Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Pokédex no Isekai
Chapter Forty: Marnie's memories
The Big Beauty was parked in an empty lot near the local Pokémon Center in Spikemuth, Galar. The reborn trainers, along with an away team of Leona and Omiyo, were visiting Piers, the gym leader for the gym in Spikemuth. "Yeah, tourism coming to see Spikemuth has jumped up quite a bit ever since Nina defeated Leon in the official title match during the most recent Galar gym challenge," remarked Piers, a hint of sincere appreciation in his expression that had a hint of a smile.
"I'm guessing that you're worried about Spikemuth falling off of the map?" Dawn asked.
Piers nodded in confirmation. "Oh yeah," Piers said, "It's why Marnie tried so hard in the gym challenge herself, she also wanted to keep Spikemuth alive. But even so, we don't begrudge Nina for doing our job for us. If anything, she not only saved us the trouble, but did so in a way that she had pulled off more than what either Marnie or I could have hoped for."
"I bet the attention makes Nina feel nervous," Omiyo said, "I'd be nervous too if it were me."
"Well that's why Marnie is sticking by Nina," Piers said, "They're thick as thieves, those two. Have been ever since they first met each other back when they were six."
Looking curious, Omiyo asked, "How is a thief thick? Wouldn't it be better for a thief to be thin so they're more agile and able to steal things better? Also, Marnie and Nina aren't really thieves, are they?"
"Omiyo, the phrase 'thick as thieves' is used to describe a close friendship," Leona explained.
"Yeah, Nina made the same mistake when I used the phrase 'thick as thieves' to describe her and Marnie," Piers remarked.
Shifting in her stance, Leona said, "So Marnie and Nina had known one another ever since they were six, huh? How did they meet?"
"At Marine's sixth birthday party," Piers said, "Also, if you wanna be real technical, Nina was five at the time she first met Marnie. But that's besides the point. I was wanting Nina to get Marnie to go outside and play with her and run around a lot because Marnie back then was rather chunky for a girl her age and i was worried about the impact it would have on Marnie's health. My gambit there paid off, as Marnie soon got as slender as Nina due to Nina taking her outside to run around."
"Marnie used to be a fat kid?" Leona asked.
Nodding once, Piers said, "Oh yeah, and none of the other kids wanted to play with her because of that, despite me having recently becoming a gym leader at the time. Nina was Marine's only friend at the time, a friendship that lasts to this day. Similarly, Marnie was Nina's only friend she had while she was growing up."
"Because of how Nina is autistic," Dawn said.
Piers nodded once in the affirmative. "Nina had also helped to get Marnie to open up a bit more to Pokémon, pointing out something rather important to her about Pokémon."
(FLASHBACK)
Pierse watched as a six year old Nina was standing with a (very) chubby six year old Marine as the two of them looked at Piers's Obstagoon. Nina reached a hand out to Obstagoon on slowly, which made Obstagoon reach its head out so it could sniff at Nina's offered hand. It then rubbed the side of its head into Nina's offered hand, drawing a cute bit of giggling from Nina.
Looking curious, Marnie said, "So my brother's Obstagoon is friendly. I will agree that Pokémon are good, but I still don't understand why you think Pokémon are as great as you think they are."
Turning to look at Marine, Nina said, "Because Pokémon don't discriminate."
Marnie looked surprised by the answer that Nina gave. "What do you mean?" Marnie asked.
Gently shaking her head, Nina said, "Oh Marnie. That's actually one of the most wonderful things about Pokémon. They won't care if you're chubby. They won't care if you're autistic. They'll be friends with you if you will be friends with them."
Marnie still looked confused, but gave a surprised yelp when Obstagoon reached forward towards Marnie and gave her left cheek an affectionate lick. Nina giggled cutely even more before she started to pet the side of Obstagoon's neck. This prompted Obstagoon to turn to look at Nina and give her face an affectionate lick, making her cry out with laughter.
All the while that was going on, Piers watched on in amusement. He was glad that Nina was friends with Marnie and would be taking her outside to play and run around. That work will help to slim his little sister down to a safe size, which is what he wants to see.
(FLASHBACK OVER)
"Yeah, Marnie and I both owe a lot to Nina," Piers said, "And not just because she helped to put Spikemuth back on the map by being a resident who's the Champion of Galar."
"Where are Marine and Nina now?" Dawn asked.
"Marnie, along with some of the hooligans in Team Yell, are managing a meet and greet event where people can come see Nina," Piers said, "They're at the public park closest to where Spikemuth gym battles are held in a fenced in sports court."
"Huh, that may be worth checking out," Kenny said. The rest of the away team agreed, thusly they all set off to go to the meet and greet event where people can come see Nina. They were wondering how Nina and Marnie were both doing since they last met at Professor Magnolia's Lab. Hopefully the girls are doing alright.
When the away team got to the public park, they were surprised to see that a number of people were standing in line in front of a table guarded by some male Team Yell members. Getting a closer look, the away team saw that Nina was sitting at the table, with Marnie standing behind her like a watchful guardian, and Nina's Cinderace sitting in a chair next to her. Nina was signing and handing out what appeared to be photos of herself, but she wore a confused look on her face.
"So fans of the Galar League are getting autographed photos of Nina," Kenny surmised.
"But why would someone want a photo of Nina that she signed?" Omiyo asked, "I don't understand that at all, and it looks like Nina doesn't understand it either."
"We'll ask when things clear up enough for us to speak with Nina and Marnie more freely," Dawn replied. Things at the autograph signing seemed to be getting trouble when some Team Heart members came up, but it soon settled down just as quickly after Marnie looked to have explained something to them.
Hopefully things aren't too bad.
...
"Yeah, they just wanted to know what we were up to," Marnie replied to the away team later when things settled down enough for them to talk to her and Nina, "I told them we were running a meet and greet event where Galar League fans can come see Champion Nina."
"I still don't know why you had me sign and hand out photos of myself, Marnie," Nina remarked, still looking confused.
"Nina, you're a famous trainer in the Galar League," Marnie explained, "Probably the most famous. Folks are gonna want your autograph."
"Yes, it's clear that Pokémon battling is the hottest thing in Galar," Dawn remarked. Dawn turned to look at Nina's Cinderace. "I guess that your Cinderace here is important to you, Nina?" Dawn asked.
"Mmm hmm," Nina replied with an affirmative nod, "Cinderace is my first Pokémon that I ever got. I had him ever since he was a Scorbunny."
"I'm similar to you in that sense, then," Dawn remarked. Dawn then called out her named Infernape Chi-Chi. "Chi-Chi here is my first Pokémon that I ever got," Dawn said, "I had her ever since she was a Chimchar when I first became a trainer."
Nina smiled a bit at that. "Yes, Pokémon are really great, and there's nothing that beats the feeling of getting your first one."
Folding her arms over her chest, Mina said, "I hear that."
"So Nina," Trip began, "How had things been for you ever since you became the Champion of Galar?"
Nina's expression shifted to one of concerned nostalgia. "...Things didn't get better after I became Champion like I hoped that they would," Nina began, "I thought that if I had become Champion, then people in Galar will see that just because I'm autistic doesn't mean I'm useless or worthless, and that maybe it'll help other people like me."
Kenny looked concerned. "You were hoping to change peoples' perspectives on those with special needs by becoming the best trainer that Galar has to offer, but that went down the drain."
"No, my hopes didn't go down a drain, they simply weren't realized," Nina replied. Sighing, Nina went on, "I had hoped that people would stop thinking of me as useless, as a freak, as someone who ought to be hidden away from everyone else and kept that way. But I was wrong. Those very same people started to hate me even more. They were never going to give me a chance no matter what."
"Yeah, there's a strong feeling of ableism in Galar culture," Marnie remarked, "There had been some appeal to become more open minded when Nina defeated Leon and took his title, but the naysayers doubled down and got even more upset because Nina's victory challenged their ideals. They didn't want to give good folks like Nina a chance no matter what, solely because of something that she has no control over."
Looking a bit forlorn as she looked down, Nina went on, "Sometime shortly after I had become Champion of Galar, Team Heart swept in and took over. Once Team Heart had made their rule law all over the Galar region and its smaller territories, only then did things begin to pick up for me and others like me because Team Heart won't let people be mean to us over how we're special needs."
Dawn had a dry, grim look on her face. "Yeah, given what we know about Team Heart, eliminating discrimination like that as soon as their rule over a region is secure sounds to be right up their alley."
Nina raised her head to look at the away team. "It's weird, if you think about it," Nina said, "People say that Team Heart are the bad guys. But they made it so that me, so that others like me, aren't bullied or anything over how we're special needs. I still don't understand why people are saying that Team Heart are the bad guys."
"The people who are saying that Team Heart are the bad guys are the people I had told you about before," Dawn said, "The ones who don't like sharing so they look for any excuse they can to keep from having to share. Those people don't like Team Heart because Team Heart is forcing them to share with others."
Nina looked at Dawn, a considering look on her face. "...Yeah, that makes sense," Nina said, "Bullies tend to act bratty when someone they can't make listen to them forces them to act a certain way. So the people who say that Team Heart are the bad guys are nothing more than a bunch of bullies that are complaining about how they are being forced to share."
Doing the so-so gesture with her right hand, Dawn said, "Ehh, some of them are. Keep in mind that Team Heart does invade other lands to take them over and enforce their rule upon others. Some of the people who are complaining about Team Heart and calling them bad guys are simply not all too fond of how Team Heart goes about its business."
"We have seen examples of people who fit the bill of what you're describing," Trip said, "People who, arguably, actually do deserve having their butts kicked by Team Heart. But at the same time, we've met people who are not jerks in any way and still have legitimate issues with how Team Heart goes about doing its business. There's all sorts of people out there, Nina."
Nina still couldn't understand why exactly a good number of people are saying that Team Heart are the bad guys, but she had to accept what Dawn and the rest of her away team were saying. With little else keeping them there, the away team said goodbye to Nina and Marnie before taking off to return to The Big Beauty. The reborn trainers still had a few spots in the Galar Dex to fill out before they had the whole of the National Dex completed.
They were getting closer and closer to that most lofty goal with every species registered as caught.
A few days later, The Big Beauty was parked on an open field near the gym in Motostoke. While Leona was running and organizing guided tours of The Big Beauty, the reborn trainers were out with Calem and Victor, grabbing some supplies that the stores in Dawn's flying ship were starting to get a little bit low on.
"You know, it's actually quite amazing," Kenny remarked.
Perking up a bit, Dawn said, "What is amazing, Kenny?"
"We're only a few species away," Kenny whispered to Dawn after leaning in close so only she would be able to hear him. Dawn knew what Kenny was getting at. The reborn trainers were so close to having the whole of the National Dex completed, they were only missing a few species. Once those species were all registered, the reborn trainers between them will have accomplished something that Pokémon Professors all over the world will be chomping at the bit to look into.
Dawn nodded once to Kenny. "Yes," Dawn whispered back, "But let's save talking about that for when we get back to The Big Beauty."
"What are you guys whispering about?" Victor asked, looking curious.
Turning to look at Victor, Dawn said, "I was just reminding Kenny of something that he forgot about is all. No need to worry, Victor."
As Victor settled back down, it was Trip out of the away team who first heard some manner of commotion going on. The rest of the group stopped when Trip stopped, and they all turned to look at what it was that Trip was looking at. As such, the whole of the away team saw it as a struggling man was being taken out of a shop by some Team Heart members, while a pair of other members of Team Heart, one of which was a uniquely dressed woman, was telling onlookers that there was nothing to see there, just Team Heart business.
The uniquely dressed Team Heart woman had lightly tanned fair skin, darkish hair in face framing bangs and a bun on the back of her head, a pink cardigan that was open in the front to the black shirt underneath, black pants, pink slip on shoes with black socks, and a black Team Heart 'H' on the cardigan over the left breast.
With that woman was a female Team Heart grunt with light cocoa skin, wavy brown hair that reaches the tips of her shoulder blades, and she wore a pair of round lensed glasses. Given that she's wearing a standard female Team Heart grunt outfit, the reborn trainers figured the uniquely dressed woman with that girl to be a Captain, and the girl herself to be a Captain's Assistant.
When enough onlookers filed away, Dawn led the rest of the away team over to the scene. The store that the man was removed from was a bookstore, so Dawn if asked would have an excuse to come over so she could ask what happened. "Sorry young lady but the bookstore is closed," the uniquely dressed Team Heart woman said.
"Sorry, it's just that it's the first bookstore that I saw and there's some books that I wanted to get," Dawn replied, "What even happened here to warrant closing the store?"
Jerking a thumb in the direction of the man who was taken away by Team Heart members, the uniquely dressed Team Heart woman explained, "The shop owner and manager was accused of having been engaging in ableist behavior, so an investigation was launched. The accusations were confirmed to be true, so the man was arrested."
The girl with the uniquely dressed Team Heart woman looked at Dawn in surprise. "Hey, you're..." the girl said, "...You're Dawn Berlitz! What are you doing here in Motostoke?"
"Taking care of some errands," Dawn replied, "My group with me had some extra time, so I figured we could tour around a bit to handle personal things for fun, like me wanting to find a bookstore so I can get some books that I want."
The uniquely dressed Team Heart woman looked at Dawn and the rest of the away team with a look of wry curiosity. "Yeah, my dad plus Ashly and Michaela told me that they met you," the uniquely dressed Team Heart woman remarked, "So you're still in Galar, huh?"
Dawn nodded once, as well as take note of the names of Ashly and Michaela which the woman had dropped just now. "You must be Ashly and Michaela's mom," Dawn remarked.
Nodding once, the uniquely dressed Team Heart woman replied, "Yeah I am. The name's Sumalee, Third Captain of the Galar Sector of Team Heart. The girl with me is my Captain's Assistant Aparna, she's one of Ashly's peers from when they went to school."
Dawn saw that things were just about settled at the scene where Team Heart just up and took away a man who was running the bookstore. "If... you don't mind me asking, what exactly was the guy who was running the bookstore doing that was considered ableist?" Dawn asked.
"He had banned persons from his store who he knew were autistic," Sumalee explained, "He also refused to stock any books that had characters on the autism spectrum, as well as also refusing to stock any books with anything on the spectrum in general."
"Are... are people allowed to do that?" Mina asked.
Gently shaking her head, Sumalee replied, "Not here in the Team Heart Empire. Once that man's ableist behavior had been reported and confirmed, we came by to arrest him and take him away to one of the labor camps located here in Galar. I have no clue what'll become of his store, and to be entirely frank I couldn't care less."
Dawn felt rather disturbed to see just how little Team Heart cared for the well being of those who are not part of their collective. Granted, the owner slash manager of the bookstore was being kind of a jerk for being ableist against persons on the spectrum, but to take him from his livelihood and throw him into a labor camp, without care of any consequences that may follow from that, it wasn't exactly painting Team Heart as wholly in the right, regardless of how much of a jerk the bookstore owner and manager was being.
There was little else keeping Dawn and the rest of the away team there, so after Dawn's group said some farewells as a courtesy to Sumalee, Aparna, and the other present members of Team Heart, they took off to return to The Big Beauty. Dawn was wanting all the more to finish filling up the last few unfilled spots in the Galar Dex, which when completed will mean that the whole of the National Dex will be completed.
That was something that Dawn was looking forward to.
Two days later in Ballonlea, The Big Beauty was parked in an open field next to the local Pokémon Center. The reborn trainers returned to The Big Beauty after having been to a store near the Pokémon Center. When they arrived, Dawn and the others saw that Leona was running more of the guided tours of the flying ship, this time with Calem and Victor helping her.
When the reborn trainers got up to the scene, Dawn got Leona's attention. "How goes the business of the guided tours?" Dawn asked.
"We're making a pretty nice haul here," Leona said, "Oh, we don't offer any sort of discounts on the prices for tickets to take a tour, right?"
Nodding once, Dawn replied, "Yeah, why?"
Shrugging, Leona said, "Some really old lady who says she's from a theater troupe asked about getting a senior's discount, but I explained to her that no discounts of any kind are offered on ticket prices. She seemed a little annoyed but ultimately accepted it."
"Old lady from a theater troupe?" Trip asked, looking curious.
...
As it turned out, the old lady in question was Opal, the now former gym leader for the Ballonlea gym. She was now enjoying retirement as persons of her great age would. Opal was sitting at a table that was set up on the open air deck of The Big Beauty when the reborn trainers found her. "Oh my yes," Opal remarked, "I really was getting too much on in years to really stay as a gym leader. I think that my successor Bede will do a stand up job as a gym leader."
"Are you still in the theater business, though?" Mina asked.
"Oh, I'll die before I give up theater," Opal said, a hint of an amused smirk in her expression, "There is no way that my thespian blood will let me give up theater so long as I live."
"So you thought to take one of the guided tours of The Big Beauty, huh?" Trip asked.
Opal nodded once in the affirmative. "Oh my, yes. It's quite a marvelous vessel. It's kind of worrying, though, that Team Heart has similar other flying ships as part of the forces that they're able to bring to the table. Ooh, rumor has it that the Team Heart Empire is rather unhappy with the government of the Alola region right now."
Hearing that made the reborn trainers worried. "What exactly had Alola done to make Team Heart upset?" asked Mina.
"Apparently," Opal began, "There were some persons labeled by Team Heart as terrorists who were, according to Team Heart, being harbored in Alola. But in recent events, Team Heart had been able to confirm that said quote unquote 'terrorists' are no longer anywhere in Alola. Said persons that are wanted by Team Heart had somehow vanished without a trace, and Team Heart is rather upset with that. They're especially upset as they have no idea how it happened or where the persons wanted by them had vanished off to."
Dawn was worried that Team Heart would eventually learn that Ericson's Company was no longer in Alola. What Dawn was worried about most now was Team Heart finding out that Ericson's Company had been able to get to Sinnoh. Hopefully Eric and his fellows all remember to keep it in mind that they have to keep to themselves and not let the world at large know where they are at; the last thing that Sinnoh needs right now is having to deal with Team Heart harassing it.
...
Eventually, the guided tours were done for the day. After things were cleaned up and Leona went to count the profits from selling tickets, Dawn looked to Trip, Kenny, and Mina as they stood in the main indoor area of the flying ship. "How many Pokémon in the Galar Dex do we still need to get registered as caught?" Dawn asked
Trip pulled out a list and checked it. "...We're twelve species away from completing the Galar Dex, thus completing the National Dex as a whole. Aside from needing to catch an Eiscue, all of the Pokémon that we're missing can be obtained by evolving Pokémon that we've already captured."
"You're worried about what Opal told us about Team Heart finding out that Eric and his group of turd bouquets had been able to slip out of Alola and vanish without a trace, aren't you?" Mina asked.
Dawn nodded once in the affirmative. "Given Team Heart's history, they're bound to get pissy with the fact that Eric and his fellows had eluded them. It'll only be a matter of time before Team Heart does something drastic in response. That being said, we're going to go out, find an Eiscue, catch it, then evolve what Pokémon we need to in order to complete the Galar Dex so that we can leave the Galar region and return home to Sinnoh."
Kenny gave an understanding nod. "That's fair. Hopefully we won't be tripped up as we're filling out the last few spots in the Galar Dex. We're really close to completing the Galar Dex, it would suck big time if something cropped up to spoil the mood." The reborn trainers all nodded in agreement, then proceeded to make plans and o maximize efficiency in completing the rest of the Galar Dex so that they can have their business finished and return home.
Over the next three days that followed, the reborn trainers after Kenny caught an Eiscue pushed to evolve what Pokémon they needed to in order to fill up the missing spots in the Galar Dex. As a result of their push, the reborn trainers were able to get all of the missing species, with Runerigus being the last species that the reborn trainers got registered as caught.
Even though they weren't exactly able to take their time on the matter due to urgent business, it still didn't stop the reborn trainers from enjoying the fact that they had between them gotten every last species of Pokémon registered as caught. They had together been able to do that which no other person in the world had been able to do; complete the National Dex.
"Alright," Dawn said as she and the other reborn trainers were talking together at the Pokémon Center in Hammerlocke located closest to the Hammerlocke gym, "We're first going to have to fly to Pallet Town in the Kanto region and tell Professor Oak the news."
"We're gonna have to deal with those assholes in the Kanto regional security force, aren't we?" Mina asked, already dreading having to go to Kanto for that reason alone.
Nodding once, Dawn replied, "Unfortunately, yes. But after that as well as checking in on Ash, Brock, and Misty, we're going straight home to the Sinnoh region."
"Yeah, I can feel Twinleaf Town calling us," Trip remarked, "So when do we fly out of Galar?"
"As soon as Leona, Omiyo, Calem, and Victor get back from picking up some Galar exclusive snacks that Leona said she wanted to get before we leave," Dawn explained.
...
Omiyo, while she was browsing aisles in a store, heard some people talking nearby. Curious, Omiyo went to look and saw Nina and Marnie talking to Admin Sue, although Omiyo had no idea who Sue was. But Omiyo did recognize Nina, knew her to be similar to her as both of them are autistic. Omiyo, as she made her way up to the three girls, hoped that the three of them wouldn't be bothered by her coming up to them.
"Hey Nina," Omiyo said, getting Nina's attention. The other girls turned to look at Omiyo as well.
"Oh!" Nina said, "You're Dawn's friend who's just like me! What are you doing here?"
"Me, Leona, Calem, and Victor are getting snacks before we leave Galar," Omiyo said, "Dawn said that the field research she, Trip, Kenny, and Mina were doing is finished, so we're heading back home to the Sinnoh region."
"Aww," Sue said, sounding a bit disappointed, "I was hoping that they'd stay long enough to let me study Mina's normally colored Eevee and Dawn's shiny Eevee."
Omiyo turned to look at Sue, gave her a curious look. "You want to study Mina's Eevee and Dawn's Eevee?" Omiyo asked, "What for?"
Gesturing to Sue, Marnie explained, "Sue here has been studying shiny Pokémon, mainly to learn any specific differences between a normally colored Pokémon and a shiny Pokémon of the same species."
"Oh, my Bellibolt is shiny," Omiyo remarked.
"Ooh, I would have loved to take notes on it if you guys were sticking around long enough for it," Sue said. Omiyo then learned that studying various things about Pokémon is Sue's special interest, and that Sue, same as Omiyo and Nina, is autistic. Omiyo was surprised that there were so many others like her in one place, all happy and at ease.
Omiyo would have spoken up, but she was stopped short when two Team Heart members walked into the store and up to Sue. The first was a boy who looked about two years older than Sue. He had the same skin tone as Sue, but his chin length hair was black. He wore a black t-shirt under a pink boy's dress shirt with the sleeves ending halfway down the forearms, black pants, pink shoes, and he had a black Team Heart 'H' on the dress shirt over the left pectoral.
With that boy was a girl dressed in a standard female Team Heart grunt outfit. The girl was fair skinned and had long and straight white hair that almost reached her waist. "Yo Sue," the boy said, "You're needed back at headquarters in Wyndon."
"Oh, Alan!" Sue said to the uniquely dressed boy, "What happened?"
"You're needed to make a video call to Lady Bianca," said the now identified Alan, "Although I don't know why that is."
Omiyo perked up when she heard Alan mention Bianca by name, and address her as Lady Bianca. "Oh, you guys are part of Team Heart," Omiyo said. She looked (and sounded) a bit disappointed to see that someone like her had joined Team Heart.
"Yeah, and Sue here is the Admin who heads up the Galar Sector of Team Heart," Alan said, "By the way, I'm Sue's older brother Alan, and I'm the Fourth Captain of the Galar Sector. The girl with the long white hair is my Captain's Assistant, Jules. We just came here to find Sue so we can bring her back to headquarters over in Wyndon."
"I hope I'm not in too much trouble," Sue said as she left with Alan and Jules.
After Team Heart was gone, Marnie turned to look at Omiyo. "You don't like that they're part of Team Heart, do you?" Marnie asked.
"Isn't Team Heart the group of bullies who go around and take over everything and make others live by their rules?" Omiyo asked. It disturbed Omiyo that Sue, someone who's just like her, someone who had been regularly bullied, was now part of the group doing the worst kind of bullying. It just didn't make sense to Omiyo.
"I think that Team Heart aren't bullies," Nina said, "They're actually working hard to keep people from being mean to others. The methods that Team Heart uses are just... very strong. But they DO put a stop to discrimination wherever they go and rule over, and they make everyone share with everyone else. Strong methods, but still nice people."
Omiyo wasn't sure what to say, but her line of thinking was cut off when Leona, Calem, and Victor came up to her. "We got all the snacks," Leona said, "Let's pay for them and get out of here." Omiyo said goodbye to Nina and Marnie before she took off with Leona, Calem, and Victor, paying for the snacks first before leaving the store.
When they all got back to The Big Beauty, all of the crew was on board of the flying ship. With no other business left for them in Galar, Dawn had Heath take up and off into the skies, making a straight course for Pallet Town in the Kanto region. After checking in with Professor Oak there, the crew would then return to Sinnoh where, with all personal business having been finished, the heroes would be able to join efforts against Team Heart in earnest.
Hopefully nothing will pop up to throw things off kilter.
By the time Sue, Alan, and Jules got to the Galar Team Heart headquarters in Wyndon, it was already late afternoon. They got out of the Corviknight taxi, and went right into headquarters where they were greeted by a rather nervous looking Michaela. The air that was given off by the Admin's Assistant did not pass by Alan unnoticed. "Michaela, what's up?" Alan asked.
"Please tell me that word of Dawn Berlitz and her companionship having already left Galar isn't true," Michaela said, looking almost pleading.
Looking mildly curious, Jules said, "Last we heard as we came in, Dawn Berlitz's flying ship in on a course for the Kanto region for some odd reason. I very much highly doubt that Team Heart forces, if we want to capture Dawn and her crew for whatever reason, will be able to do so at this point."
Scoffing, Michaela said, "Damn it, Lady Bianca is going to be utterly pissed."
Right away, Alan, Sue, and Jules looked alarmed. "Lady Bianca will be mad that we let Dawn and her friends get away?" Sue asked, "Why?"
...
"I just got word from Admin Zidane of the Sinnoh Sector that the group of terrorists known as Ericson's Company had turned up in Sinnoh," Bianca said over video call to Sue; Sue was sitting at her desk in her office in Wyndon while Bianca was calling from her mansion home in the wealthy neighborhood in Opelucid City in the Unova region. Alan, Jules, and Michaela were standing by off camera near Sue.
"How did those terrorists get to Sinnoh?" Sue asked, looking genuinely surprised.
"Obviously they all had hitched a ride in secret with Dawn Berlitz's flying ship while it was still in Alola," Bianca went on. Bianca was incredibly pissed, but she remembered that she had to watch her tone and temper with Sue. The Admin of the Galar Sector is autistic, and thus some patience and a bit of understanding have to be afforded to her. "How were they able to leave Galar before you and your forces were able to detain them?" Bianca asked.
"We didn't know until Alan, Jules, and I got back to Wyndon a few moments ago that we had to detain Dawn and her crew," Sue explained, "They left earlier today. Umm, why would detaining Dawn and her crew be of any use?"
"We would hold them hostage in order to force Sinnoh's government to surrender the whole of Ericson's Company to Team Heart custody," Bianca explained, "But since they left before we could have taken them, we weren't able to get the best bargaining chip to use to make Sinnoh cough up those terrorists that they're harboring."
Sue looked really upset and ashamed. "I'm really sorry," Sue said, "I had no idea."
Bianca let out a troubled sigh. "The timing of things just didn't favor us," Bianca remarked, "So we're going to have to go to plan b to get those terrorists."
Sue looked nervous. "Umm... what's plan b?"
END, CHAPTER FORTY
Author's notes;
This chapter sees some light shed on the past of Marnie, aka Piers's little sister. Here Marnie has a past of being a fat kid who lost the weight due to Piers getting her to go out and run around a lot with Nina. Marnie also gained a valuable perspective on Pokémon thanks to Nina, so everything is alright in the end.
The reborn trainers and their crew mates then meet the rest of the Officer Staff for the Galar Sector of Team Heart, but in bits and pieces. They see Sumalee shut down a bookstore because the owner and manager of it was ableist, and Omiyo runs into Alan and Jules when she and a small away team were getting snacks as they were leaving Galar.
They were leaving Galar because of how Dawn and the other reborn trainers had finished completing the Galar Dex, thus completing the National Dex, and they wanted to leave Galar as soon as possible because Dawn had a nagging feeling that things were about to be turned upside down in the immediate future.
That turned out to be a good gut feeling as Bianca had gotten word from Admin Zidane of the Sinnoh Sector that Ericson's Company had turned up in Sinnoh. Bianca wanted Dawn and her crew to be detained and kept as hostages in order to exchange for getting all of the members of Ericson's Company, but The Big Beauty was long gone out of Galar by the time Bianca says that to Sue.
The next chapter will see the reborn trainers touch base with Oak, Ash, Brock, and Misty in Kanto before they have to head on back to Sinnoh because two members of Ericson's Company (who you can probably guess correctly) failed to keep in mind that they weren't supposed to stand out. Dawn and the others will have to prepare for the biggest fight they've had yet. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Leni (female Lucario), Zancrow (male Volcarona), Lincoln (male Latios), Fangfang (Yveltal)
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)