catch you," Dawn said to the shiny Dodonzo, who nodded in acceptance. Dawn took out one of her spare Luxury Balls and used it to successfully capture the shiny Dodonzo.
Dawn scanned the ball with her Pokédex and saw that it was male with a jolly nature. "I'll name you Hakurou," Dawn said before the ball containing the now dubbed Hakurou was sent to Oak's lab.
Dawn then flew Lincoln over to the fishing boat that was still partly surrounded by the horde of wild Dodonzos. "Ah, so you caught the shiny Dodonzo," Kenny said, drawing an affirmative nod out of Dawn, "Well maybe now we-"
*FWOOSH*
Kenny was cut off when a surge of energy and power came from along the one side of one of the islands in the middle of Casseroya Lake. "That surge of power..." Arven said, "...The Herba Mystica was found!" Dawn, Kenny, and Trip flew with Arven over to where the surge of power came from, riding on the backs of legendary dragons.
They eventually found a lone Dodonzo looking like it was surging with energy, but to the piqued interest of the heroes this Dodonzo didn't seem bigger than the average; Dawn would even go so far as to say that Hakurou was a shade bigger in size than this wild Dodonzo. Even so, it was surging with Herba Mystica mojo, so it had to go down.
Dodonzo didn't take too much effort to go down; a barrage of attacks from Deelia, Black, and Tsukune (Dawn switched at the fishing boat) knocked the Dodonzo out. As big and strong of a Pokémon as Dodonzo is, even it can't stand to the combined might of a trio of deity level legendary Pokémon. As the round of attacks came to an end, Arven looked around, and saw behind him a cave that was busted into the side of the in-lake island. A sparkle caught his eye.
"The final Herba Mystica!" Arven exclaimed, immediately turning to run for it. However, he was cut off when he and the others heard a cry sound out. They all turned to look and saw an orange Tatsugiri that was bigger than normal but still smaller than any of the humans come out of the mouth of the defeated Dodonzo. "Oh yeah," Arven said, "Tatsugiris and Dodonzos have a sort of symbiotic relationship where they help one another."
"So... what," Kenny began, "Does Tatsugiri, like, go inside of a Dodonzo's mouth to pilot it from within, or something?"
The heroes saw the Tatsugiri surge with energy and power suddenly, making them all jump back. "This Tatsugiri is the real Titan Pokémon here!" Arven exclaimed, "We need to-" Arven was cut off when the Tatsugiri, who revealed itself to be the real Titan Pokémon that's involved here, was one-shoted by Dawn's Palkia Tsukune who used Spacial Rend. After the Tatsugiri lost its Titan mojo but was still big for its species, Dawn caught it.
"What? It's about time that I caught a Titan Pokémon," Dawn said as she picked up the ball containing her newly caught Tatsugiri. After scanning the ball and seeing it's a boy, Dawn said to the ball containing her newly caught Tatsugiri, "I'm gonna name you Gobta." The ball containing the now dubbed Gobta was then sent to Oak's lab.
Later when the fishing fleet was breaking for lunch, the heroes had a picnic on one of the islands. There, Dawn came walking up to the rest of the group after checking out something out on the lake. "Yeah, I just caught a Veluza," Dawn said, "It's a boy I named Souei."
"And with that we've gotten one of each Paldean species of Pokémon registered as caught," Kenny said, "But that begs the question. Where do we go from here?"
Trip was about to speak up, but stopped short when he heard a voice speak up, "Come on, come on it's just gotta work..." Trip and the others all turned to look at where Arven was kneeling before his Mabosstiff, after feeding it some sandwich. Dawn could tell that Arven had given Mabosstiff some sandwich with the last Herba Mystica in it, and was now hoping that it would fully heal his Pokémon of whatever it was that was ailing it.
For a few moments, it seemed like nothing was happening. But then, Mabosstiff, with a bit of pep in its movement, got up, stretched, and gently shook its head before looking up at Arven and gently wagging its tail. Arven, seeing proof that all of his efforts had paid off, was overcome with joy as he threw his arms around Mabosstiff and embraced him in a hug. Tears fell down the sides of his face gently as Arven felt relief to see Mabosstiff healed at long last.
Dawn smiled gently at the scene. "Well now, it looks like all of Arven's hard efforts have finally paid off at long last."
"Man, I don't think that anything can possibly ruin this moment," Mina said as she and the others watched it as Arven was relieved of so much emotional burden. Two seconds later, a bunch of cars pulled up to the shores of Casseroya Lake, catching the attention of everyone and making all of them think that someone had shown up to defecate all over their party.
However, it turned out to just be Princess Salvia and her countrymen coming by to capture some wild Dodonzos and Tatsugiris to take back home to their nation. The heroes breathed a sigh of relief, and the reborn trainers even went on over to greet Princess Salvia and her people, before they led them over to where the horde of Dodonzos was swimming around at to start off.
Within due time, Salvia and her people had caught a sufficient amount of Dodonzos and Tatsugiris to take back home to their nation in order to rebuild their nation's population of Dodonzos after the first one was ravaged by the now long defunct Team Rocket. But Salvia and her people aren't the only ones needing to catch Pokémon.
The reborn trainers have to report to Jacq their progress in getting all of the Paldean species of Pokémon registered as caught. They got pretty much one of each species, some of them being ones that they weren't really expecting. At this point, all that the heroes could do was go to Jacq and hope like hell that they've done enough work. After all, there's no stone left unturned as far as Dawn and the boys are aware; surely they're done now, right?
...
"Ooh, there's some rare species found exclusively in Area Zero."
Later over at Naranja Academy, the reborn trainers met up with Jacq, who was very clearly impressed that they had managed to get so many Paldean species of Pokémon registered as caught. But as it turned out, there were still quite a few species to go. Just none available in the main area of Paldea.
"There's still the Paradox Pokémon found exclusively within the reaches of Area Zero," Jacq went on to explain, "You'll need to get permission to enter Area Zero so you can go in and capture one of each of the Paradox Pokémon. I can work on getting it for you, so until then you'll have to wait to proceed any further."
Snapping his fingers, Kenny said, "Damn, I actually forgot about the Paradox Pokémon for a moment there."
"Well hey, we get to check out an entirely new area filled with species of Pokémon we've never seen before," Trip said, "Once the permissions are secured."
Dawn nodded once in agreement. "Trip's got a point. We all just need to wait a bit for getting the permissions needed to enter Area Zero. It sounds like a pretty interesting place if you ask me."
Nodding once in agreement, Jacq said, "Oh yeah, I was part of an expedition into Area Zero a long time ago, before I became a teacher here at Naranja Academy. Area Zero is breathtakingly beautiful. It's also comparatively as dangerous, given that two members of the expedition I was a part of was seriously hurt by hostile wild Pokémon, and a third was killed."
The reborn trainers were a bit alarmed by Jacq talking about how members of the expedition that he was on were hurt and killed, with the alarm being greater due to how casual and without missing a beat Jacq was being when talking about it. Still, they did want to look into going into Area Zero despite all of the risks involved. New Pokémon to meet and capture, not to mention wonders even greater than what they had seen before.
Dawn was about to wonder what she and the others will do until the permissions are granted to go into Area Zero, when suddenly Leona and Omiyo came barreling into the room. "Hey Dawn, you're getting a call from that Geeta lady," Leona said, "Something about another Team Star base ready for clearing away along the northern coast of Paldea?"
"Oh yeah, the Team Star bases," Kenny said, "Almost forgot about those."
"A lot of teachers here and I still don't think that Geeta had done the right job in managing that business," Jacq said, a look of concern on his face, "I feel like she jumped the gun without first taking a close, careful look at everything."
"Well either way, we need to go see what Geeta wants," Dawn said before leading the rest of the heroes out of Jacq's classroom. Jacq was left there alone, looking on with a look of concern etched into his face.
On board of The Jelly-Filled Donut in the conference room, Dawn and the other reborn trainers sat at the meeting table in the room as Geeta was on the screen looking down at all of them. "What's the sitch, Zordon?" Kenny asked.
"The next Team Star base is ready to be cleared away," Geeta explained, "And we've just got the next one after that ready as well. We'll be able to knock the last two bases out within quick succession."
That was good news to the reborn trainers. Dawn, who was looking at the Titan Badge with the dragon type symbol on it that Arven made for her, closed her hand as she thought about how the Team Star bases thus far have had journals and Team Star Badges in little tent areas. Dawn thought about if there will be more of said journals and Team Star Badges at the remaining two bases.
"So you're figuring that, once we get the last two Team Star bases cleared away," Trip began, "We'll have cleared away the last of Team Star's influence here in Paldea?"
Nodding once in confirmation, Geeta said, "Yes, that is the plan."
"Of course, there's a chance that Team Scorn will attack while the bases are being cleared away," Mina pointed out, "And Team Scorn has attacked in Paldea outside of Team Star bases.
Geeta nodded once in agreement, her expression grim. "Yes, Team Scorn has proven to be as crafty and impossible to figure out as they've proven themselves to be dangerous. We typically have to wait for Team Scorn to make the first move before we can react to their plans." Shifting moods a bit, Geeta went on, "Anyway, I got it that Dawn, Kenny, and Trip had all recently earning eight Paldean gym badges each, and had also helped with making arrangements for Princess Salvia's people to go to Casseroya Lake to catch the wild Pokémon that they wanted."
"We've also caught as many of the region unique species of Pokémon in Paldea," Dawn said, "Now we just need to wait for permissions to be granted to let us go into that Area Zero place to find and catch what all unique species of Pokémon are in there."
"Yes, the Paradox Pokémon," Geeta said, "I have some familiarity with them, given that two of them had been reported to of somehow escaped from Area Zero and make their way to the Asado Desert for some odd reason." To the reborn trainers, Geeta went on, "I also got it from Jacq that he's trying to get you the permissions needed to enter."
"Jacq informed you?" Trip asked.
Nodding once, Geeta went on, "Just give me a few days or so to get the necessary permissions granted. It'll be no later than after the last two Team Star bases are cleared away."
Shrugging, Dawn said, "Well at least that gives us something to work towards in the meantime." Mina was about to ask Geeta a rather important question pertaining to the work being done to clear away all of the Team Star bases, but before Mina was even able to get so much as one syllable out, the monitor screen turned off as Geeta ended the video call on her end.
Mina, bemused, folded her arms over her chest and gave an unamused huff. "Well you can just munch my butt, Geeta," Mina muttered under her breath.
Dawn picked up some papers that were at her place at the meeting table. "Well these have the coordinates of the next Team Star base we're going to be clearing away," Dawn said, "It's located along the northern coast of the Paldean landmass, near a lighthouse on a sandy shore."
"Wait, wait, wait," Trip said, "Team Star built one of their bases near a lighthouse? But wouldn't that not be a bright idea as they'd be close to a structure that's under the use and protection of the region's government? Why would Team Star build one or their bases near a lighthouse which would be granted some measure of security?"
Shrugging, Dawn replied, "I don't know what to tell you, Trip. Maybe Team Star got cocky when they were setting up. Although what a Team Star base is doing near a lighthouse that supposedly still sees use today is a mystery. You'd figure that it'd be the first base to be cleared off, but no." Regardless of how the reborn trainers felt on the matter, they still had to help clear away the last two Team Star bases.
At least there were only the two.
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND NINETY-SEVEN
Author's notes;
This chapter covers Dawn, Kenny, and Trip getting their respective last Paldean gym badges at Grusha's gym. It also sees the last Titan Pokémon event covered by seeing Arven come along on a fishing trip to Casseroya Lake with Kofu who went with the fishing fleet to catch Veluzas, also the party of Princess Salvia showed up.
Additionally, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip had caught one of each Paldean species of Pokémon outside of what's exclusively within Area Zero, meaning the Paradox Pokémon. While permissions to enter Area Zero are being done up, Dawn and the others have the last two Team Star bases to deal with. It's going to be interesting over the next few chapters, so until then take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Benimaru (male Skeledirge), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Roll (female Banette; shiny), Lincoln (male Latios), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Elay (male Sandslash; Kantonian; shiny), Delirious (male Mimikyu; totem), Black (Giratina), Panther (female Meowscarada), Zarbon (male Machamp)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Empoleon), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Kululu (male Greninja), 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)