Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Pokédex no Isekai
Chapter Thirty-two: I wanna be
The Big Beauty was parked on the ground near the ferry terminal on Melemele Island in the Alola region. Getting off of the flying ship were Dawn, her usual away team, and Lana's mom Melissa. "So here I am," Melissa said, her tone wry and dry, "Back in Alola."
"It sucks that you had been fired from the job that you had working for a Kalosian noble family over in the Kalos region after you had moved to Kalos following you getting divorced from your now ex-husband due to how he disagreed with what you were doing with the daughters that the two of you had together," Barry remarked as he and the others looked around.
"Speaking of."
Everyone stopped short when they heard an adult male voice call out, making them all turn to see a man who the reborn trainers and Melissa identified to the others as Yasuhiro, the father of Lana, Harper, and Sarah. Yasuhiro was clearly trying to keep all cool and business-like about seeing his ex-wife again, but he also clearly wasn't exactly fond of having to deal with her.
Before anyone could speak up, Yasuhiro said, "I got word from your parents, Melissa. They asked me to help you with moving on into their place until you can find your own place here in Alola as well as a job. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that you had lost your previous job due to the pettiness and self-serving attitude of the Kalosian nobility at large."
"How are the girls doing?" Melissa asked.
Yasuhiro's gaze narrowed. "They are all doing fine. The twins are having fun playing with the little sister of that Clemont fellow who works at the trainer school. And Lana is in a romantic relationship with Champion Elio." Melissa looked like she was about to speak up, but before she could get even one sound out, Yasuhiro cut her off.
Giving his ex-wife a firm look, Yasuhiro said, "Lana's weight has nothing to do with Elio liking her, so don't you fucking DARE spout all of that 'girls have to be thin in order for boys to like them' poison that I remember you liked spouting so much. If you spout even one word of that shit, I WILL punch you in the face, consequences be damned."
"You... certainly have some very strong words for your ex-wife here, sir," Lucas said, he as well as most of the others taken aback by how... how hostile... Yasuhiro sounded.
"That's due to the fact that Melissa trying to force her vain and shallow views of what's considered appealing had resulted in our daughters being starved," Yasuhiro snarled, "With Lana at one point passing out from hunger and nearly having to be taken to the hospital because of it. So yeah, sorry if I come off as sounding a bit hostile. I'm just protective of my daughters is all."
Melissa got the idea that she had to keep quiet here. Humbled, she and some of the boys of the away team carried luggage over to a car that Yasuhiro had waiting. After all luggage was packed into the car, Yasuhiro and Melissa got in. "Oh kids," Yasuhiro said, "Lana and all of her peers are over at school right now. They're being visited by some Coordinator girl named May who wants to try to win a Contest Kahuna title. You ought to go see them."
"Yeah, we were planning on meeting up with the ol' gang," Kenny said, drawing an affirmative nod out of Yasuhiro before he drove Melissa over to her parents' place.
After Yasuhiro and Melissa were gone, Dawn said to the others, "Well, let's get on over to the trainer school. We'll fly The Big Beauty over there and do the paid tours thing to earn a little extra income."
"Are we gonna charge the fee to our friends?" Trip asked.
"Pfft, hell no," Mina scoffed before Dawn could reply. She agreed with Mina, but would have put it in a less crass manner.
Later over at the trainer school on Melemele Island, The Big Beauty was parked outside next to the main school building while the reborn trainers went inside to meet their old friends and former classmates. They went to the usual classroom, and saw a few things that had caught their attention due to being a surprise.
Kukui was out and Clemont was subbing for him for the class. May was also in the classroom and was talking to the class about Pokémon Contests. The female player character from the Sun and Moon games back in the previous lives of the reborn trainers, Selene, was in the class as one of the students, looking as she did by default in the original Sun and Moon games. Selene sat right next to Sophocles, shooting him admiring looks that made it clear she had the hots for him.
Aside from how Selene was a student and Lana was missing, all of the classmates looked as they did when they were last seen in the Team Scorn timeline. "So yeah Dawn, Trip, Kenny, Mina," May said, "I was just telling the class here about how awesome Pokémon Contests were and that they ought to keep an eye out for when the next Contest season is held here in Alola."
"May and Lilia also tend to fawn over it whenever Bonnie plays around with May's little brother Max," Clemont said, "They could let up a bit occasionally, though."
"Aww, but it's super cute how Max has a girl crushing on him!" May remarked, "It's also cute how Bonnie and Max hang out with Lana's little sisters."
"Ooh, that reminds us," Dawn began, "Where is Lana? She's not in class."
"Oh, Lana went to pick up something from Principal Oak's office for the class here," Lillie explained, "Elio went with Lana at her request because she has to bring back a lot so she'll need help to carry all of it."
"Why do you ask?" Mallow remarked.
"We ran into Lana's mom in Kalos and-" Mina began.
Mina failed to get a single word out after that before Lillie's disposition instantly soured. "Oh, you mean that lady who tried starving Lana and her sisters a couple of years ago?" Lillie asked, "You know, it's very impressive that none of them had died of starvation."
"Hey now, I'm sure that Lana's mom... has some good points," Mallow said, sounding like she was wanting to defend Melissa to some degree.
"I dunno what all is up with that daft bird that Lillie told me about," Selene spoke up, her accent genuinely Galarian for some odd reason, "But if that limey git tries to pull any funny business around here, I'll put me boot 'ight up her arse!"
Dawn and the other reborn trainers could tell that opinions on Melissa varied between the girls in Kukui's homeroom, with only Mallow so far being willing to give the lady the benefit of the doubt. They were going to have to see Lana to get a better idea on what's up with Melissa.
...
To say that the reborn trainers were surprised to see Lana would honestly be making a wee bit of an understatement here.
Lana, in the Team Scorn timeline, was very notably skinny due to her mother's influence there, and had an aversion to appearing even remotely fat, even denying roles in the movies Kenny made that required a fat suit. Lana's need to be reed thin had even led to her collapsing from hunger at one point, and it took a lot of effort plus some undercover work to make Lana realize that gaining at least some weight wasn't too bad.
But here in the Team Heart timeline, Lana was naturally, and to the shocked surprise of the reborn trainers, rather obese. Dawn with a glance had accurately guessed Lana here to be ten kilograms heavier than Alexis, and the blubbery bard weighed between one-hundred and ninety kilograms to one-hundred and ninety-five kilograms.
Lana was carrying a few boxes with Elio, the male player character from the Sun and Moon games back in the previous lives of the reborn trainers. He looked as he did by default in the original Sun and Moon games. This was also the first time that the reborn trainers met the Alola Champion of the Team Heart timeline; in the Team Scorn timeline it was Ash.
"Oh, it's nice seeing you guys again," Lana greeted, "What brings you all to Alola?"
"We're doing field research on the various species of Pokémon that live in all of the regions, and Alola is the latest one we're covering," Kenny said, "Although we... brought a guest with us from the Kalos region who had to come back home here to Alola due to being fired from the job that she had over in Kalos."
Lana's expression instantly showed that she had an idea of what Kenny was talking about. "Yeah, my dad told me, Harper, and Sarah about it," Lana said, a frown on her round, plump face, "Our mom is back in Alola. Personally, I hope she doesn't come to try and see us."
"Wait, she doesn't even have visitation rights to see you girls?" Mina asked.
"From what I got on the matter," Elio spoke up, "Lana's mom does have the right to see Lana and her sisters. Legally, she can't be barred from it, provided it's done at certain predetermined times and Lana's dad supervises everything." Gently shaking his head, Elio went on, "It's just that Lana and her sisters made it clear they don't wanna see their mom."
The reborn trainers could tell that things here in the Team Heart timeline played out far worse than they did in the Team Scorn timeline. A little prodding revealed to the reborn trainers that things between Yasuhiro and Melissa soured a few years in the past, back when Harper and Sarah were barely able to toddle on their own two feet.
The divorce happened swiftly and, with sufficient evidence to back things up, Yasuhiro was awarded custody of the girls. It helped that the girl all made it VERY clear they wanted to stay with their dad. It was after the divorce that Melissa moved out of Alola to find work. She got to Kalos, got a job that let her work for a Kalosian noble family, and was there ever since until a couple of days ago where Melissa needed The Big Beauty to take her back home to Alola.
"The girls in class seem pretty heated up about your mom being back in Alola too," Mina said to Lana, "With only Mallow willing to give her the benefit of the doubt."
"That's because Mallow has issues stemming from her own mom dying back when Mallow was little," Lana said, "She thinks I'm throwing something precious away, but I'm not because there was never anything precious to throw away."
Kenny looked a bit unsure. "You really don't like your mom, huh Lana?"
"She starved my sisters and I because she thought that we had to be thin in order to get male attention," Lana scowled, "Hell, I almost had to go to the hospital once because my mom was firmly on board with trying to make me a 'boy magnet' by starving me!"
Looking at Lana from head to toe, Mina said, "Well you... certainly don't look starved now. Umm, would the same apply to your little sis-"
Lana cut Mina off with a sigh. "No, Harper and Sarah aren't big boned like me, they're the same size as that Bonnie girl they play with."
Looking to Elio, Trip said, "Do you have anything to say about Lana's size? You are dating her, aren't you?"
"I am," Elio began, "And Lana's size doesn't bother me. It didn't bother me when I first met her, and it doesn't bother me now." Dawn was able to tell that Elio was neutral towards Lana's weight; he isn't explicitly fond of it, but at the same time it doesn't turn him away. Dawn could tell that Elio would take Lana fat or thin. That told Dawn that Elio's fondness for Lana stemmed from something else.
Gesturing to Elio and Lana, Dawn went on, "Well you two certainly seem happy together."
Smirking in amusement, Lana said, "That reminds me. I think I may actually want to see my mom after all, so that I can introduce Elio to her." Dawn could tell that Lana was going to show off to her mom that despite how she (Lana) how had a Huttish level of girth, she was still able to not only land herself a guy, but said guy is the Champion of Alola.
"I have come to know a level of peace and consistency ever since I moved to Alola with my mom and two aunts," Elio remarked, "And I owe a lot of that to Lana here." Lana and Elio then excused themselves to go to their classroom with the stuff that they were carrying, leaving the reborn trainers be. There were still a few things that Dawn and the others wanted to check out now that they were in Alola, so they got to it.
After classes at the trainer school were over for the day, Dawn and the other reborn trainers went on over to Kukui's house. There they met Kukui who had a wrap of some kind around his left ankle, also he hobbled a bit. That would certainly go a long way to explain why he had to have Clemont sub for him at trainer school today.
"Burnett is visiting a friend of hers and she brought our kid along, so you kids and I have the place to ourselves for a bit," Kukui said, "What all can I help you with?"
"We just wanted to touch bases with you and let you know we're going to be getting up to doing some field research here in Alola on the various species of Pokémon native here," Dawn began, not telling Kukui the true reason, "Is there anything we ought to keep an eye out for?"
"Yeah, Team Heart," Kukui began, his tone and expression taking on a bit of a serious hint, "The Sector of Team Heart native to Alola here is led by an Admin that goes by the name Black. He went by the name Yumiko when he was assigned female at birth, though."
Mina perked up a bit in interest. "The Admin who heads up the Alola Sector of Team Heart is a female to male transgender?"
"Well we can probably guess what form of discrimination that Black had suffered under," Trip said, "We've learned in our travels that every Team Heart Admin has suffered from some form of discrimination in the past, with each Admin suffering from a different kind of discrimination each."
Kukui nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I've gleaned a bit of that myself. Although all I know about it is that the Admin who heads up things for Team Heart in Kanto had suffered from racism, and I only know that because Ash told me."
"Discrimination is outright outlawed in lands under the banner of the Team Heart regime," Kenny said, "Although Team Heart doctrine holds Fatphobia as the worst form of discrimination by far for some odd reason. I mean, we DID encounter an Admin who suffered from Fatphobia while we were in the Kalos region-"
"You mean the region where Ash's girlfriend Serena is the Champion," Kukui cut in.
Dawn nodded once. "We got it that Serena owned some Pokémon that the Alolan people want her to release back into the wild. When we went to see Serena in Kalos so she could help us with our field research for Kalos, we were able to see all of her legendary Pokémon. We... can probably guess that the displeasure that the Alolan people have with Serena lays with the fact that she had captured all four of Alola's Island Guardians."
Kukui nodded in confirmation. "I'm more or less indifferent to it," Kukui admitted, "I mean a Pokémon is a Pokémon, no matter how special. But to the Alolan people at large, it's a critical blow to local customs, traditions, beliefs, and the like. Alola's government wants Serena to be made to release the four Tapus back into the wild, but inter-regional laws make it so that Serena technically has no obligation to do so. If she wants to keep the Tapus, that's her choice."
"But the Alolan people aren't happy about Serena catching and keeping the Tapus," Trip said.
Kukui gently shook his head in the negative. "Many Alolan people are outright hostile towards Serena because she caught the Tapus. Kiawe is among such people, he takes Alolan customs and traditions VERY seriously. He has taken to referring to Serena as a 'sacrilegious hussy', and that's one of the more mild insults I've heard the Alolan people say about Serena."
Dawn was rather surprised by what Kukui was saying; if the Tapus were still wild, and Dawn and the other reborn trainers caught them, would they be forced to release the Tapus back into the wild in order to avoid hostility from the Alolan people? Would they receive hostility for even capturing the Tapus in the first place, even if it's only to get them registered as caught? It's a good thing that she and the others only needed to touch trade with Serena to get the Tapus registered as caught.
Looking to Kukui, Mina asked, "What all can you tell me about Elio and Selene?"
"Oh yeah, those two," Kukui said, "Among the best that the trainer school has to offer. Well, to kick things off, neither of them were born and raised in Alola, they moved here a while ago."
"Yeah, we got it from Elio he moved here with his mom and to aunts," Dawn said.
Nodding once, Kukui said, "And Selene moved here with her dad and two uncles. Elio was born and raised in Kitakami, and Selene was born and raised in Galar."
"I did hear a Galarian accent in Selene's voice," Kenny remarked.
"Selene and Elio also came to Alola with five Pokémon each," Kukui went on, "All of them fully evolved and rather strong. Selene had come to Alola with a Tsareena, an Araquanid, a Vikavolt, a Bewear, and a Togedemaru. As for Elio, he had come to Alola with a Salazzle, a Ribombee, a shiny Lurantis, a Mudsdale, and an incredibly large Kommo-o that's got to be at least as big as the totem Kommo-o. Elio, when he and his family lived in Paldea briefly, said his Kommo-o won some sort of award called a Jumbo Mark."
Both Selene and Elio had impressive lineups already, and Dawn could tell that Kukui had an interest in studying Elio's shiny Lurantis and Jumbo Kommo-o. "They only had five Pokémon each upon arriving in Alola?" Dawn asked.
"And what's this about Elio temporarily living in Paldea?" Kenny asked.
"In due time, Kenny," Kukui said, "But yeah, Selene and Elio both only had five Pokémon each when they first came to Alola. They moved here on the same day by random chance, but that's not all that important. Anyway, Elio and Selene got caught up in helping to resolve separate issues in Alola on their first day living in the region. Selene saved Sophocles and his cousin Molayne from trouble when a group of Team Skull members got into a scuffle with a group of Team Heart members, and Elio aided Lana in saving a wild Popplio from being harassed by some Team Skull members."
Folding her arms over her chest, Mina said, "I saw Selene looking at Sophocles like he's the hottest guy in Alola earlier."
"And Elio and Lana are dating," Dawn said.
Nodding once, Kukui went on, "Due to helping out on their first day in Alola, Kahuna Hala who heard of both incidents had Elio and Selene come see him. He got one each of Rowlet, Littlen, and Popplio gathered, and invited Elio and Selene to pick from them. Selene picked the Litten, and Elio picked the Popplio. Both are now Incineroar and Primarina respectively."
Dawn saw the logic in what Hala did for Selene and Elio. Both had proven to be heroic defenders of Alola, and it certainly didn't hurt that both came in strong right off the bat. There was also logic on the starter choices that Selene and Elio made; Selene who picked Litten the fire type already had a grass type in Tsareena and a water type in Araquanid, and Elio who picked Popplio the water type already had a grass type in Lurantis and a fire type in Salazzle.
"Things had been fairly tame ever since Selene and Elio came to Alola," Kukui said, "Umm... up until Team Heart activity kicked up in the times leading up to the formation of the Alola Pokémon League, and Serena coming to Alola and randomly capturing the Tapus. Things kind of got a bit on the wonky side and stayed that way ever since."
"We heard about the exhibition match between Elio and Serena," Mina said, "We also got evidence that Serena was fully intending on crushing Elio in battle because she wanted to humiliate him because she didn't like that he beat Ash in the finals of the Manalo Conference. However, we also got it that Elio's team was able to go toe to toe with Serena's team despite how her team was made up entirely of legendary Pokémon, both Elio and Serena were down three Pokémon each when the battle had to be called off due to Team Heart launching a siege on Manalo Island."
"Yeah, that battle is what led the Alolan people into finding out Serena caught the Tapus," Kukui said, "One of the Pokémon she used was Tapu Bulu, but it was defeated after a hard fought battle with Elio's Salazzle." Dawn and the others also were able to get Serena's full team lineup out of Kukui for the battle against Elio; Tapu Bulu aside, Serena also had Landorus, Chien Pao, Wo Chien, Urshifu which is Single Strike, and Ohkidogi.
Dawn was figuring that Elio used a party of Primarina, Salazzle, Lurantis, Ribombee, Mudsdale, and Kommo-o. Depending on how varied their move pools are, it's possible that Elio's Pokémon had between them a sufficient selection of strong coverage moves that would allow Elio to strike all of the legendary Pokémon Serena brought with her to the battle for times four super effective damage, given that all of said Pokémon Serena had carried times four weaknesses.
Dawn was about to speak up, but was cut off when Kiawe suddenly burst in through the front door. "Sorry for the intrusion, Professor Kukui!" Kiawe called out, "But I got it that Dawn and some of her friends came here! There's an emergency in the city!"
Right away, everyone was on alert. "What's the situation?" Dawn asked.
"Team Heart is launching a siege on the city, in its busiest area!" Kiawe said, "Members of Team Skull showed up to fight off Team Heart, and some of my classmates went in to help fight off the villains as well! But the numbers that Team Heart brought are not looking good for us!"
Turning to look at Kukui, Dawn said, "We're gonna have to do this again later when peace is settled."
Nodding once in understanding, Kukui said, "Good luck, kids." Dawn and the other reborn trainers took off from Kukui's house and ran with Kiawe to go fight Team Heart and repel their efforts out of the city and save the day.
A short while later in the city, the reborn trainers and Kiawe looked around and saw what all was going on; Team Heart was aiming to cause as much damage as possible, as well as also do a bit of looting here and there. Team Skull was seen fighting back, and to Dawn it looked like Team Skull was oddly organized as a fighting force for some odd reason.
But even with some other heroic trainers involved to help fight off Team Heart, Team Heart had brought enough numbers to the table to ensure that the efforts against them wouldn't be a walk in the park to deal with. "Guys, we're gonna have to go in and help fend off Team Heart," Dawn said to the others, "You all with me?"
The other reborn trainers and Kiawe all let out affirmative cheers before they all ran in and joined the fray. During the chaos of battle, Dawn ended up meeting up with Elio and teaming up with him during the fighting. As the two Champions fought off grunt after grunt, they eventually came across a uniquely dressed male Team Heart member and a male grunt with him.
The uniquely dressed Team Heart member was fair skinned, had chin length golden blonde hair, and he wore a modified variant of the male Team Heart grunt outfit, the shirt under the sleeveless jacket being long sleeved and the jacket zipped up closed. It gave off a vibe of 'lesser Officer who saw his position as higher than it actually is'. As for the male grunt that was with him, that grunt was also fair skinned, had yellow blonde hair with some tied back in a ponytail, and he wore a standard and unaltered male Team Heart grunt outfit.
"Hey! You must be the Officer leading this attack!" Dawn called out.
The Officer perked up, turned to look at Dawn with his subordinate. "That I am, would be heroes," said the uniquely dressed up Team Heart member, "The name's Bolton, Fourth Captain of the Alola Sector of Team Heart. The fellow with me is Yusuke, my Captain's Assistant. We're here to see if we can get anything of value."
"You all intend to get in our way, don't you?" asked the now identified Yusuke.
Expanding a Pokéball of some variant Dawn wasn't able to see, Elio said, "You all are right about that! Go, Salazzle!"
"Go, Zancrow!" Dawn said as she sent out her named Volcarona.
"Go, Doublade!" Bolton said as he sent out a Doublade.
"Go, Sirfetch'd!" Yusuke said as he sent out a Sirfetch'd, "Use Brick Break on Salazzle!"
"Doublade, use Shadow Claw on Volcarona!" Bolton ordered.
"Zancrow, use Psychic on Sirferch'd!" Dawn commanded.
"Salazzle, use Flamethrower on Doublade!" Elio called out.
Zancrow was slightly faster than Salazzle, blasting Sirfetch'd with a powerful telekinetic blast of psychic power and knocking Sirfetch'd out. Similarly, Salazzle immolated Doublade with a powerful Flamethrower, knocking it out. Both Bolton and Yusuke were forced to call back their respective fainted Pokémon.
The two of them then sent out their next Pokémon for the battle. "Go, Doublade!" Bolton said as he sent out another Doublade.
"Go, Escavalier!" Yusuke said as he sent out an Escavalier, "Use X-Scissor on Salazzle!"
"Doublade, use Shadow Claw on Volcarona!" Bolton ordered.
"Zancrow, use Flamethrower on Doublade!" Dawn commanded.
"Salazzle, use Flamethrower on Escavalier!" Elio called out.
Both Zancrow and Salazzle fired Flamethrower attacks at their respective targets, scoring super effective damage before either steel type Pokémon got close. As a result, both Escavalier and the second Doublade went down in battle. For a second time, Bolton and Yusuke were forced to call back their respective fainted Pokémon.
The two members of Team Heart then sent out their next Pokémon each, and they both sent out an Aegislash each. "Zancrow, use Flamethrower on Yusuke's Aegislash!" Dawn ordered.
"Salazzle, use Flamethrower on Bolton's Aegislash!" Elio commanded.
"Aegislash, use King's Shield!" Bolton called out.
"Aegislash, use King's Shield!" Yusuke said.
Both of the Aegislashes used King's Shield, protecting them from the Flamethrowers that came their way. Luckily Flamethrower isn't a contact move, so the stats of Zancrow and Salazzle weren't lowered. But on the next turn, both Aegislashes used Shadow Sneak, a priority move, with Bolton's Aegislash hitting Zancrow and Yusukue's Aegislash hitting Salazzle.
But this put them in their more offensive form, letting them do more damage but take more damage in turn. They also both failed to knock out Zancrow and Salazzle, whose Flamethrowers went on to knock out both Aegislashes. With their third Pokémon each knocked out, Bolton and Yusuke were forced to call them back.
Bolton scoffed in bitter annoyance. "You two are good," Bolton scowled, "Alola has some strength to it after all, I see."
"Alola has more than what Team Heart can antici-" Elio began, but he was cut off when a smoke bomb hit the ground between where the heroes and villains stood.
The smoke rose up into a sight obscuring cloud, and when it settled enough, Dawn and Elio saw on the roof of a nearby one story building stood Bolton and Yusuke, standing with a pair of uniquely dressed Team Heart members. It was clear that these two were here to pull Bolton and Yusuke out of any possible danger.
The first uniquely dressed Team Heart member was... male from what Dawn was able to figure. He had fair skin, spiky chin length crimson hair, and he wore a pink sleeveless top with a high collar and black front zipper, pink fingerless gloves, black pants that reach halfway down his shins and the parts of the pants legs that cover his shins are pink, he wore black shoes with pink toe and heel ends, pink socks, and he had a black Team Heart 'H' on his top over his left pectoral.
The other uniquely dressed Team Heart member was a girl somewhat taller than the boy. Fair skinned with long white hair in a single high ponytail aside from face framing bangs, she wore a black gaiter mask worn down around her neck, a pink sleeveless dress that reaches halfway down her shins but is split on the outer side of her right thigh, black arm warmers that go from her wrists to halfway up her biceps, a single black long sock on her right leg and it reached halfway up her thigh, pink boots that almost reach her knees, and she had a black Team Heart 'H' on her dress over her left breast.
Dawn had a feeling that these two were very important members of Team Heart. "I take it that you two who came to grab Bolton and Yusuke are elites?" Dawn called up.
The boy nodded once in the affirmative. "Exactly. I'm Black, the Admin of the Alola Sector of Team Heart. The girl with me is Kaori, my Assistant. We aim to take over Alola for the good of the Empire, but we can't very well do that if I let any members of the Alola Sector's Officer Staff get captured by the sorry excuse for authorities you would be heroes have, now can I?"
"If Team Heart thinks they can take Alola, then they are sadly mistaken," Elio swore, "I don't care who all you have. Team Heart is a threat to Alola, it has proven itself so. I'll do everything I can to fight all of you bastards off!"
Black shrugged indifferently. "As least you see all of Team Heart equally." Black then called for all present members of Team Heart to fall back, they were pulling out. Team Heart then moved to retreat, and a lot of Team Heart members were able to get away, including all present members of the Officer Staff for the Alola Sector. A few stray grunts were captured, but all of the big names had been able to make a clean get away.
But the day was still won by the heroes and other defenders.
After things were settled, the reborn trainers got the details from Lillie. Out of the many Team Heart members who were involved in the attack, only six were captured, three each of guys and girls. The best reason gathered from the captured grunts for why the attack was done was some general looting and whatnot; it seemed that Bolton who was running the attack didn't have any real reason or underlying goal for Team Heart to carry out.
The reborn trainers met back up with Kiawe and his classmates in their classroom, where Clemont was helping to run things. "You and Elio saw Admin Black?" Kiawe said, looking surprised.
Nodding once, Dawn said, "He and his Assistant Kaori came in and pulled out Bolton and Yusuke to ensure none of the Alola Sector's Officer Staff members were captured."
"It's obvious that those limey bastards wanna take Alola for their Empire," Selene said, "We aren't gonna let those daft gits collect all the chips in the end, are we?"
"So what can we do to stop them?" Mallow asked.
Holding up her right index finger at around shoulder level, Lillie said, "Gladion and his boyfriend heard that Guzma who heads up Team Skull is having his followers train up to be a militia force to fend off Team Heart efforts here in Alola. Although..."
"...Yes?" Trip asked as he and the others looked to Lillie.
Continuing on, Lillie said, "...Although Gladion said that Ericson's Company which operates out of Zapapico is having a lot of involvement in the militia training of Team Skull. According to what all Gladion heard about it, Ericson himself isn't entirely keen on it, but some guy named Chandler who forced his way into Ericson's Company kind of forced the issue. A man named Zed also got involved as well, but that only made things more confusing."
The reborn trainers took pause at the mention of the guys named Chandler and Zed, with Trip in particular perking up at Zed's name. "...What all can you tell us about Chandler and Zed?" Dawn said as she and the other reborn trainers focused on Lillie.
Lillie was surprised by the focus on her, but she relaxed and explained herself. "Zed is, according to Gladion's boyfriend, actually a former Team Heart member, booted from Team Heart due to being a grossly incompetent Officer. Also, he's the same Zed who killed Trip's biological mother."
"MOTHERFUCKER!" Trip exclaimed, "WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?! I'LL FUCK HIS SHIT THE FUCK UP!"
After Lillie recovered from flinching in fright from Trip's sudden pissed off outburst, Kiawe said, "It may not be as easy as you'd like, Trip. Zed has some degree of legal protection here in Alola as he's helping to train a militia force to fend off Team Heart, also he's been providing details of the inner workings of Team Heart, making him invaluable."
"I'll still kick his ass," Trip snarled.
"We... can discuss that later," Dawn said to her brother. Turning back to look at the classmates, Dawn went on, "What about Chandler?"
"According to Gladion who got it from his boyfriend," Lillie said, "Chandler is a Hoenn native who belonged to a rebel group fighting to free Hoenn from Team Heart rule, but the rebel group had been defeated and rounded up by Team Heart authority. Only Chandler of the rebel group's leadership was able to escape, but how he got to Alola is anyone's guess."
The reborn trainers were all unamused, figuring Chandler here to be the same one who is Hoenn Champion Brendan's bastard uncle and the father of Brendan's cousin Chad. "Where can we find them again?" Dawn asked.
"In Zapapico," Elio snarled, "Along with that Eric Ericson bastard who won't stop insulting and belittling most everyone around him. It's Ericson who heads up the company, that's part of why it's called Ericson's Company."
"You don't like Ericson," Kenny noted.
"That's because Ericson keeps insulting me," Lana said, "Always making cracks about my weight. Like he's one to talk, he's gotten rather chubby himself."
"He's also harshing on me boyfriend," Selene snarled, "Let's see if he'll harsh on Sophocles after I have me Bewear give 'im a big ol' hug!"
Selene mentioning Sophocles as her boyfriend reminded the reborn trainers that they had to inform Sophocles of the truth surrounding his and Misty's breakup. But Dawn could tell that Trip wanted to confront Zed, as well as how Kenny has some strong words for Chandler. It would seem that the next place that the reborn trainers were going to be heading to was Zapapico, which is now located in the Alola region after it was pushed there from Paldea.
No, I am not making this up.
END, CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the Alola Arc kick off with Yasuhiro picking up Melissa from the ferry terminal and taking her to her parents' house, although it's clear he's not happy with her. The reborn trainers then meet their old classmates at the trainer school on Melemele Island, where Clemont is subbing for Kukui who's out with a sprain. The reborn trainers then run into Lana who they see is now very much very well fed.
The reborn trainers then visit Kukui and get some backstory on Elio and Selene, as well as learn a bit about Black, the Admin of the Alola Sector of Team Heart, who went by Yumiko before transition. Shortly after that, the heroes have to fend off an attack launched by Team Heart, and Dawn and Elio defeat Bolton and Yusuke before Black and Kaori come in and save them from capture.
When things are settled, the reborn trainers learn of the guys trying to manage Team Skull as a militia force against Team Heart. To the shocked surprise of the reborn trainers, both Chandler the douchebag from Hoenn, as well as Zed the pricker-stick who killed Trip's biological mom, are part of the efforts to manage Team Skull against Team Heart. They're operating out of Zapapico which is in Alola now, don't forget that it's very important.
The reborn trainers are going to have to go to Zapapico to check things out, as well as have a bit of a meeting with the group called Ericson's Company. Dawn and the others are going to be meeting a lot of familiar faces in the next chapter. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Leni (female Lucario), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Lincoln (male Latios), Zancrow (male Volcarona)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Black (Giratina), Shallot (male Glaceon), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Roshi (male Torterra), Zarbon (male Machamp), Kermit (male Politoed)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Deelia (Dialga), Lisa (female Latias), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Veda (female Abomasnow), Myde (male Empoleon), Villetta (Miraidon)
Mina's Pokémon: (on hand) Scar (male Eevee; scared over one eye), Gardevoir (male), Lucario (female), Umbreon (male; shiny), Espeon (male; shiny), Jolteon (male; shiny)