Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter Three-hundred and thirteen: Malevolent Mochi, part one
With the fact that Blueberry Academy had shut down due to lack of funding, the reborn trainers couldn't access the wild Pokémon in the Terarium, especially as said wild Pokémon were gathered up and released into the wild on the mainland. As such, The Jelly-Filled Donut had to fly to Unova, going right to Opelucid City where they visited Drayden, the dragon type user gym leader.
Drayden was surprised by the visit from Dawn and the others, and even more so when they asked to see his grandson Drayton. "I know he was booted from Blueberry Academy recently, but it's because the school shut down due to lack of funding," Drayden said, "All students were booted from that now non-existent trainer school. My grandson, who I will admit is lazy, isn't at fault for it."
"Yes yes, we know," Dawn said, "But that's not why we wanna see him. We wanted to ask him about his Archaludon." Drayden was surprised, but he let the reborn trainers into his home, saying he was housing both Drayton and Drayton's mom who is Drayden's daughter. The reborn trainers thanked Drayden for the consideration before they made their way in to see Drayton for some info.
...
The reborn trainers surprised Drayden with their visit, and furthermore was surprised when they simply asked for a refresher on how to get an Archaludon. Drayton explained that they merely had to get a Duraludon and use a Metal Alloy on it, like one would use an evolutionary stone on Pokémon like an Eevee to evolve it. Drayton even gave the reborn trainers a spare Metal Alloy that he had.
"By the way," Drayton said, a hint of suspicion in his expression, "I got it that Cyrano had expelled Kieran from Blueberry Academy based solely on hearsay that he heard from Carmine. I'm not sure if it's true as there's no concrete evidence to show it, but given that even I can't deny there's bad blood between those two, I get the feeling that Kieran ain't as guilty as I first thought him to be."
"Do you know how Kieran is doing now?" Dawn asked.
"He was actually seen here in Unova recently," Drayton said, "Over in Accumula Town." Hearing that piqued the interest of the reborn trainers. "Yeah, Lacey told me about it as she visited Accumula Town to learn more about the town's obsession with the Furret species," Drayton said, "According to Lacey, Kieran gave his Incineroar to that Helen girl I once caught him being sweet on."
"Kieran gave his Incineroar to Helen?" Trip asked, remembering Helen as the girl who loved Furrets and was given Kieran's Furret because Carmine was making Kieran get rid of Furret.
"Lacey heard something about Kieran having a new job, and the position wouldn't allow him to keep Incineroar as said position is not high enough to allow it," Drayton said, "I have no idea what said new job is, nor do I know why said new job would require Kieran to give up his Incineroar. But Kieran was also seen with a Sentret, and surprisingly it's a shiny."
"Kieran caught a shiny Sentret?" Mina said, "Hoo boy, I can already see Carmine screaming at Kieran to get rid of it when it evolves into Furret."
"Lacey saw that Kieran had an utterly pissed off look on his face whenever Carmine was brought up," Drayton said, "I don't think he'll listen to Carmine anymore." The reborn trainers thanked Drayton for his time and took off, mainly to go to a region where Duraludon could be found in the wild so they can catch one to evolve into Archaludon.
The Jelly-Filled Donut ended up flying to the Galar region, where Dawn caught a male Duraludon at the cold and snowy route just south of Wyndon. Dawn named the Duraludon Tensei, then used the Metal Alloy on him to evolve him into an Archaludon. With that, the heroes had all that they needed on new species of Pokémon to report to Jacq of Naranja Academy.
While relaxing at a Pokémon Center in Wyndon, the usual away team saw posters advertising Nina Bloomingwood, the preteen autistic girl who defeated prior Galar Champion Leon in an official title match and took his place as Champion of Galar. The poster showed Nina with her Cinderace, the Pokémon that they knew meant more to Nina than any other of her Pokémon.
"Oh yeah, there's actually a bit of a story behind that poster advertising Champion Nina," said a Pokémon Center employee, "The advertising company in charge of stuff like that originally wanted to show Champion Nina with her Zarude given how special it is, but Nina was very insistent that she be shown in the poster with her Cinderace instead. Legal representatives for Nina had made the advertising company fold and show Nina with her Cinderace like she wanted."
"Wouldn't the advertising company respect the wishes of people they're advertising anyway?" Dawn asked.
"Usually, but if the person they're advertising just so happens to have a special Pokémon, they're going to want to show the persons they're advertising with said special Pokémon in order to grab as much attention as possible," said the Pokémon Center employee, "Anyway, I-"
"I've been looking for you, Dawn Berlitz," a male voice spoke up, making the away team and the Pokémon Center employee turn to see a uniquely dressed mailman carrying a satchel of mail, "Got something I'm supposed to deliver, your hands only. Let's see here..." After rummaging through his satchel, the mailman said, "Ah, it's a very special and high quality Pecha Berry in a small, cushioned wooden box, with a note written on the lid saying 'to Kitakami'."
After Dawn received the item from the mailman, the mailman said, "Looks like that's it. Got to go." The mailman then turned around and left the Wyndon Pokémon Center.
After the mailman was gone, Dawn looked at the special Pecha Berry. "...What in blazes is this supposed to be for?" Dawn asked.
"I'll eat it," Mina said as she reached for the berry, but Dawn smacked Mina's hand away.
"We need to take this to Kitakami as it's mentioned on the box," Dawn said, "I suspect that we'll get our answers over there." The heroes all nodded in agreement before nodding along and getting up to head back to The Jelly-Filled Donut to head off to Kitakami.
Later, the heroes landed in Kitakami, landing the flying ship right outside of the community center in Mossui Town. After the reborn trainers got off, they looked around to figure out what to do with the special Pecha Berry that Dawn got from the mailman who reminded her of a courier from Skyrim. As the reborn trainers looked around, Dawn went over to the nearby store with the open front, as she felt to be in the mood for a snack.
While there, Dawn observed a dusty old decoration of some sort mixed in with all of the daily goods and things, and for reasons that escaped Dawn the item gave off an incredibly sweet scent. Dawn then thought that the decoration moved a little bit. It was as Dawn was observing this decorative item that she was approached by Leona and Omiyo.
"Hey Dawn," Leona said, "We got a call on The Jelly-Filled Donut from Arven surprisingly enough. He said that he, Rimu, Penny, and Nemona all want to meet with us at Rimu's place in Paldea, says that it's urgent and it involves Kieran. I think that we ought to head on over and see what it is that has the guys so worried."
Dawn nodded in agreement and saw Leona and Omiyo dash back off to The Jelly-Filled Donut. Dawn turned back around to get one last look at the curious decorative item, but to her surprise the decorative item was mysteriously gone now. Maybe the shop owner put it away while Dawn was distracted, so she decided to head on over to her flying ship and go to Paldea to see what Rimu was wanting to discuss about Kieran.
Later, The Jelly-Filled Donut landed outside of a house in Cabo Poco. The reborn trainers got off of the flying ship and made their way over to the house they saw Rimu and Arven talking to each other in front of. "Greetings, my worthy Pladean adversary," Kenny called out, getting the attention of Rimu and Arven as the reborn trainers approached, "What is it that you wished to discuss with us?"
"It's... best we discuss it in a less open and public air," Rimu said, "Let's go into my place, Penny and Nemona are already inside." The reborn trainers agreed, and went inside with Rimu and Arven to talk in private about something concerning Kieran. But what they were about to discuss was something that none of them were prepared for.
...
"Kieran's gone missing?!"
The reborn trainers were all surprised to hear what Rimu told them. The boy with long bluish hair nodded once in the affirmative, a look of grim worry on his face as he and Penny sat opposite of Dawn and Mina, with Arven, Nemona, Kenny, and Trip all standing around. Rimu was doing pretty much all of the talking for his group while Penny sat there horfing down snacks.
Gesturing to the reborn trainers, Rimu said, "Yeah. I was contacted by Kieran's grandparents, they told me that Kieran went missing shortly after he returned from a trip he took to Accumula Town, Unova. It was a trip that he came back from without his Incineroar for some odd reason. He was reportedly last seen by someone working to maintain the shrine at Kitakami Hall. That's Kieran's last known being sighted in Kitakami."
Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn said, "My guess is that Kieran went missing because of shame over being expelled from Blueberry Academy, which is moot now as the school had to shut down because they couldn't afford to maintain operations costs due to a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum over Lacey telling him off."
"Kieran's grandparents are both besides themselves with worry," Rimu said, "I think that we ought to help with the search for Kieran. Would you all be willing to help?"
"Of course we'd be willing to help with the search for my good chum Kieran," Kenny said, "He had been corrupted by the foul shenanigans of his older sister Carmine who needs a beating if you ask me for my opinion."
"So you aren't the only one who thinks Carmine needs corporal punishment," Rimu said, "Good, that means you and I are of a kind. Anyway, our best bet would be to go to Kitakami and ask around for more info on Kieran. That's part of why my friends and I need your help, we're hoping you can give us a lift to Kitakami with your flying ship."
"None of you guys are any of those spoiled brats native to Paldea here," Dawn replied, "I would have no problem at all giving you guys a lift to Kitakami."
"I want to see the kitchen area on your flying ship again," Arven said, "I bet my culinary creative juices will get flowing again if I see a flying ship's kitchen area."
"I wouldn't mind hitting up the kitchen area on board of your flying ship either," Penny said in between horfing down snacks, "I'm feeling peckish, and I could use the extra food as I need the energy since I just got over my recent asthma scare."
Gesturing to herself, Dawn said, "I myself also have asthma, so I know how you feel. Anyway, we're ready to leave when all of you are." The gathered trainers all pumped fists up into the air as all of them cheered in excitement over their next adventure beginning, although it did have a bit of a grim hint to it as it's for looking for the now runaway Kieran.
Later, The Jelly-Filled Donut landed in Kitakami again, where the reborn trainers and Rimu's group disembarked. "Ah, so we're back in Mossui Town," Nemona said as she inhaled and exhaled as if to get as much Kitakami air as possible.
"Hey yo, Nemona," Mina began, "I got it that you were grounded by your parents which is why you couldn't come on the trip to Area Zero with us to find the hidden treasure Briar sought. If you don't mind sharing, what were you grounded for?"
"Oh, I actually wasn't grounded," Nemona said, a hint of concern entering her expression, "It's just that the mission was being pushed by Geeta, and I in all honesty am starting to lose confidence and respect in her." Folding her arms over her chest, Nemona went on, "I'm starting to believe that Geeta doesn't have the best of intentions in mind for Paldea, at least as a whole."
Folding his arms over his chest, Arven said, "And I straight up didn't feel like going. The first time I went my Mabosstiff was hurt badly, and the second time it was kind of urgent plus there was a lot of backup so I felt safe enough. But going down in even deeper than what was previously thought to be possible? No way. I had my bud Rimu lie for me that I had a sprained ankle."
"I also didn't have an asthma scare, but I actually do have asthma," Penny said, "So it was easy for me to come up with an excuse and cover story to keep from going. I actually straight up dislike the Top Champion, I think she's too full of herself and goes about doing what she pleases, when she pleases, as she pleases. And people who try standing up to her or otherwise speak against her tend to be punished for it in some way."
Nodding once in agreement, Dawn said, "Yeah, Geeta can be a character. Anyway, let's begin the search for info on Kieran."
"I'm getting my Rotom Phone out so I can record audio and visual of all info we get to help with our investigation," Mina said as she got her Rotom Phone to fly out. Penny thought that Mina had a very good idea so she made her own Rotom Phone fly out to begin recording audio and visual. The group first made their way over to the community center building, and upon getting close enough they saw that Crispin was standing there.
"Oh!" Crispin said as the group came up, "It's Kenny and his friends! And those Paldean persons who Kieran is friends with are here too! What brings you all to Kitakami?"
"We got it that Kieran went missing," Dawn began, "So we're trying to look for him. The last bit of info we have on him being sighted was shortly after his expulsion from Blueberry Academy, Kieran was seen in mainland Unova giving his Incineroar to a girl named Helen. We're hoping someone here in Kitakami may have an idea on where Kieran may have gone off to."
Looking grim, Crispin said, "Yeah, it sucks that Kieran was expelled, although given how Blueberry Academy had gone out of business and shut down very shortly afterwards, it became kind of a moot point. And if Lacey had remembered to do as Kieran said, Blueberry Academy would still be in business right now."
Gesturing to Crispin, Rimu said, "Now onto you. What are you doing here in Kitakami?"
"Amarys got it from Carmine's grandparents that Carmine is acting... weird..." Crispin said, "And not as a result of her little brother going missing. She's... umm... how do I put this..."
Pointing to something behind Crispin, Mina said, "Carmine is standing right behind you, and her eyes are glowing purple for some odd reason." Everyone then turned to see that Carmine really was standing right there, looking relaxed but her eyes really were glowing purple.
"Well, Carmine's possessed," Kenny said causally and without missing a beat, "I know a possession when I see one, and Carmine here is totally possessed."
"Yo Carmine," Dawn said, "You okay?"
"M... mo..." Carmine said, a calm but eerie smile on her face. Suddenly, Carmine began dancing in a manner that reminded Dawn of the Chicken Dance from her previous life. "Mochi MOCHI!" Carmine called out as she chicken danced in place. "Mochi! Mochi! MOCHI! MOCHI!" Carmine exclaimed as she danced around like a girl possessed.
"Mina, Penny, are you girls recording this?!" Kenny asked. After both girls confirmed that they were recording Carmine being silly, Kenny burst out laughing. "We need to keep the recordings so we can blackmail her with it in the future!" Kenny declared, still laughing his ass off.
"Yeah, this is what's up with Carmine," Crispin said, "When Drayton, Lacey, and I were updated on the matter by Amarys, the four of us drew straws to determine who'd help to look after Carmine while her brother was missing. Lacey drew the short straw but Drayton made me trade with her because he's still pissy Kieran had elevated me above him with the merit based system he used to run the BB League Club with before being expelled."
Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn said, "Yeah, Kieran although he was in a dark place still had a right idea going with running the club with meritocracy type ideas." With Rimu and Arven helping to walk the still dancing Carmine back home as Kenny followed along dancing the same way as Carmine to mock her, the group all made their way over to where Carmine's family lived so that she can be gotten home safely.
...
After the group got Carmine home, they all stood around outside of Carmine's family's house. "You sure you don't wanna stay with Carmine?" Nemona asked Crispin.
Gently shaking his head, Crispin said, "Nah, she ought to be fine now. Her grandparents are looking after her. They probably took their eyes off of her for a second earlier. Sorry that you guys all had to help me out with... that."
"It was no problem at all, Crispin," Arven replied, "I can tell by the way you dress that you, same as myself, aim to pursue greatness in culinary creation. As a fellow chef hopeful, I'm always glad to lend you a hand if need be."
Smirking in amusement, Crispin said, "Yeah, I had you pegged as a cook same as me."
Arven nodded once before he looked concerned. "Even so, I have to ask. Is that Carmine girl..."
"Is she alright?" Penny chimed in, "She seemed pretty riled up. Like she's gone crazy due to her little brother not being around for her to bully, meaning she's gone insane due to not having a target for all of her cruelty."
"Yeah, that sounds like a reason for Carmine to go off her rocker," Rimu said dryly. It was obvious to Dawn that, at a minimum, Rimu and Penny had no mercy and little if any care for Carmine.
Gently shaking his head, Crispin said, "Carmine ain't usually like that. Maybe she is stressed over her little brother going missing after he was expelled from Blueberry Academy. Although I'm surprised to get it that she had bullied him."
"Carmine... has a whole lot of issues stemming from losing her parents, issues that have gone unaddressed for a very long time," Dawn said, remembering the talk that she and Rhyanna had with Carmine a while ago.
Shrugging, Crispin said, "Yeah, but still, to dance like a farm bird Pokémon while screaming 'mochi mochi'..."
Gesturing to Crispin, Trip asked, "How long has she been acting like this? Do you know?"
"I'd say since a few days after she got back home shortly after Blueberry Academy went belly up," Crispin said, "She was dancing and screaming like that ever since Amarys first checked up on her and the BB League Elite Four pulled lots to see who'd look after her and I was forced to do it even though Lacey drew the lot to do so."
"Man, Drayton must really not have liked you benefiting from Kieran's meritocracy type style of running the League Club," Mina remarked.
Shrugging again, Crispin said, "Carmine's behavior has a lot of the folks in town saying that she's possessed, and that it may be the work of a curse..."
"What?!" Arven exclaimed, "There could be a curse?!"
"Wow, this trip just took a real sudden dive right into horror movie territory," Penny said.
Folding his arms over his chest, Kenny said, "Well, I'm well versed in the ways of horror movies. In fact, I've made a trilogy of survival horror movies out of my movie studio. That being said, I'm guessing that there's a Pokémon causing all of this crazed, mochi worshiping dancing that's got Carmine giving us ample opportunity to get blackmail on her."
Looking to Kenny, Nemona said, "Alright, I know zilch about curses, but I highly doubt that a Pokémon is up to no good here." Looking to Crispin, Nemona said, "Could something like this have happened before? You ever heard old stories or legends about it?"
Crispin shook his head in the negative. "I got no clue. I got it from Carmine while Blueberry Academy was still a thing that Kenny and his friends took care of some issue involving some Pokémon called Ogrepon and the Loyal Three."
"Yeah, Kenny's group really did roll on through this town like a hurricane," Arven remarked.
Nodding along in agreement, Crispin said, "Yeah, Carmine had some words about how Kenny and his friends helped out here. Sure, Carmine may lack a filter, be inconsiderate, and push the buttons of other people-"
"Hoo boy, like you wouldn't believe," Dawn cut in, her dry tone and expression unchanging.
Continuing, Crispin went on, "But I'd still rather have the usual Carmine as opposed to the crazed dancing one we got now."
"At least let us finish getting blackmail on her," Kenny requested.
"Yeah, I kind of wanna record some of Carmine's behavior so I can show it to Kieran if he's ever found," Rimu said, "I bet he'd get a kick out of it."
Shrugging, Crispin said, "Yeah, Carmine is due to have her chops busted. Still, it's great you guys are wanting to help. But first, I think a proper welcome party at the local community center tonight is a good way to welcome you all to Kitakami."
"To the place for the thing!" Kenny declared has he led the way for everyone to head on down to the community center in Mossui Town.
Later down at the community center in Mossui Town, Dawn's group, Rimu's group, and Crispin were all standing around the main lobby. "There was no-one at the nearby store when I went by to grab the sodas for everyone," Nemona said, "So I just left the money for the sodas on the counter. Do you think that was okay?"
"I got it from Carmine and Kieran that the old lady who runs the store steps away from it from time to time, so everyone does that," Crispin said, "No need to worry."
"You don't see people getting away with that in Paldea I tell you what," Arven said, "All businesses like such convenience stores are owned and monitored by Paldea's wealthy elite, and they have a grip with the strength of a vice grip on any interest that earns money for them."
"Wait a minute, Nemona," Penny said, "What's that all over your mouth? Were you eating snacks without us?"
"Hey, I saw a sign that said 'help yourself', so of course I took one," Nemona defended, "Although when I saw that sign, there was only one mochi left..."
"Wait, the snack you ate was a mochi?" Kenny said, "Well, I guess that means you're cursed now."
Turning to look at Kenny, Crispin asked, "What do you mean, Kenny?"
Gesturing to Nemona, Kenny explained, "Nemona ate a mochi. Kieran's bitch of an older sister Carmine has been screaming nothing but the word mochi ever since we first saw her dancing while her eyes were glowing purple." Folding his arms over his chest, Kenny said, "I say none of us should touch any untrustworthy mochi while were dealing with Carmine's curse."
Pointing at a TV on the wall, Arven said, "Yo Crispin, do you have any idea how to change the channel on this TV? It just plays the same tourism video over and over." Everyone turned to look to the TV in question, saw that it was playing a Kitakami tourism video that was hyping up all of what Kitakami had to offer.
Folding his arms over his chest, Crispin said, "I have no clue how to change the channel. In fact, I think it may be some sort of automatically playing and repeating video set up by some sort of computer thing or whatever. I'm not a native of Kitakami, so I'm as lost as you are when it comes to how things are run here."
"I say we try to find a remote so we can watch a movie or something," Arven said.
"No, we find the remote so we can set up to play video games," Penny said.
Looking around, Rimu said with a hint of dry, knowing sarcasm in his tone, "Well this is just swell." Everyone turned to look at Rimu as he pointed out, "Nemona ran off while no-one was keeping an eye on her. My bet is that she's run off to find someone to challenge to a Pokémon battle."
Shrugging, Mina said, "Well let's go find that crazy girl and drag her battle-lusting ass back here." The heroes all agreed, thus Dawn's group, Rimu's group, and Crispin took off from the community center to go and find Nemona.
Outside of the community center, Crispin looked around and saw that a few people who were residents of Mossui Town were still out and about. "Hmm? There's still villagers out and about at this hour?" Crispin said, "I think those two over there are orchard workers." The group turned to look and saw two adults talking to one another.
"Let's see if they had seen Nemona," Dawn said.
The heroes walked up to the two adults, with Kenny getting their attention by calling out, "Excuse us good sir and good ma'am, but might either of you have seen a girl dressed in a Naranja Academy uniform running about Kita- well these two are cursed by mochi as well."
Kenny deviated mid sentence when the couple turned to face the heroes, and they saw that the couple had glowing purple eyes like Carmine.
"Mm... Mo..." said the woman, sounding like she was in a trance.
"Mochi... Mo... Chi..." said the man, sounding like he was in a trance as well.
The couple turned to face the heroes, said in unison, "Mo... Mo...", then they both started chicken dancing while crying out, "MOCHI MOCHI!"
"It's a mochi addict apocalypse!" Kenny cried out, "Oh, why couldn't it be a zombie apocalypse or a robot uprising?! Why did Hizashi Yamada had to have all the luck in his own mini series?!"
"What in blazes are you talking about, Kenny?" Crispin asked.
"At this point I doubt that even Kenny himself knows what he's talking about," Trip said dryly.
The two possessed villagers then proceeded to challenge the heroes to a battle, sending out an Ariados and a Salazzle. "Penny and I got this," Rimu said, a hint of suspicion in his tone and the look on his face, "Something is... off here a bit." Rimu and Penny then sent out Skeledirge and Vaporeon to fight the Pokémon of the possessed villagers.
Skeledirge took out Ariados in quick order with Torch Song, and a Water Pulse from Vaporeon soon bested Salazzle. The defeated Pokémon were recalled by the possessed villagers, who sent out a Victreebell and a Noctowl in place of the Pokémon of theirs that were knocked out. But the same thing occurred here; the Pokémon of the villagers were defeated by the Pokémon that were used by Rimu and Penny.
When defeated, the possessed villagers calmed down. "Whew, that scared the snot out of me," said Crispin, "Glad that there's Champion level trainers like Rimu and some of you other guys here!"
Rimu still looked suspicious of something. "...We still ought to go find Nemona," Rimu said as he and Penny recalled their Pokémon, "Penny and I will take a look around pretty much anywhere here in Kitakami that we can think of, given that Nemona is suspected of being possessed she could've wandered off to anywhere here."
"I ought to go to The Jelly-Filled Donut and tell the crew to stay on board and not leave no matter what," Dawn said, drawing nods of agreement out of the others.
Dawn ran to her flying ship, found that everyone had settled down for the night. Dawn let out a sigh of relief, then told her crew to stay in their rooms on the ship and not leave until the coast is clear because there's suspicious activity going on in Kitakami. When Rhyanna asked if it was Team Scorn, Dawn replied no because otherwise she'd of asked the crew to join her instead of staying on board of The Jelly-Filled Donut to hide.
When Dawn left her ship after making sure her crew was safe, Trip when Dawn met back up with the group said, "Nemona was seen running off to Kitakami Hall, so Rimu and Penny ran off after her."
"Then let's go back them up," Dawn said as she and the others ran off to go help Rimu and Penny wrangle up Nemona.
When the group reached the steps heading up to Kitakami Hall, they were surprised to see that Kieran's and Carmine's grandparents were there. "Oh, it's Crispin and a bunch of Kieran's friends," Kieran's Grandpa said, "Thanks again for coming over to not only help with looking for Kieran but also with looking after Carmine while she's acting up all strange like."
"I'd ask what you two are doing here, but asking if Carmine is okay is more important," Crispin replied, "Also, have you seen Rimu's classmate Nemona? She ran off and both Rimu and Penny ran off to try and wrangle her to bring her back."
"Well Carmine is at home in her room, she must have tuckered herself out with all of that bizarre dancing of hers," Kieran's Grandpa said, "And I don't recall seeing any of Kieran's friends." Gesturing to himself and his wife, Kieran's Grandpa went on, "The two of us stepped out to get some of Carmine's favorite noodles for her. We think she'd snap back to normal if she had some food that she's fond of."
Gesturing to Kieran's Grandpa, Crispin said, "Hey yo, that's a good idea."
"I wholeheartedly agree," Arven said with a nod of his head.
Looking to Kieran's Grandpa, Trip said, "Sir, people in town are beginning to act like Carmine, doing that bizarre mochi worshiping dance."
Shrugging, Kieran's Grandpa said, "Wait, that Nemona girl wore a Naranja Academy uniform, had a long black ponytail, and some sort of sleeve thing with red on it on one or her arms, right?"
"Yeah, that's her," Mina said, "But I thought you said that you didn't see any of Kieran's friends."
"Kieran never said that the Nemona girl was a friend of his, in fact Kieran whenever he spoke of Nemona seemed a bit put off," Kieran's Grandpa said, "So I'm not sure if she counts as a friend of Kieran's. I think he put up with her mainly because Rimu, Rimu's girlfriend, and Rimu's cook friend next to Crispin all put up with her."
Folding his arms over his chest, Arven said, "Yeah, Nemona can be a handful sometimes, not gonna lie about that."
Kieran's Grandpa turned to Kieran's Grandma. "You saw what direction that the Nemona girl ran off in more clearly, dear," Kieran's Grandpa said, "Could you tell the kids here where to go?" Kieran's Grandma said nothing. Looking concerned, Kieran's Grandpa said, "Dearest?"
Everyone looked to Kieran's Grandma, saw that she was now suddenly holding a plate loaded with purple mochi. "Have some mochi," said Kieran's Grandma.
"Do not eat that mochi!" Kenny exclaimed, "It's the source of the crazy brew-ha-ha that's going on here in Kitakami! Carmine and the other villagers all worship mochi! Don't trust any mochi period!"
Looking to Kenny curiously, Kieran's Grandpa said, "I fail to see how mochi can be so terrible. And all of the trekking around had made me build up an appetite, I could use a snack." Kieran's Grandpa then reached for a piece of mochi, and the heroes saw it as Kieran's Grandma opened her eyes up more, saw that those eyes were glowing purple.
Shrugging, Kenny said to himself, "If Kieran's Grandpa were a character in a survival horror movie, he'd be the first victim to die."
After eating the mochi, Kieran's Grandpa said, "Hm?" He closed his eyes, remained silent for a moment, then opened his eyes back up, which were now glowing purple. Then Kieran's Grandpa turned to face the heroes and chicken danced while saying, "Mochi MOCHI!"
"Mochi MOCHI!" Kieran's Grandma said as she too turned to face the heroes and chicken danced.
Shrugging, Kenny said, "Well, looks like we gotta get the golden oldies to settle down. You in on this with me, Mina?"
"Oh hells yeah," Mina said as she and Kenny went in to battle Kieran's grandparents, "Go, Dragonite!"
"Okay, Mechazilla," Kenny said as he sent in his named Iron Thorns, "Let's make it cringe!" Kieran's grandparents sent out an Arbok and a Chandelure to battle the Pokémon that Kenny and Mina had sent out to confront them.
"Mechazilla can cut loose without risk of harm to Mina's Dragonite," Kenny remarked to himself. Gesturing forward, Kenny said, "Mechazilla, use Earthquake!"
"Dragonite, use Tailwind!" Mina commanded.
Dragonite whipped up a wind that blew from behind itself and Mechazilla, bolstering their speed. This let the named Iron Thorns outpace both opposing Pokémon and take both out with just the one Earthquake. Dragonite's flying typing protecting it from any harm it might have otherwise taken from its partner in this battle.
Kieran's grandparents recalled their fainted Pokémon and sent out a Mamoswine and a Wheezing. Those Pokémon went down in quick order too, but Wheezing got a hit in on Mechazilla as both Kenny and Mina focused on Mamoswine to prevent ice attacks from landing on Dragonite. But then Wheezing went down in the third round.
With that, Kieran's grandparents were beaten. "Aw man, no way," Crispin said, "Even Carmine and Kieran's grandparents? Everyone in Kitakami is going off their rocker, it seems." Grasping the sides of his head with clenched fingers, Crispin said, "And I'm next!"
"Just do the opposite of what Kieran's Grandpa did and not eat any mochi," Kenny said, "Especially if it's untrustworthy mochi."
Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn said, "We should head back to town, make sure everyone is alright. I'm also kind of worried that the mochi zombies might have besieged The Jelly-Filled Donut and attacked my crew."
"Mochi zombies," Kenny snickered, "That's a good one, my main man." Thusly, the heroes all had to head on back to Mossui Town, to make sure everyone was alright. However, none of them had any idea on what all was going to be heading down soon.
END, CHAPTER THREE-HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN
Author's notes;
This chapter begins the adapting of the Mochi Mayhem shenanigans, adjusting things to compensate for changes that are part of this story, mainly Kieran being absent due to having gone missing for reasons unknown but are suspected to be connected to his expulsion from the now defunct Blueberry Academy.
Here, the noted battles are handled by different groups, and Crispin takes over Kieran's role because Drayton is still salty over Crispin having a better spot than him when Kieran was the BB League Champion. Kenny also gets video recordings taken of Carmine dancing and praising the almighty mochi so that it can be used to blackmail her later.
Anyway, the covering of the Mochi Mayhem shenanigans will continue in the next chapter. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Diablo (Iron Valiant), Veldora (Koraidon), Muffin (male Furret; shiny), Solstheim (male Ursaluna; Bloodmoon)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Mechazilla (Iron Thorns), Elay (male Sandslash; Kantonian; shiny), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Shallot (male Glaceon), Zarbon (male Machamp), Roshi (male Torterra)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Empoleon), Deelia (Dialga), URL (Iron Jugulis), Donbot (Iron Hands), Robot Santa (Iron Bundle), Villetta (Miraidon)
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)