Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Pokédex no Isekai
Chapter Two: The heart of the problem
Dawn, Kenny, Trip, and Mina were in the meeting room on board of The Big Beauty, Dawn's flying ship she had in the now altered timeline. Looking into the matter, Dawn learned that, in this timeline, she originally would have gotten a flying ship comparable to the one that's used by the Rising Volt Tacklers and, back in the original timeline, The Jelly-Filled Donut.
But in this current timeline, Dawn had foiled an assassination attempt on Princess Salvia, earning even more gratitude from her and her country in the process. As a result, Salvia while still gifting Dawn her own flying ship instead gifted her the biggest class of flying ship available, fifty percent bigger than standard sized flying ships like the Brave Olivine.
Additionally, Dawn had apparently been convinced by Lana, one of the reborn trainers' friends living in Alola, to name the ship; Kenny here had still wanted to name the ship The Jelly-Filled Donut. Dawn will admit that the name 'The Big Beauty' is rather fitting for her flying ship in this timeline; it's certainly big, and there's something about vessels, both aquatic and airborne, that's beautiful.
Dawn also learned that she's still the Champion of Sinnoh, still has never lost a battle, and had even been able to make it to the final round of the Masters Eight tournament at the end of the most recent World Coronation Series where she defeated Ash and retained the Monarch title she won off of Leon partway through to keep Pyramid King Brandon from getting it.
"So you're still sporting an undefeated record," Trip smirked on amusement at his sister, "Some things never change." Trip was still orphaned in this timeline and taken in by Johanna and eventually adopted by her. It also happened within the same general timeframe, it was just under different circumstances here is all.
"Yeah, but there's still a lot of changes," Dawn remarked in concern, "Also, Kenny, Mina, what are the two of you doing?" Dawn and Trip both turned to look at Kenny and Mina.
"We're taking off our shoes," Kenny said, "We lost the bet, so we're going to keep to our word and eat our shoes."
'You two... can wait on that for a bit," Dawn replied, "We've got more important things to discuss." As Kenny and Mina relaxed, Dawn said, "The main thing that we have to discuss is the fact that, due to us having messed around back in time, the timeline had been altered greatly, resulting in a shade over half of the known world having been taken over by this Team Heart group."
Trip took out some papers he was provided with prior to the private meeting with the other reborn trainers. "In terms of how the group is structured, Team Heart is actually very much similar to Team Scorn back in the original timeline," Trip began, "And by the way, in this timeline, Team Scorn had never existed in the first place."
"Team Heart is structured similarly to Team Scorn?" Kenny asked.
Trip nodded once in the affirmative. "Team Heart is a multi-region criminal organization comparable to Team Rocket which in this timeline has long since been defeated and wholly wiped for good, and the aforementioned Team Scorn which never existed in this timeline to begin with. However, unlike Team Rocket and Team Scorn, Team Heart has actually seen success in conquering and taking over various territories."
"They've taken over and now occupy a shade over half of the known world," Dawn scowled, "With their conquered lands forming what's known as the Team Heart Empire."
Trip nodded in confirmation. "Going back to how Team Heart is structured," Trip said, "There's a Sector of Team Heart for every region. Unlike with Team Scorn whose Sectors are seemingly named after an accessory or item borne by the Admin who runs a specific Sector, the Sectors of Team Heart are named after the regions they're based in. For example, the Team Heart Sector based in the Kanto region is called the Kanto Sector."
"Are the personnel set up similarly to how Team Scorn had theirs set up?" Dawn asked.
Trip once again nodded in the affirmative. "Yes. Each Sector of Team Heart has one Admin who is the immediate leader of their Sector, but the various Admins still defer to the Boss of Team Heart. Similarly to how it was with Team Scorn, Team Heart's Boss is a mysterious individual who still isn't known to the world at large."
Scoffing, Kenny said, "At least Pariah soon came out into the open."
"Maybe the true Boss of Team Heart remaining hidden in the shadows is part of how Team Heart had actually seen success in taking over various regions in the world," Mina reasoned, "I mean other villainous Teams eventually went down due to their true bosses being exposed out in the open and heroes taking them down. You can't defeat a villain boss if they're never found."
Trip nodded once in agreement before moving on. "In addition to each Sector of Team Heart having an Admin as its immediate head, there's also four Captains per Sector who help their respective Sector's Admin with running things and managing the rank and file. Each Admin and Captain, who are all Officers, also has an Assistant. The Boss of Team Heart also has an Assistant."
"Captain's Assistants," Dawn began to sum up, "Admin's Assistants, and Boss's Assistant."
Once again, Trip nodded in confirmation. "The Officers, as well as Admin's Assistants and the Boss's Assistant, are all allowed to have custom outfits provided that they strictly use the Team Heart colors of pink and black. The rank and file members of Team Heart, as well as Captain's Assistants, still have to use standardized uniforms."
Dawn was handed a sheet of paper by Trip and read aloud from it. "Male Team Heart grunts wear black beret hats with pink poofballs on top, pink sleeveless flask jackets over black shirts, black pants, and black shoes with pink shoelaces. Female Team Heart grunts wear pink beret hats with black poofballs, the same top clothing items as the men, black cargo shorts, and the same shoes as the men. Grunts regardless of their gender also wear black gaiter masks which they must wear up at all times."
"There's also Team Heart's symbol," Trip said, "A stylized capital letter 'H' that resembles two halves of a broken heart with a bar connecting the two halves to make it all resemble a capital letter 'H'. It's black and over a pink background." Trip took out a photo and showed it to the other reborn trainers to show them what he was talking about.
After the other reborn trainers looked at the Team Heart H, Dawn looked to Trip. "I believe we got it that Team Heart had successfully taken over various territories?"
Scowling, Trip replied, "Right now, over half of the known world is under the banner of the Team Heart Empire's regime. Out of all of the known lands, only Kanto, Sinnoh, Kalos, and Alola remain free. Everywhere else is Team Heart territory."
"Wait, we're still technically in Johto airspace right now," Mina said, worry clear in her tone and expression.
"Well nothing has happened yet, and we're close to the border with Kanto," Kenny replied, "Once we cross, we'll be home free."
Although The Big Beauty was able to fly over the Johto-Kanto border with no problem from Johto's side, when Dawn's flying ship arrived in Kanto territory, it was more or less greeted within a minute of arrival by regional security, two men riding in on Pidgeots who landed on the deck of The Big Beauty and ordered for it to land in the nearest safe area, which just so happened to be Pallet Town which the reborn trainers were going to anyway.
The two security men, as well as other members of their group, thoroughly searched Dawn's rather large flying ship, not even giving anyone a chance to argue with what they were doing. They backed out once they confirmed that there was nothing to worry about. "Given that your flying ship was seen flying over the Indigo Parallel from Johto's side," said one of the security men to the crew of The Big Beauty, "We couldn't take any chances."
"Next time you arrive in from a side occupied by Team Heart," said a second security man, looking and sounding indifferent to any and all distress he and his fellows may have caused Dawn and her crew, "Be more cooperative with us when we search your flying ship for any possible personnel from that villainous Empire that unfortunately shares a border with Kanto."
"Yeah huh," Dawn said, making sure to make a note of the names of the men who had barged in without so much as an explanation until halfway through what they were doing. She was going to be reporting this to whatever person she needed to report it to in order to make these men pay for being assholes. Sure their job was important, Dawn could understand that, but the men were very clearly using it as an excuse to get away with being assholes.
After the security men took off, James and Meowth looked up into the direction of the sky in which the security men took off in. "Geez, Meowth and I had long since cut ties with Jessie," James said, "Why did they act like Meowth and I were moles working for Team Heart solely because we used to be friends with a known Team Heart Captain?"
"No clue, James," Dawn replied; she still found it odd that, in this timeline, James and Meowth, who were formerly of the long defunct Team Rocket, were now not only good guys but were also a part of her crew on board of her flying ship. "...Anyway," Dawn said to her crew as a whole, "Trip, Kenny, Mina, and I have some business with Professor Oak. Can I count on everyone here to behave?"
The crew of The Big Beauty all saluted Dawn. "You can count on us, Captain," Sho said.
"Mitch will stand guard to make sure nothing happens to your flying ship," Mitch said before Den, Mitch's shiny Dedenne, cried out in agreement.
As the rest of the crew all agreed to act well, Dawn nodded once and turned around to go to Oak's lab with the other reborn trainers. However, when they got about a dozen steps away from where The Big Beauty was parked, they were surprised when Ash, dressed as he was during the World Coronation Series, riding in on his Dragonite, landed and greeted them. Ash recalled his Dragonite and strode forward towards Dawn's crew.
"Ah, Ash," Kenny greeted despite Ash blowing right past him, "How have-"
*WHUHAPAP*
"GAAHH!"
Kenny and everyone else stopped short when Ash straight up slugged James across the face, breaking his nose in the process. As James fell back, Meowth said, "Woah! Take it easy there, Kanto Champ twerp! There's no-"
*STRIKE*
Meowth was cut off when Ash did a slight spin and struck Meowth with a kick that sent him tumbling back about twelve feet. "Ash! What are you doing, dude?!" Kenny exclaimed; even with the history James and Meowth had against Ash due to their time in Team Rocket, it surprised Kenny, as well as the others present, to see Ash physically assault a Pokémon. Something had to be seriously wrong if Ash was driven to physically assault a Pokémon.
Ash was about to stomp down hard on James's glory, but the energy of a Psychic attack surrounded Ash and lifted him away, giving the rest of the crew of The Big Beauty time to collect James and Meowth and pick them up. "Let me down!" Ash yelled, clearly vengeful.
"Calm down first," Dawn said firmly, giving Ash a serious glare that told him that she was not going to play nice if her crew was going to be physically assaulted. "We can discuss this over at Oak's Lab, we have business there anyway," Dawn said, "And you will be apologizing for assaulting members of my ship's crew."
"I'll apologize when their friend gives Pikachu back!" Ash snapped.
Dawn was cut off guard for a moment, as were the other reborn trainers. "I'm sorry," Mina began, "But what did you say?"
Over at Oak's Lab, Dawn and the other reborn trainers got the full story. As it turns out, Jessie who after parting ways from James and Meowth joined Team Heart had reached a Captaincy position and, during a mission against a charity tournament where an exhibition battle with Ash was offered as an optional prize the winner could choose to take, successfully stole Ash's Pikachu and got away scot free with doing so.
"Granted," Oak said as he went on, "Over half of the Team Heart men who Jessie led were captured, and none of the defending trainers were defeated, but the charity tournament event was still ruined beyond salvaging. There's also how Jessie got away with stealing Ash's Pikachu."
"I was wondering why Pikachu wasn't with Ash," Trip remarked. Looking to Ash, Trip said, "How are you feeling, Ash?"
"I wanna turn Jessie's stupid sneering face into ground meat," Ash snarled.
The reborn trainers were all surprised with how... how angry Ash was. But then again, for once one of the persons who had constantly tried to steal Ash's Pikachu had actually succeeded in the task. "Do you know why Jessie would wanna steal your Pikachu, twerp?" James asked as he gently brushed his fingers over the bandaging over his nose, "I mean, that was from back when we were still in Team Rocket. I fail to see how Jessie would wanna do so as a member of Team Heart."
The look that Ash gave James and Meowth would make lesser persons soil themselves on the spot, but the former members of Team Rocket held firm. "...Under normal circumstances," Ash began, "Jessie wouldn't have done so. The Captain's Assistant working under Jessie, some girl named Merdez, said that the Admin in charge of the Kanto Sector of Team Heart, Hanae, actually had to forbid Jessie from trying to steal any of my Pokémon when he heard of her trying to steal Pikachu shortly after she made Captain in Team Heart."
"So Hanae actually told Jessie to leave you alone?" Dawn asked.
"Well Ash IS the Champion of the Kanto Pokémon League," Oak said, "There's some practicality in wanting to avoid directly antagonizing so reputable and strong of a trainer."
The reborn trainers were a bit confused about there being a Kanto Pokémon League, and that Ash is the Champion of it. What happened in Alola? They'll have to find that out later, as right now there's more important info to get. "But I'm guessing that Hanae had a change of heart in regard to having told Jessie to not bother you?" Trip asked.
Ash nodded once in confirmation. "Jessie led a bunch of minions from Team Heart in the attack on the charity tournament event that I was at. They ruined everything there, and during all of the chaos Jessie stole Pikachu before fleeing. I never had a chance to even object, I was forced to help save some civilians who were trapped under some rubble."
"Was Jessie leading the men there specifically to get Pikachu," James asked, "Or was it a general mission to steal as many Pokémon as possible?"
Folding his arms over his chest, Ash said, "I would think that it was a mission to steal as many Pokémon as possible, given some of the men working under Jessie were also stealing Pokémon from the people there. And a few others were successfully stolen from their trainers too. Gary was also there, and Team Heart successfully got away with his Umbreon. Although we were able to stop several other Pokémon from being stolen by Team Heart, and some of the rank and file men that were working under Jessie were successfully captured."
Gently shaking his head, Oak went on, "It still doesn't change the fact that the charity tournament event was ruined by Team Heart's efforts, not to mention how several Pokémon were stolen from their trainers. It's a rather bad deal for Kanto as a whole."
"I can see why the security team that demanded we let them search The Big Beauty after we came into Kanto was so wound up," Dawn remarked, "Team Heart is a serious problem, and one who lives right next door to Kanto." It still doesn't excuse how the security men who searched Dawn's flying ship had been complete and total assholes, however.
"Team Heart has, in addition to Johto," Oak began pointing out, "Taken over the Orange Islands, Hoenn, Unova and the Delacore Islands, Galar and its Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra areas, Paldea, and Kitakami. Kanto, as well as Sinnoh, Kalos, and Alola, remain free."
It was still rather shocking to hear how much exactly that Team Heart had taken over. If there was a silver lining, it was how, with Oak saying Paldea and Kitakami were taken over, it means they weren't cast into oblivion in this timeline. But that was a Team Scorn thing; Team Heart was very obviously very different. "Do we have any means of recovering the Pokémon stolen by Team Heart during the charity tournament event?" Kenny asked.
"Kanto region law enforcement is currently working on tracking down the stolen Pokémon," Oak said, "And we've confirmed that none of the stolen Pokémon have left Kanto. But it's still tough to track all of them down, and if they're shipped out of Kanto then getting them back will be infinitely more difficult, especially if they're shipped to a territory that's part of the Team Heart Empire. The best we can do is hold out hope that the stolen Pokémon will be recovered."
The reborn trainers let out a collective troubled sigh; there was no way they could have been able to tell that things would be THIS bad upon getting back to their present time after using Deelia to fix things for Ideku's past. Dawn felt all the more justified for NOT wanting to use time travel in order to fix things in the past.
There's too many variables to keep track of.
Deciding that they would have to wait on helping to recover Pikachu and the other Pokémon stolen during the charity tournament event, the reborn trainers went about checking all of their Pokémon at Oak's Lab to see what all they needed to add to the list of Pokémon they needed to have registered as caught between the lot of them so that they could complete the Pokédex for all of the regions. As such, they saw that altering time had also affected the Pokémon they owned.
This was most apparent in how a few were actually missing. The Treasures of Ruin were missing, as well as Loyal Three and Ogrepon which told the reborn trainers that things in Kitakami happened differently here. Pecharunt was still there though, and surprisingly Dawn had caught Eternatus here and named it Ryukyu. Dawn even still had Kahn, her named Mewtwo. Aside from that, the reborn trainers noticed no apparent changes in the Pokémon that they owned, which came to them as a rather big relief.
They then took the list of Kanto Pokémon and crossed off all species they already had accounted for between them, and settled on working their way down until everything was crossed off of the Kanto list. "Completing the Pokédex..." Oak said, "It's a dream that all Pokémon Professors around the world share, but one that has never been accomplished. If you kids can do it, then it'd be one of the most inspirational things to occur. It'd be a light in the darkness in a world that's more than fifty percent ruled by Team Heart."
"Yeah, I can see why you'd say that," Kenny replied, "Oh Ash, before we go, I wanna ask something." With Ash's eyes on him, Kenny asked, "You know how Brock and Misty are doing?" The other reborn trainers saw it as Kenny being friendly, and given that Team Scorn never existed in this world, then chances are that Misty was never hurt, meaning she should be unchanged.
Ash's expression melted back down into an unamused scowl. "Brock is doing fine and we're still in contact with one another. He's working on studying to be a Pokémon Doctor still. As for Misty, both Brock and I aren't on speaking terms with her."
"Why, did she join Team Heart or something?" Mina asked.
Gently shaking his head, Ash replied, "No, she's still one of the good guys with us technically. But she still screwed up big time." Although the reborn trainers were all curious as to why Ash and Brock apparently weren't on speaking terms with Misty at the moment, they could tell it was a sensitive topic for Ash, so they decided not to push. Instead, they thanked Ash and Oak for their time before they and what crew they had with them left to return to The Big Beauty.
The quest to complete the Pokédex for all of the regions had begun, with more spots than expected needing to be filled. There was also how the quest was being done in a world that was completely different from what the reborn trainers all remembered. Mina even said that, all things considered, the world that had Team Scorn rather than Team Heart was arguably better, because at least Team Scorn was ultimately stopped in the end.
Unlike Team Heart, who had won in the end more or less.
"So I looked it up," Trip said to the other reborn trainers in the meeting room on board of The Big Beauty, they were having a private meeting, "And the Indigo League no longer exists in this timeline. It dissolved at Kanto's prompting due to Kanto's government not wanting for Kanto to share its Pokémon League with Johto which is a territory that's part of the Team Heart Empire. After the dissolving of the Indigo League, Kanto and Johto formed their own separate Pokémon Leagues, the Kanto and Johto Leagues respectively."
"And Ash became Champion of the Kanto League," Dawn spoke up, prompting Trip to nod in the affirmative to his sister.
Shrugging, Kenny asked, "What happened in the Alola League? Didn't Ash win there in this timeline?"
Trip, a regretful look on his face, gently shook his head in the negative. "No. Ash placed runner up in the Manalo Conference here. He lost in the final round of the Manalo Conference here to some guy named Elio, who became Champion of Alola instead. Elio would of fought in an exhibition battle against the first Contest Kahuna which is still Serena, but Team Heart had launched an attack that interrupted things. The exhibition battle ended up being cancelled."
Folding her arms over her chest, Mina said, "I wonder how Serena reacted to seeing Ash lose to that Elio fellow."
Gently shaking his head, Trip said, "No clue. But I did get it that Serena had reportedly jumped for joy when Ash became Champion of the newly formed Kanto League. She also was relieved when Ash made it to the final round of the Masters Eight tournament of the most recent World Coronation Series, although Ash lost that battle to Dawn here."
"Yeah, there is a lot we need to figure out about this timeline," Dawn said. It still struck her as odd that she's the World Coronation Series Monarch in this timeline, as well as still being Champion of Sinnoh; being Champion of Sinnoh was what Dawn cared more about anyway. "But for now," Dawn began, "We ought to look into completing the Kanto Pokédex."
"The only really troublesome Pokémon from Kanto that I can think of are the Kantonian versions of the legendary birds," Kenny said, "And we've confirmed that Ash here still has all three, so we can do touch trading with Ash to get Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres registered as caught."
Clapping her hands together, Mina said, "It sounds like the Kanto leg of our journey is going to be a short walk in the park for us!" The rest of the reborn trainers all agreed, and were looking forward to completing the Kanto Pokédex. There were even a few instances of specific reborn trainers wanting a specific Kanto Pokémon, such as Dawn wanting Kantonian Arcanine to go with Argent, her alpha Hisuian Arcanine that she still has in this timeline.
She was thankful that MOST of the Pokémon she and her friends have remained unchanged.
(Unknown location, Kanto region)
Jessie, formerly of Team Rocket but now a member of Team Heart, walked with Merdez, her Captain's Assistant. Yes indeed, Jessie was a Captain ranked Officer of Team Heart, the Fourth Captain of the Kanto Sector to be specific. As such, Jessie wore a custom outfit that was basically a pallet swap of her old Team Rocket outfit, replacing the white with pink and the red Team Rocket 'R' with a black Team Heart 'H'.
Merdez, as a Captain's Assistant, had to wear the standard Team Heart grunt outfit that's appropriate to her gender. Merdez was a fair skinned woman with long dark purplish hair, but not much else could be seen of her appearance as she had her black gaiter mask up. "I still can't believe that Admin Hanae actually gave me the okay to steal the twerp's Pikachu!" Jessie squealed, very clearly happy, "And that I actually succeeded!"
Merdez's eyes, the only part of her face that was visible, had a look of concern to them as she regarded the Captain that she served. "I see that successfully stealing Kanto Champion Ash's Pikachu means a lot to you, Captain Jessie," Merdez said, "But even though the mission was a success, you got a good few men captured by the authorities in the process. Admin Hanae reduced your pay for the mission's success because of that."
Jessie looked a mite annoyed at that. "Don't remind me that I got reduced pay, Merdez," Jessie scowled, "I was looking forward to getting some new personal care products with the pay that I had been told about."
"Then maybe exercise some caution the next time that Admin Hanae gives you a mission to carry out?" Merdez suggested, "The method you used, although it DID ultimately succeed in completing the mission, was way too wasteful in my opinion. We could have done more and get away with more men without being so flashy."
"Ah Merdez, Merdez, Merdez," Jessie said, "I've got a lot of experience in the Pikachu snatching field, so trust me when I say that I know what I was doing to get the twerp's Pikachu."
Looking curious, Merdez went on, "That actually reminds me. Admin Hanae normally forbids us here in the Kanto Sector from doing anything to mess with or antagonize Kanto Champion Ash. And yet he actually gave you a mission to steal his Pikachu. Why is Admin Hanae now suddenly interested in Ash's Pikachu, when not only had he shown no interest in it beforehand, he's actually shown more interest in Ash's Charizard?"
With an amused smirk on her face, Jessie said, "Obviously it's because Admin Hanae is now aware of just how rare and valuable of a Pokémon the twerp's Pikachu is."
Merdez looked confused at Jessie calling Pikachu a rare and valuable Pokémon. "I with all due respect to you Captain Jessie fail to see how a Pikachu is as valuable as you claim it to be. Admin Hanae valuing Ash's Charizard makes more sense, Charizard is a rarer and overall more powerful species of Pokémon than Pikachu."
Jessie chuckled in amusement. "Like I said, he's finally realized that the twerp's Pikachu is the real prize to be taken from the twerp. Now come on, Admin Hanae is waiting for the two of us to come and meet with him. I bet he intends to praise me for my success before giving me another mission to carry out in the name of Team Heart."
Merdez could only roll her eyes at how full Jessie was being of herself. Merdez was still a loyal and dutiful Captain's Assistant to the Captain that she served, but Jessie could stand to be a bit more humble in Merdez's opinion. The smug attitude that Jessie was giving off right now was not all that befitting of a Team Heart Captain in Merdez's opinion, and Jessie's cockiness had gotten her some reprimands on more than one occasion.
Sighing, Merdez could only hope that Jessie's current trail of success continues to go along, as well as become finer and more streamlined. Jessie has shown some degree of competence, but she just needs to drop at least ninety-one point six percent of the ego she's got going right now. Her success to failure rate as a Team Heart Captain isn't good enough to warrant even a fourth of the cocksure ego that the former Team Rocket member has going right now.
...
Two people were waiting in a meditation slash martial arts sparring room, a man sitting cross legged on the floor and a girl standing up next to him on his right. The man was cocoa skinned, with dishwater blonde hair whose bangs cover his forehead with long lengths of bangs on both sides of his face, framing it. His body was well toned and had notable muscle, lacking even the barest scrap of excess body fat.
He wore a pink sleeveless martial arts top with a long front covering the front of the thighs (with similar lengths covering his rear), the top had black trim, he wore black gloves that reached halfway up his biceps, pink bands around his wrists and biceps, black martial arts leggings, he had a pair of black shoes off to the side in the room, he wore pink wraps around his shins, a black necktie, and he had a black Team Heart 'H' over his left pectoral.
The girl standing next to where the cocoa skinned man sat had tannish skin that suggested a latino heritage, with jet black hair in a sort of bobcut with thin bangs framing her face and two hair buns on the back of her head. She wore the same outfit as the man sitting next to where she stood, and her shoes were with the man's shoes off to the side.
The man sat in a meditative position, hands over one another and laying on his lap, while the girl wielded a bamboo sparring sword but stood in place at attention. "Although it's rather annoying that she got several of the rank and file men captured in her haste to retreat after securing the target," the man began, "There's still no denying that Captain Jessie had succeeded in securing the Pikachu that belongs to Ash Ketchum."
"Why did you want Ash's Pikachu again, Admin Hanae?" asked the girl, "I thought that you'd prefer to steal Ash's Charizard."
The man, identified as Admin Hanae, head of the Kanto Sector of Team Heart, opened his eyes, turned to look at the girl. He shot her a mischievous, knowing look as he waved a finger at her in a 'ah ah ah' manner. "I am interested in Ash's Charizard, yes," Hanae said, "But not as a prize to steal. It's a bit much for me to get into right now."
"Can you at least explain to me why you authorized Captain Jessie to steal Ash's Pikachu?" asked the girl.
"This is somewhat known due to how famous Ash Ketchum is here in Kanto due to being the Champion of Kanto," Hanae said, "But he and a friend of his named Brock are not on speaking terms with a third friend of theirs, one of the Cerulean City gym leaders. That bad blood will dull the keen edge of Ash, and by extension his Charizard, so I intend to sharpen it. Gotta keep my rival at the top of his game so he can keep me at the top of mine!"
"And stealing Ash's Pikachu will help facilitate this plan of yours?" asked the girl.
"Of course, Emi," Hanae replied, "I'll explain the plan more in detail once I send Captain Jessie off on her next miss-"
*open*
Hanae was cut off when the door behind him and the now identified Emi opened, and in walked Jessie and Merdez. "Take your shoes off, ladies," Emi said as she addressed Jessie and Merdez, "You know full well that Admin Hanae has a strict no footwear rule for this room."
Jessie and Merdez moved to remove their shoes, with Jessie saying, "You must take fighting seriously, Admin Hanae. No footwear rules are usually observed in fighting dojos, and your room here gives off strong fighting dojo vibes."
"That's the idea, Captain Jessie," Hanae replied, "Anyway, I have your next mission lined up for you. It'll be similar in nature to the mission where you stole Ash's Pikachu, but this time do try to keep any of the rank and file serving under you from getting captured."
"What's the mission, sir?" Merdez asked as she moved to put her and Jessie's respective pairs of shoes over where Hanae's and Emi's pairs of shoes were at.
"You'll be going to Pewter City, where Ash's friend Brock lives," Hanae began, "You'll steal from him one Pokémon, only one. It ought to be as small and easily gotten away with as possible."
Jessie looked curious. "Just a single small Pokémon from the Pewter Gym twerp?" Jessie asked.
"I think Brock of the Pewter Gym owns a Comfey," Merdez said, "Would that work for the mission?"
"Excellent suggestion, Captain's Assistant Merdez," Hanae praised, "It's small and can be easily managed. Nothing too big and unruly for us to handle unlike Brock's Steelix. If Brock owns another smaller Pokémon that can be easily gotten away with, that'll be fine. Just go in, take a small and single Pokémon from Brock, and get out."
Nodding once in the affirmative, Jessie said, "Understood, Admin Hanae sir. Anything else that I ought to keep in mind?"
"Yes," Hanae said, "For each rank and file man working under you that you bring along but allow to get captured during the mission, your pay for completing the mission will be reduced by an appropriate percentage. Am I clear?"
With the threat of reduced pay for completing the mission over her head for each subordinate she lets get captured, Jessie nodded once in the affirmative. "Sir, yessir," Jessie replied, "I swear to not leave even one man behind on this mission." Hanae nodded once, apparently satisfied enough with Jessie's response, and dismissed her and Merdez, letting them take their shoes and put them on outside of the room before leaving.
After Jessie and Merdez were gone, Emi turned to look at Hanae. "Can we trust her to not let anymore men get captured?" Emi asked.
"If she wants the max possible pay for this mission, she'll keep her word and not leave a single man behind," Hanae replied before he turned back and resumed his meditation.
END, CHAPTER TWO
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the reborn trainers discuss the villainous team that's present in the current timeline, Team Heart. They soon arrive in Kanto, only to be greeted by Ash who one, is apparently the Champion of Kanto, and two, physically assaults James and Meowth before being restrained and made to calm down.
The heroes later learn that Ash snapped on James and Meowth because their former friend Jessie, who is now a Team Heart Captain, had ruined a charity event Ash was at and, among other things, successfully stole Ash's Pikachu. They discuss a few more points before taking off on the quest to complete the Kanto Pokédex.
Elsewhere, Admin Hanae, head of Team Heart's Kanto Sector, discusses with his Admin's Assistant Emi about Ash and Brock, with plans to steal a small Pokémon from Brock like how Pikachu was stolen from Ash. The job is given to Jessie who's warned to not let any rank and file men get caught by the authorities this time.
But what exactly is it that Hanae has planned? That's going to be found out later as this story goes on. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Tsukune (Palkia), Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Akiza (female Roserade), Germany (male Garchomp), Cyrus (male Staraptor), Leni (female Lucario)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Black (Giratina), Shallot (male Glaceon), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Roshi (male Torterra), Zarbon (male Machamp), Moista Fista (male Ursaluna)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Deelia (Dialga), Tsunade (female Gastrodon; East Sea), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Veda (female Abomasnow), Myde (male Empoleon), Fourze (male Electivire)
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)