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-five: Style
The reborn trainers had done more work on the Alolan Pokédex and figured that it'd be alright to take a break from it. This was especially relevant given that there was more news coming out of the Kalos region about the ongoing Team Heart invasion of the region. The region's defensive strength had been compromised due to recent actions in the region, helping Team Heart to balance out how Kalos has a trainer like Serena as its Champion.
The native Sector of Team Heart in Kalos had taken to acting up even more, and things were made more difficult for Kalos when Team Heart forces from Paldea came over the border, using some of the flying ships from Princess Salvia's nation which had long since been conquered. According to all reports on the matter, the Team Heart installed Head of State for Paldea, Admin Hochu, had said he would pledge what all is necessary to Team Heart taking Kalos.
Even with all of the pressure on the Kalos region, it's still been able to shrug off what all Team Heart has done in its bid to take the region. A mix of having a trainer like Serena as its Champion, plus its sheer stubbornness to boot, had allowed Kalos to keep toe to toe with what all efforts Team Heart had thrown at it in its current ongoing bid to take it over. The people of Kalos, though some of them are petty, shallow, and vain, are a very resilient folk.
Thus the reborn trainers came to the classroom that their classmates have at the trainer school on Melemele Island. All of the classmates were present and accounted for, although Kukui was still out with his sprain so Clemont was subbing for him again. The subject of the hour, naturally, was the currently ongoing invasion of the Kalos region by Team Heart. However, Lillie had brought up a new fact that gave cause for worry to the others.
"Team Heart forces from Galar are now invading Kalos?!" most of the rest of the trainers in the classroom exclaimed.
Lillie nodded once in the affirmative. "It came about in the news last night. Team Heart forces from Galar came in through a mix of flying ship and boats, similar to how Team Heart forces from Paldea came in via flying ship over the mountainous border between Paldea and Kalos."
"Well ain't that dandy," Kenny said dryly, "Kalos is now facing a two pronged attack. They got Team Heart coming in from one side, and more Team Heart coming in from the other side. And let's not forget how there's Team Heart coming from within Kalos itself."
"With so much pressure that Team Heart is laying down on Kalos, it'll be hard pressed to keep up with what all is being thrown at it," Trip remarked, "I'm not so sure if even Serena can keep up with so much being thrown at her."
Scoffing bitterly, Kiawe said, "Oh, I'm sure that sacrilegious hussy has the strength to keep up with those villains in Team Heart."
"Hoo boy, this again," Selene muttered under her breath.
Slamming a fist on the surface of his desk, Kiawe snarled, "That girl had gone too far! She had caught the Island Guardians of Alola! Pokémon sacred to the Alolan people, our ways, customs, and traditions! There's not much we can do without the approval of the Island Guardians! And now the heritage of the Alolan people has been crippled!"
"Would you be like this if someone else had captured the Island Guardians?" Dawn asked dryly.
Slamming his fist again, Kiawe snarled, "Damn straight! The Island Guardians are integral to what all customs and traditions the Alolan people have! By no means can they be captured and kept!"
Dawn was glad that she, Trip, and Kenny had simply touch traded with Serena in order to get the Alolan Island Guardians registered as caught. If the reborn trainers themselves had been the ones to catch the Alolan Island Guardians, then chances are they'd never hear the end of it, assuming that anyone had found out about it.
"Let's just put personal feelings about Serena off to the side for the time being and focus on how Team Heart is now playing hard ball when it comes to trying to take Kalos," Mina said, "Now then, Lillie." After Lillie perked up, Mina asked, "What all do you know about the invasion of Kalos by two regions worth of Team Heart members?"
Shrugging, Lillie said, "All I know is that the Team Heart forces from Paldea are under the command of a man named Hochu, who's the Admin for the Paldea Sector of Team Heart and serves as the Head of State for the Paldea region." The reborn trainers remembered Hochu; back in the Team Scorn timeline, he was a Captain in the Mask Sector of Team Scorn, with said Sector operating out of the Paldea region.
Now here, in the Team Heart timeline, Hochu was an Admin for Team Heart. The reborn trainers couldn't help what other members of the Mask Sector of Team Scorn, if any, were now members of the Paldea Sector of Team Heart. Kenny took some comfort in the fact that Hochu and his fellows were bound to be making life utter hell for the Paldean wealthy elite, given that Team Heart word is law over in the Paldea region.
"What all do you know about the Team Heart forces invading Kalos from the Galar region?" Elio asked as he turned to look at Lillie.
"They're commanded by a girl named Sue," Lillie replied, "She's the Admin in charge of the Galar Sector of Team Heart and serves as the Head of State for Galar. Surprisingly enough, Sue is about as old as the average among us here in here in class."
Trip perked up in mildly curious surprise at that. "Sue is around our age?" Trip asked.
Lillie nodded once in the affirmative. "This wasn't mentioned in the news report about Galarian Team Heart forces invading Kalos, but I looked it up due to being largely unfamiliar with things over in Galar about Team Heart. Apparently, Admin Sue, same as Galar Champion Nina, is autistic."
That caught the attention of the reborn trainers. Not only is Nina still the Champion of Galar here in the Team Heart timeline, but the Team Heart Admin who serves as Galar's Head of State, that Sue girl, has autism same as Nina. The reborn trainers had no doubt that Sue's autism is why she had faced discrimination in her past, every Team Heart Admin had faced some form of discrimination in the past. It's the one thing that Team Heart Admins have in common.
There's also Hochu, who here in the Team Heart timeline is an Admin for Team Heart. What form of discrimination had he faced? And what form of discrimination had Sue faced? Figuring those out will help the reborn trainers figure out what makes Hochu and Sue tick. That info will go a very long way to helping to figure out how to bring down Team Heart.
Later, Dawn was out with Mina, Leona, and Omiyo as they went to the malasada shop to get some malasadas for everyone in the crew of The Big Beauty. When they got inside, the girls saw that there was a double date going on; the couple of Elio and Lana, and the couple of Gladion and Hau. Dawn asked Leona and the others to handle the order because she wanted to ask Hau about something.
Leona agreed, and took Mina and Omiyo to the register to order malasadas while Dawn went over to where the double date was going on. Hau, the malasada addict he is, was horfing them down while Gladion looked on with a sincerely amused look on his face that showed that he found what he's looking at to be adorable in a way. Dawn did not expect Gladion to be homosexual, but it wasn't a bother to her at all.
What did bother Dawn was how she was about to interrupt someone's date, but she needed to get some perspective on something. "Sorry for the interruption," Dawn spoke up, getting Elio, Lana, Gladion, and Hau to turn to look at her, "But there's something that I wanted to ask Hau about, due to him being Kahuna Hala's grandson."
Swallowing a mouthful of malasada first, Hau asked, "Is it about how Grandpa Hala reacted to me coming out? He was very much accepting of it, actually. He thought that all of my secretive behavior leading up to my coming out was a sign I had joined Team Heart, but I had dismissed that notion before explaining that I wanted to come out as gay and I was worried how he would react to that news. His reaction was to hug me and cry happy tears of relief."
"That's more or less exactly how my mom thought and acted when I was coming out," Gladion remarked.
Dawn chuckled a bit in amusement. "I bet your loved ones just want you to be happy and not be criminals is all. But that isn't why I wanted to speak with Hau concerning how Kahuna Hala is his grandfather." Looking to Hau, Dawn began, "What all, if anything, has your grandfather said on the matter of Kalos Champion Serena-"
"He says she's a sacrilegious hussy who needs to be made to release the Alolan Island Guardians," Hau cut in, "Oops, sorry, I interrupted what you were saying before you finished asking your question. But you were going to ask about how Serena had caught the Alolan Island Guardians, weren't you?"
Dawn casually let Hau's interruption slide. "Yes, yes I was. And given how quickly you anticipated my question and answered it, that in a way also helps to answer my question." Looking to Hau, Dawn asked, "What's your opinion on the matter?"
"Well the Alolan Island Guardians are important to our region's culture," Hau said, "And I would like to see them released into the wild. But I don't think Alola has any legal means to make it happen. And I'm pretty sure all of the insulting and harassing of Serena isn't gonna help convince her to release the Alolan Island Guardians, nor are said actions Alola's doing helping to make Alola look any better in inter-regional news."
"There's also how Serena had caught the Loyal Three of Kitakami," Elio said, "Although evidence was recently revealed that what Kitakami natives thought concerning the Loyal Three and Ogrepon turned out to be flipped around. The Loyal Three are actually greedy bandits while Ogrepon is the real hero of the story."
"What's the general opinion that folks of Kitakami have on Serena catching the Loyal Three?" Dawn asked, "Or do you not know since you moved from Kitakami a while ago?"
"I actually got it from that Carmine jerk who hangs out with that Eric asshole who better watch what he says about Lana," Elio said, "The people of Kitakami, in light of the real story being revealed, are actually glad that Serena caught the Loyal Three and took them with her. As for Carmine's little brother Kieran catching Ogrepon, they're glad that Kitakami's true hero is staying with Kitakami."
"Didn't Carmine immediately challenge you to a battle after telling you all of that on the basis she and you are both born natives of Kitakami?" Gladion asked.
"Yes she did," Elio replied, "A full battle, single style. I swept her entire team with just my Primarina."
"I also watched that battle," Lana remarked, "I saw then why Elio advised me on having my own Primarina learn moves like Psychic and Ice Beam."
"I then told Eric who also watched the battle that I will have my Primarina use Psychic to strangle his hidden treasure if he insults slash harasses Lana one more time," Elio said. Dawn saw the cringing expressions Gladion and Hau made, as well as notice how they had, as if on instinct, both moved their hands to protectively cover their down unders.
Dawn was about to speak up, but the other girls came over with the malasadas the had ordered. "Hey Dawn, we got the malasadas for the crew," Mina said.
"Well alright," Dawn said. Turning to look at the double date, Dawn said, "The girls and I have to get going back to our flying ship. We did a malasada run for all of the crew."
"Ooh, I'd love to take a tour of your flying ship," Hau remarked.
"I'll bring you a tour schedule later," Leona replied.
A few days later, the reborn trainers made more Alola dex progress and decided to take a break to see how their Alolan friends were doing. They were also wondering how things were going over in the Kalos region, which is still under siege by Paldean and Galarian forces of Team Heart. They were, however, a bit alarmed to hear about the current progress of things going on over in Kalos, as none of it sounds good at all.
Lillie nodded in agreement as the reborn trainers were visiting her at her family's house. "Oh my, yes," Lillie said in a concerned tone, "A good few of the towns and cities in Kalos have been taken over by Team Heart. About half of the region is under Team Heart rule at this point. Granted, the remaining half is still free and fighting back, and Team Heart forces while fighting back also have to fight to keep what they've taken. But they HAVE taken at least some of Kalos so far."
"Damn it," Dawn scowled, "Serena had better kick it into high gear here."
"She needs to unlock Budget Increase is what she needs to do," Kenny remarked.
Looking to Lillie as she got up to go to a bookshelf as everyone was in a home library room, Trip asked, "What do you think about the ongoing chaos in Kalos?"
Lillie pulled a book from the shelf and opened it, reading from it as she came back over. "Kalos is in danger of falling to the authority of the Team Heart Empire," Lillie said, "It's one of the remaining free lands, so it'd be disheartening to see it fall and be taken over by Team Heart."
Dawn nodded in understanding. If Kalos falls to Team Heart rule, then only Kanto, Sinnoh, and Alola will remain as free lands. Dawn now saw why Olympia in Kalos foresaw terrible danger that prompted Grand Duchess Sabine to have Dawn and her crew take Kaito, Asami, Maaya, and Rina all out of Kalos. There's also the fact that if Kalos falls to Team Heart rule, then Serena will be made to answer to Team Heart authority.
That gave her something else to ask about. "Suppose Team Heart DOES take over Kalos," Dawn began, "That will mean that those living in Kalos will have to follow the word and will of Team Heart. That includes Serena who owns, among other Pokémon, the Alolan Island Guardians. How do you think the people of Alola will react if they hear that the Island Guardians of Alola are effectively under the command of Team Heart?"
"Oh they will be utterly enraged," Lillie replied, "They'll view it as sacrilege of the worst kind to see the Island Guardians effectively under Team Heart's command."
"There's also the fact that Serena generally will have to march to Team Heart orders," Mina said, "And she's a very powerful trainer. There's no denying that. Remember how Johto Champion Gold and Unova Champion Nate were sent to deal with Brendan while that Chandler prick had him on the run for no good reason? What if Team Heart gets the idea to send multiple region Champions to help bring down other regions?"
It was a thought that Dawn did not want to have to entertain if she could help it. It's bad enough that Kalos is being threatened. What if it DOES fall? What if Team Heart decides to use what all they'll gain from it to make taking the other remaining free lands easier? What if they decide to take Alola? Or Kanto where most of the Pokémon belonging to the reborn trainers are kept at Oak's Lab? What if they take Sinnoh where the reborn trainers live?
That was NOT a pleasant thought at all for Dawn to entertain.
Mina was about to say something, but Trip spoke up, "Hey Lillie, what's that you're reading?"
"Oh, it's some old and rare book that was recently brought to my family from the Kalos region," Lillie explained, "Given what's going on in Kalos right now, it's a good thing that this book was brought here when it was." Dawn, curious, looked over to Lillie's book. Asking Lillie to show her the cover of the book, Dawn saw that it was actually a copy of Shalour's Gate.
"Oh, we heard about that book," Kenny said, "A copy was entrusted to Dawn as well. Apparently there are only three copies, I think Professor Oak has the other one now."
Lillie nodded once in understanding. "It's rather important that Team Heart not get a hold of any of the copies of this book," Lillie said, "Given how strongly it ties to the history of Kalos."
Gesturing to Lillie, Mina said, "And you took it out and read it while you had people over, people who you had no idea could be trusted or not. You also kept it in a bookshelf in your family's library, where anyone who wanders in can potentially find it."
Lillie recognized the mistake. "...It was actually mom who decided it ought to be kept in the family library," Lillie said, "But now that you bring it up, we ought to find a better hiding place for it, in case the worst comes to pass."
"Yeah, with all due respect to the lady," Kenny said to Lillie, "Your mom is not the sharpest lightbulb in the pencil case."
Another few days later, and the reborn trainers were close to completing the Alola Pokédex. They just needed to cross off a few more species and they will be done. They decided to head on over to Ania's Kitchen, where all of the Alolan classmates were hanging out. However, the mood was not the best in the world. The reason for that is actually quite simple, if one were to know all the details and have some context.
What was the bad thing? Kalos is currently seventy-five percent conquered by Team Heart.
"This is an outrage!" Kiawe exclaimed, slamming his place at the table he sat at with his fist, "At the rate things are going, Team Heart will soon have dominion over that sacrilegious hussy who caught the Island Guardians! Their sacred power at the fingertips of Team Heart! There is no way that we can let this stand!"
"There's not much that we can do, though," Lillie said, a concerned look on her face, "The other free lands can't exactly send assistance to Kalos to help drive Team Heart back out."
Dawn wore a grim expression on her face, her arms folded over her chest. "Team Heart in Kalos, when my crew and I were over there, seemed pretty insistent on taking Kalos, like it was a very great prize that they sought."
Gesturing to Dawn, Mallow said, "Those villains probably wanna force their ways onto Kalosians more than any other people because Kalosians are the most fatphobic people in the world, which is spitting in the face of Team Heart! I bet that Team Heart will get some jollies out of it, too! What the hell is so special about fat people anyway? Fuck fat people!"
"Umm, Mallow..." Elio said, getting Mallow's attention before he pointed Lana and Sophocles out to her. Neither of them looked amused with Mallow.
Instantly realizing her mistake, Mallow said while blushing in realized embarrassment, "But you two both make it look really good!"
Scowling, Selene said, "It's bad enough those bloody wankers in Team Heart have me home region of Galar under their belt. Now they wanna add those cheese eating surrender monkeys to the mix?"
"That's... that's a very strong opinion you have on Kalosians," Kenny remarked.
"Galarians and Kalosians have had a rather deep and oddly famous rivalry for ages," Sophocles explained, "There's at least three notable Galarian-Kalosian wars in history."
Trip nodded in understanding and was about to speak up, but he stopped short before he was able to get even one word out when some panicked shouting was heard coming from outside of Mallow's family's restaurant. Curious, the reborn trainers all ran outside, with a few of the Alolan classmates following them. When they got outside, the heroes saw that Team Heart was in the middle of trying to raise their usual brand of hell.
"They must be emboldened due to what's going on over in Kalos!" Kiawe said.
Pounding a fist into her hand, Mina snarled, "Well we aren't gonna let them get away with being total bastards, now are we?" The heroes all cheered out in a way showing that they were not going to let Team Heart do as they please. As such, the heroes all made their way out to confront and fight off Team Heart before they could do any significant damage.
During the fighting, where other trainers outside of the heroes confronted Team Heart, it was Dawn and Selene who ended up finding and confronting a uniquely dressed Team Heart member and a grunt with said uniquely dressed Team Heart member. The uniquely dressed Team Heart member was a fair skinned guy with medium long black hair that spikes up in the back a bit. He wore a pink headband, a pink jacket with black sleeves, black pants, pink shoes with black toe ends, and he had a black Team Heart 'H' on his jacket over the left pectoral.
As for the grunt with him, it was a fair skinned girl with bright, vibrant golden blonde hair in twin long side pigtails, and she wore the standard female Team Heart grunt outfit. "What do you girls think you're doing trying to get up in Team Heart's face?" asked the uniquely dressed Team Heart guy as he regarded Dawn and Selene, "Not cool, ladies."
"What Team Heart is doing is not cool," Dawn countered, "And who even are you?"
"Oh yeah, I suppose introductions are in order," said the uniquely dressed Team Heart member, "The name's Soichiro, First Captain of the Alola Sector of Team Heart. The girl with me, Junko, is my Captain's Assistant. We're here leading the lads in a bid to grab something in order to make the Alolan people release our members who are in the custody of Alolan authorities."
"So you're aiming to liberate your fellows," Selene said, "What a load of bullocks. You wankers must be full of it if you think you'll get away with this! Go, Togedemaru!"
"Go, Argent!" Dawn said as she sent out her named alpha Hisuian Arcanine.
"Go, Chatot!" Soichiro said as he sent out a Chatot.
"Go, Scyther!" Junko said as she sent out a Scyther, "Use X-Scissor on Togedemaru!"
"Chatot, use Aerial Ace on Arcanine!" Soichiro ordered.
"Togedemaru, use Thunderbolt on Chatot!" Selene commanded.
"Argent, use Flare Blitz on Scyther!" Dawn called out.
Argent, cloaked in violently surging flames, rushed at and rammed right into Scyther, striking it hard and taking it out before it could hit Togedemaru. Argent's Rock Head ability protected it from taking any recoil damage. As for Togedemaru, it zapped Chatot with a strong Thunderbolt and took it down before it could strike as well.
Soichiro and Junko were forced to call back their respective fainted Pokémon before sending out more Pokémon to battle. "Go, Wigglytuff!" Soichiro said as he sent out a Wigglytuff.
"Go, Bisharp!" Junko said as she sent out a Bisharp, "Use Night Slash on Togedemaru!"
"Wigglytuff, use Flamethrower on Togedemaru!" Soichiro ordered.
"Togedemaru, use Protect!" Selene commanded.
"Argent, use Flare Blitz on Bisharp!" Dawn called out.
Togedemaru threw up a protective barrier that would block all attacks aimed at it. As for Argent, it rushed Bisharp while cloaked in violently surging flames, ramming right into Bisharp and taking it out before it could have rammed into the Protect. Wigglytuff's Flamethrower rammed right into the Protect, rendering Wigglytuff's efforts moot that turn.
Junko recalled her fainted Bisharp and sent out her next Pokémon. "Go, Ceruledge!" Junko said, "Use Bitter Blade on Togedemaru!"
"Wigglytuff, use Flamethrower on Togedemaru!" Soichiro ordered.
"Togedemaru return!" Selene said as she swapped her Pokémon around, "Go, Incineroar!"
"Argent, use Crunch on Ceruledge!" Dawn called out.
Selene's Togedemaru was swapped out and her Incineroar took its place. Then Argent rushed at Ceruledge and bit down hard on it, taking it out with the powerful, super effective biting move. Wigglytuff's Flamethrower actually missed as Incineroar saw it coming and jumped to the side to avoid the attack, not that it would have done much even if it DID hit.
Junko recalled her fainted Ceruledge but didn't send any other Pokémon out, showing she was out of Pokémon that can fight. "Damn it, looks like a lot had just been dumped onto my plate," Soichiro said, then went on while gesturing forward, "Wigglytuff, use Alluring Voice on Incineroar!"
"Incineroar, use Fire Punch on Wigglytuff!" Selene ordered.
"Argent, use Iron Head on Wigglytuff!" Dawn commanded.
Argent rushed in, his head shining like polished metal, and rammed his head hard into Wigglytuff in a headbutting move that knocked Wigglytuff out before it could have attacked. Speaking of stuff going down before an attack, Wigglytuff going down before Incineroar could attack meant that its Fire Punch fizzled out before it could attack as there was no target.
Soichiro recalled his fainted Wigglytuff before he sent out his next Pokémon. "Go, Kricketune!" Soichiro said as he sent out a Kricketune, "Use X-Scissor on Incineroar!"
"Incineroar, use Fire Punch on Kricketune!" Selene ordered.
"Argent, use Flare Blitz on Kricketune!" Dawn commanded.
Argent, cloaked in violently surging flames, rushed forward and rammed right into Kricketune, striking it hard and knocking it out before it could attack. Incineroar, before it could even ready its own attack, stopped when it saw that there was no opposing Pokémon for it to attack. Soichiro then called back his fainted Kricketune but didn't send out any other Pokémon.
That told Dawn that Soichiro and Junko were now completely wiped. "Yeah, this is where things are ending for you here," Dawn said to the defeated members of Team Heart.
Smirking a bit in confidence, Selene said, "Well we just need to find some coppers and have them come on by to take you two into custo-"
*poof*
Selene was cut off when some smoke bombs were thrown down in front of her and Dawn, making her and Dawn cry out in surprise. When the smoke settled enough, Dawn saw that Soichiro and Junko were both pulled to safety by Black and Kaori, the Admin and Admin's Assistant of the Alola Sector of Team Heart. "Oi!" Selene cried out at Black and Kaori, "What the bloody hell was that for?! We almost had your fellows there!"
Black said nothing, only turned to look out over the area of fighting. "Hey everyone!" Black called out, "We're pulling out! This attack had been rendered moot!" Suddenly, Team Heart put in effort to pull out of the area that they were attacking, although Black had some grunts occupy the attention of Dawn and Selene so that he, Kaori, Soichiro, and Junko could all escape successfully.
Team Heart was as slippery as they were crafty.
Later after everything was settled, damage assessment was done to figure out what all had gone down. A fairly strong degree of damage had been done to some property, but nothing too serious. No-one was hurt beyond 'able to walk it off' for humans and 'some quick treatment at the Pokémon Center' for Pokémon. Speaking of, no Pokémon were stolen, and that's always a good sign.
In fact, Team Heart came off worse for ware; eight members of Team Heart were captured by the heroic trainers who fought off Team Heart. The authorities in Alola, in a VERY sharp improvement over their counterparts in Kanto, were not claiming all the credit, they didn't boast and brag as if it was them who had dealt Team Heart any degree of crippling blow. The Alolan authorities knew full well it was the heroic trainers who fought off Team Heart, and so the authorities made sure that any credit goes to them.
Dawn let out a sigh of relief after everyone was accounted for and confirmed to be alright. Dawn took note of Selene inching closer to Sophocles, who still wasn't sure what to do in light of finding out what Misty's older sisters had done. Dawn was about to walk over to where Sophocles was at, but she stopped short when she and everyone else heard a familiar female voice ring out, "Get away from Sophocles, you girl in the red hat! He's MY boyfriend!"
Dawn and the others turned to see Misty come marching right on up to the scene, a firm and very determined look on her face. "Misty?!" Dawn exclaimed as she and the other reborn trainers moved in to intercept, "What are you doing in Alola?!"
"I'm here to set the record straight with, and apologize to, Sophocles," Misty said, "I couldn't come to see him straight from the ferry terminal because some of those villains in Team Heart were acting up, but now that things are settled I want to get Sophocles back!"
"Oh ho ho, I'd like to see you try to take me man from me, ya daft bird," Selene snarled, "Sophocles is with me now, and no way am I gonna let anyone take him from me!"
"Since when did Sophocles of all guys have girls fighting over him?" Mallow asked, "I mean just look at the guy. With all due respect he don't look like Mr. Popularity!"
"ZIP IT!" Misty and Selene shouted in unison at Mallow, making her clam up, but more out of surprise than anything else.
Stepping forward, Mina said, "I have a proposition for you ladies vying for Sophocles."
Both Selene and Misty turned to look at Mina. "What's that?" Misty asked.
Gesturing to both girls, Mina said, "You battle one another. Full six on six Pokémon battle, single style, last girl with any Pokémon still able to battle gets the guy."
"You know, I don't appreciate being treated as a prize to win," Sophocles remarked.
"It's usually girls who say something along the lines of what Sophocles just said when guys fight over said girls," Kiawe remarked, "But now it's a boy saying it when girls are fighting over him."
Stepping forward, Kenny said, "I have another proposition."
Looking to Kenny, Misty said, "...Well alright, what is it?"
"Harem," Kenny said simply.
"What?" Mallow said flatly, caught completely off guard by what Kenny had just said.
Gesturing to Misty and Selene, Kenny explained, "You girls will both be dating Sophocles at the same time. You two will form a harem around the guy, because let's face it, the dude deserves to get his own harem if no other guy deserves one."
"I think Ash deserves one and I'll fight Serena to make her share Ash with me," Trip muttered under his breath, too quietly for anyone else to hear.
"What do you two girls think, hmm?" Kenny asked as he addressed Misty and Selene.
Both of the girls looked like they were considering the idea. "...Well Sophocles really is rather hot," Selene said, "Perhaps he has too much hotness to be contained by one girl."
"Yeah, he really is rather dashing," Misty said in a tone of agreement.
"...What?" Mallow said, even more surprised due to Misty and Selene actually thinking that a harem for Sophocles was the best solution here. Mallow would have objected over how utterly crazy this idea was, but she settled down upon reflecting upon the fact that it was Kenny who suggested the idea for a harem for Sophocles.
Kenny's brain is a bag full of cat Pokémon. You can smell the crazy on him.
(Opelucid City, Unova region)
Bianca, the Boss's Assistant of Team Heart and the public face ruler of the Team Heart Empire, was in a VERY good mood. Word coming out of Kalos is indicating that Kalos will soon fall in full to the rule of the Team Heart regime. That will make the Boss VERY happy, as they had indicated that it's Kalos that they want added to Team Heart's list of territories more so than any other region.
Granted, Team Heart DOES plan to claim all that there is eventually, but the Boss REALLY wants to claim the Kalos region sooner rather than later. And with what all Bianca is hearing in the reports on the matter, Kalos shall soon fall to Team Heart rule, and then Team Heart will be able to get started on enforcing their rule in a land that holds values that are the direct opposite of Team Heart values.
Granted, it took the Team Heart Sector that's native to Kalos weakening it through various acts, the mole that the Kalos Sector has working for them helping to subvert Kalosian defenses, Champion Serena being lured out of Kalos for a bit so more subversion work can be done, and invasions of Kalos by both Paldean and Galarian Team Heart forces, but Kalos is going to fall within short order, even WITH Champion Serena returned to Kalos.
"It's what Kalos gets for being the most fatphobic region in the world," Bianca remarked, aloud but to herself, as she sat at her desk in her office in her mansion home in the wealthy neighborhood that's located in Opelucid City, "But I think that Team Heart rule can make the Kalosian people take on a more fat accepting attitude, among other attitudes that Team Heart will make the people of Kalos take on once we rule them."
Bianca picked up and re-read the latest report about progress for things in Kalos when a knock at the door alerted her. "Come in," Bianca called out.
The doors opened and the usual maid came walking in, followed by Admin Wolfgang. "Lady Bianca," the maid began, "Admin Wolfgang wishes to speak with you, he says that he was contacted by Admins Coryn and Ken because you were too busy to be reached and Admin Wolfgang is the Admin with direct access to you due to you being based here in Unova."
Bianca arched a curious eyebrow at Wolfgang. "Firstly, could you let Coryn and Ken know I'm sorry for ignoring their requests to speak with me?" Bianca replied, actually sincerely apologetic, "I would have normally responded to their requests to speak with me, but I've been caught up in the success that Team Heart is seeing over in the Kalos region."
"Yes ma'am," Wolfgang replied with a nod, "They both said words to the effect of you being focused on how Team Heart is close to claiming Kalos. But they both got word from Admin Black of the Alola Sector. His Admin's Assistant, Kaori, had learned that men respectively wanted by the rules of Coryn and Ken somehow made it to Alola."
Now Bianca was really curious. "Who is in Alola that Coryn and Ken want?"
"A few people, actually," Wolfgang began, "One is a guy named Eric Ericson, who is wanted by both Coryn and Ken. Eric looks different than he does in his 'most recently seen' photo, but he does now resemble how he looked before he was arrested in connection to an antidondozic attack in the Johto region that resulted in multiple deaths, including the deaths of both of Coryn's parents. Coryn and Ken, as well as Coryn's Admin's Assistant Marshall, all want to see Eric put to death."
Bianca's lips curled into a bitter frown. "Yes, such an attack with such results is a very terrible case of religious discrimination," Bianca said, "I do not blame Coryn, Ken, and Marshall in the least for all of them wanting to see to the execution of that Ericson fellow. What else?"
"Chandler, the terrorist who was part of the now defunct terrorist group Hoenn's Heroes," Wolfgang said, "He's in Alola as well. Ken wants him captured alive and taken back to Hoenn to be executed."
"Yes, I'm wanting that man dead as well," Bianca replied.
Wolfgang took out a photo from the folder he was carrying and handed it over to Bianca. "This is a photo of Ericson, Chandler, and all of their companions," Wolfgang said, "Kaori was able to take that picture while hiding nearby and-"
"Oh hell no!" Bianca exclaimed, cutting Wolfgang off in the process, "That bastard Yoshitsugu who attacked my dad is with them!" The photo showed Eric and Chandler with Yoshitsugu, Haruka, Zed, Carmine, Silver, Faba, and Minoru. "And that blonde haired man in the photo is a traitor," Bianca said, "Former Captain Zed of the Kalos Sector."
"What should we do, ma'am?" Wolfgang asked.
Leaning back in her seat, Bianca huffed, "I'm still focused on the efforts of Team Heart over in the Kalos region. I can't exactly spare forces to go to Alola to capture the criminals who somehow had gotten there." Looking to Wolfgang, Bianca said, "Contact Admin Black, tell him to capture all of those criminals alive. As soon as the Alola Sector has them, call Coryn and Ken to let them know that the criminals they want will be sent to them."
Wolfgang nodded in understanding before taking off. Bianca couldn't believe that so many of the criminals and terrorists that Team Heart wants are in one of the free lands, and were it not for how focus has to be kept on the almost conquered Kalos, Bianca would have called for threats to be made to Alola to apprehend the criminals against them and hand them over.
Those terrorists better not somehow be able to escape again.
END, CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Author's notes;
This chapter shows that Kalos is in the process of being taken over by Team Heart, due to being weakened in its defenses and with both Paldean and Galarian Team Heart forces invading at different points. The world is on edge as the other free lands, unable to help Kalos due to needing to cover themselves, watch on in worry.
A strike by Team Heart happens in Alola, but it's driven off by the reborn trainers and their friends, with Dawn and Selene fighting off Soichiro and Junko before they're saved by Black and Kaori. Then Misty who came to Alola comes up and gets into an argument with Selene for Sophocles, only for both girls to settle when Kenny suggests they do a harem type deal.
Meanwhile in Unova, Bianca is very much happy with the news coming out of Kalos, but then she is visited by Wolfgang who shows her photographic proof that multiple persons wanted by Team Heart are all in Alola. With Bianca focusing on the efforts in Kalos, she has the job of taking those terrorists given to Admin Black.
The next chapter will see the heroes have to defend a number of people they don't like at all but they have to defend them anyway on a matter of principle. 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), Cupidos (female Enamorus)
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)