Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Pokédex no Isekai
Chapter Fourteen: Fallout in Fallarbor
The Big Beauty landed in an open field next to the local Pokémon Center in Fallarbor Town, Hoenn. The reborn trainers came here partly to check out the surrounding routes for new Pokémon to catch. What they can't allow Team Heart to learn is the fact that they (the reborn trainers) are trying to complete the Pokédex, and they're going region by region. They have no idea what Team Heart may do with that information.
Another reason that they came to Fallarbor Town is due to how they heard of how there was a recent attack in Fallarbor Town carried out by rebel fighters who are fighting to try to liberate Hoenn from Team Heart rule. The attack claimed several lives, including the lives of a pair of rather unlucky Spindas. Remembering that Spinda are native to the soot covered route near Fallarbor Town is part of what spurred the reborn trainers to come check things out.
Also among those killed in the attack carried out by the rebel fighters is Luis, the now late First Captain of the Hoenn Sector of Team Heart. A memorial service is going to be held for those who had been lost in the act of terror carried out by the rebel fighters. As the reborn trainers looked around Fallarbor Town, Dawn couldn't help but reflect upon how complicated things are when one considers both sides of the conflict.
Sure, Team Heart ARE technically the bad guys, so getting rid of them is a good thing. Not only that, but Team Heart authority in Hoenn had been reported to have arrested people who actually had celebrated the fact that several Team Heart members including an Officer were all killed during the recent attack in Fallarbor Town. An authority that doesn't permit opinions that are negative to said authority itself isn't good.
...But at the same time, the Team Heart authority has shown to be rather reasonable and fair to all people regardless of their background. What really highlights what good Team Heart has is that they do not discriminate; they actually eliminate and outlaw discrimination in the lands that they rule after first taking over said lands. Granted, they always start with the odd choice of eliminating fatphobia before going on to other forms of discrimination, but still.
Dawn was thinking about this as she and the other reborn trainers looked around Fallarbor Town, to see if there was anything that they could learn about the recent attack carried out by the group of rebel fighters. It was Trip who first spotted the memorial sight set up outside of Fallarbor Town's local Pokémon Contest hall. The reborn trainers all went over to check it out, saw candles, flowers, and photos of those who were lost in the act of terror.
Dawn was the first to spot a photo of the late Captain Luis; she and the other reborn trainers had only met Luis once, and they had no idea that it would end up being the last time that they would be able to see him. Granted, Luis being one of the bad guys technically muddied the matter, but they still thought that straight up acts like the attack that had rocked Fallarbor Town was stepping a toe too far out of line.
"Who is right, Dawn?" Mina asked.
Perking up, Dawn said, "Excuse me?"
Gesturing to the memorial sight set up next to the local Pokémon Contest hall, Mina asked, "Who is right in the Team Heart versus the people against them conflict?"
Dawn turned back to look at the memorial sight, a resigned look on her face. "...It's a complicated subject. Both sides have done bad, but at the same time both sides have valid points to them. It's difficult to say that one side is all good while the other side is all bad."
"I can see from an objective standpoint why you'd say that," Trip remarked, "Sure a lot of people, especially outside of the Team Heart Empire, would say that Team Heart is all bad and has no good parts whatsoever. But then again, life in the Team Heart Empire isn't totally sucky. They actually do some legit good, they don't allow discrimination. Hell in some cases they actually carry out actual justice that others are too lazy to carry out."
Scowling, Mina said, "I think that some folks don't wanna carry out certain kinds of justice."
Turning to look at Dawn, Kenny said, "The conflict that sees Team Heart against the rebel fighters who are fighting to liberate Hoenn from Team Heart rule is a muddy affair with no clear cut answer. It's best that we ignore it and focus on our own shenanigans."
Dawn nodded in agreement with the wise words that Kenny had spoken, and it feels weird to say that Kenny is speaking wise words. After they visited the memorial sight for those lost in the act of terror carried out by the rebel fighters who are fighting to try to liberate Hoenn from Team Heart rule, the reborn trainers went about their business to check out the surrounding routes around Fallarbor Town for Pokémon to catch to complete the Hoenn Pokédex.
As far as Dawn could remember, the soot covered route has only Spinda; hearing of how a pair of Spindas were among those killed in the attack on Fallarbor Town by the rebel fighters is part of the reason why the reborn trainers came out here. There's also the route going west of Fallarbor Town, the route that leads to Meteor Falls where one can get Solrock and Lunatone. There are quite a lot of Pokémon in the Hoenn region for the reborn trainers to catch.
And the reborn trainers were currently trying to live up to the old saying 'gotta catch 'em all'.
Later after they got back from the soot covered route with a Spinda caught, the reborn trainers made their way back to where The Big Beauty was parked next to the local Pokémon Center located in Fallarbor Town. After they they checked in with the crew of Dawn's flying ship, the reborn trainers got it from Sho that Leona and Omiyo went to go pay respects to those killed in the attack that was carried out in Fallarbor Town a short while ago.
Curious, the reborn trainers made their way over to the local Pokémon Contest hall. There, they saw a number of persons praying at the memorial sight that was set up for the victims of the attack. They spotted Leona and Omiyo off to the side of the group. Upon the reborn trainers approaching, it was Dawn who noticed that Leona and where facing a photo of some Spindas. Dawn led the other reborn trainers over to Leona and Omiyo.
"What are you up to?" Dawn asked.
Gesturing to Omiyo, Leona explained, "Omiyo here wanted to pray for the two Spindas who were killed in the attack carried out by Hoenn's Heroes."
"Hoenn's Heroes?" Trip repeated questioningly.
"That's the name of the rebel fighters group native to Hoenn," Leona said, "Omiyo and I learned it as we came over here."
Folding her arms over her chest, Mina said, "It's a stretch to call that group heroes. I mean, they DID carry out an attack that claimed a count of lives in the double digits."
"They killed two Pokémon," Omiyo spoke up, never moving or getting up from where she was kneeling before the memorial sight for the vanquished Spindas, "They are not heroes."
Nodding in agreement, Leona said, "Yeah. Omiyo is very much against the idea of Pokémon being killed, or dying in general."
"Then I don't think she'll like to hear the tale of how Tsukune and I had helped to see an old Hitmonchan off," Dawn said. Dawn had checked the Team Heart timeline and learned that she and her named Palkia had still battled a very aged Hitmonchan who made it clear he wanted to die in battle, fought him until a Spacial Rend from Tsukune sent Hitmonchan to the Allfather. Perhaps the preteen autistic girl is not ready to learn of certain customs among the various types of Pokémon.
But putting that aside, Omiyo got the reborn trainers to join her and Leona in praying for the slain Spindas. As the combined six of them prayed for the Spindas who were lost to violence, they all perked up when a female voice called out, "It's touching to see that you wish to pay respects to the deceased, Dawn Berlitz."
Dawn got up and turned to see it as a female Team Heart member in a unique outfit came walking up, accompanied by a female Team Heart member in the standard uniform for Team Heart members of her gender. The uniquely dressed Team Heart member was fair skinned, had long red hair, and wore a pink coat with black trim, black pants, black shoes with pink shoelaces, and the black Team Heart 'H' was on her coat over her left breast.
The grunt with the uniquely dressed Team Heart member was fair skinned and had mildly dark golden blonde hair in twin pigtails. "I don't believe that I have your name," Dawn said.
Gesturing to herself, the uniquely dressed Team Heart member replied, "That's fair. I'm Eliza, Third Captain of the Hoenn Sector of Team Heart. The girl with me is Milly, my Captain's Assistant. I have to admit, I wouldn't have expected you to pay respects at the sight of a memorial set up for people who were killed, given some of those killed were members of Team Heart."
Gesturing to where Omiyo was still kneeling before the memorial, Dawn explained, "My crew mate here wanted to pray for the two Spindas who were killed in the attack. She's rather sensitive about it when there's news of Pokémon being killed." Again, Dawn wasn't all too sure if she should recount to Omiyo the story of the aged Hitmonchan.
The now identified Eliza nodded once in understanding. "That's fair." Scowling, Eliza went on, "Damn that group Hoenn's Heroes. They claim they fight for good, but they caused loads of deaths in an ill conceived bid to do the impossible."
Dawn didn't miss how Eliza was referring to the idea of booting Team Heart authority from Hoenn as impossible. "I think that claiming themselves to be heroes isn't... entirely fitting."
"Several prominent persons of Hoenn have condemned the actions of Hoenn's Heroes in the news," spoke up Milly, "Including the head of Devon Corporation and his son, Steven the top of Hoenn's Elite Four. Hoenn Champion Brendan has also condemned the actions of Hoenn's Heroes." Dawn gave a nod of understanding. Also, Dawn got it that Steven Stone became an Elite Four member after he'd lost the Champion title to Brendan.
Similar to how it was in the Team Scorn timeline when Ideku claimed the Hoenn Champion title there, it was Phoebe the ghost specialist who was booted from the Hoenn Elite Four, when Sydney the dark specialist challenged her for the right to remain in the Hoenn Elite Four. Given his very good type advantage over Phoebe, Sydney had it made.
But that is getting off subject as the main topic was Hoenn's Heroes. Similar to other groups in the various lands ruled by Team Heart, Hoenn's Heroes fight to liberate their respective land, in this case the Hoenn region, from Team Heart. But they aren't exactly subtle about it, if their attack that they carried out in Fallarbor Town here is any indication of that. Sure they did take out a few members of Team Heart, including an Officer.
But they also killed several innocent civilians and two Pokémon in the process. Were they so gung ho on liberating Hoenn from Team Heart rule that they don't care who gets caught up in their fighting, so long as said fighting claims at least one Team Heart head? It disturbed Dawn on some level that the line between who the good guys are and who the bad guys are can be blurred to such a terrible degree.
When the line between who the good guys are and who the bad guys are gets blurred like that, one knows that things have become truly terrible.
Later, the reborn trainers checked out Meteor Falls and the route outside of said cave. In that general area, Dawn and the others caught one of each Hoenn Pokémon that they came across so as to further complete the Hoenn Pokédex. Among the catches that were made was Dawn catching a Zangoose who she named Ted Talks, as per the suggestion of Trip.
With all of the possible Hoenn Pokémon in the area of Meteor Falls and the routes around it taken care of, the reborn trainers made their way back to Fallarbor Town. "Okay, I think that our next stop ought to be Mossdeep City," Dawn began as she and the other reborn trainers had a private meeting in the meeting room aboard The Big Beauty.
"Why Mossdeep City?" Trip asked.
"We can get multiple water Pokémon in the Hoenn Pokédex there," Dawn pointed out, "As well as the nearby cave which has Spheal and Snorunt."
"Don't we already have Snorunt registered?" Kenny asked.
Nodding once, Dawn said, "Yes, I had while first traveling through Sinnoh caught a female Snorunt and evolved it into Froslass. But we don't have Glalie registered as caught."
"Oh yeah, Snorunt has a branched evolutionary line," Kenny remarked.
"I also wouldn't mind a Walrein," Trip said, "So leave catching a Spheal to me."
Nodding once, Dawn said, "Fair enough. Now that just leaves the water types we can fish up in the area of Mossdeep City, such as Carvanah and its evolution Sharpedo, and Wailmer and its evolution Wailord."
"Which will be a shiny female that Kenny will catch and it will go on to become Jibanyan's girlfriend," Mina said with a mischievous smirk on her face.
"Okay babe, I highly doubt that it's gonna play out like that," Kenny remarked, "So please don't try to jinx things to end up like that."
Looking to Dawn, Trip said, "Hang on a minute, what about Febass?"
Snapping her fingers, Dawn said, "That's right! We still need to get a Feebas! Hopefully they won't be rare as balls like they were in the original gen three ga-"
*knock* *knock*
Dawn was cut off by a knock at the meeting room door. Curious, she went to answer it, and was surprised to see that it was Mitch, his shiny Dedenne Den perched on his shoulder as always. "Mitch is very sorry for interrupting important meeting that Captain Dawn is having," Mitch began, "But that Pokémon Contest girl dating Hoenn's Champion is here to see you."
Dawn was able to guess right away that Mitch was talking about May. "What could May be doing here in Fallarbor Town?" Dawn asked rhetorically.
Shrugging, Trip said, "The memorial sight set up for the people killed in the attack carried out by Hoenn's Heroes is set up right up next to the local Pokémon Contest hall in Fallarbor Town. May, who is big on Pokémon Contests, probably wants to check it out." Figuring that Trip's assesment is accurate, Dawn nodded once before she and the other reborn trainers got up to leave the meeting room and go see what May wanted to see them for.
May was in the main rec area of The Big Beauty, apparently having been let aboard by Rhyanna according to Mitch's word. Unsurprisingly, Max stood with his older sister, although he was sort of hiding behind her. Oddly enough, May was holding a Feebas. "There you are, Dawn!" May greeted. Walking up to Dawn, May handed over the Feebas she was carrying.
"This Feebas hatched from an egg that was found with Brendan's Milotic and someone else's Milotic," May said as she explained what was happening, "Brendan, in wanting to build up a strong relationship between Hoenn and Sinnoh, wanted to have this Feebas gifted to you. Feebas are a fairly rare species apparently, so he's hoping that it'll be enough help to make Sinnoh more friendly with Hoenn."
Talk about convenient. As Dawn received the Pokéball for her new Feebas from May, Dawn said, "Tell Brendan that I said thanks." After Dawn officially accepted the Feebas and it was sent over to Oak's Lab in Kanto, Dawn asked, "I don't suppose that's all of the business that you have here in Fallarbor Town, is it?"
"Actually, I wanted to check out the memorial sight set up next to the Fallarbor Town Pokémon Contest hall," May said, a resigned and somber look on her face, "You know, the memorial set up to honor those killed in the attack carried out by Hoenn's Heroes."
"They don't seem all that heroic if you ask me," Max remarked, "Carrying out acts of terror in a bid to remove Team Heart from power here in Hoenn. They're far too reckless, their attack that they did here in Fallarbor Town took several civilian lives."
"And the lives of two Spindas," Mina pointed out, "It wasn't just humans killed in the attack carried out by Hoenn's Heroes. Pokémon were also killed in that attack too."
Dawn nodded once in confirmation. "My crew mate Omiyo is particularly upset about how there were two Pokémon deaths in the recent attack here in Fallarbor Town."
May and Max both looked similarly disturbed. "That... that is terrible," May said, looking shocked, "It's bad enough human lives were lost, but Pokémon lives were lost as well?"
Dawn nodded in agreement. "Some people think that a Pokémon losing its life is arguably worse than a human losing theirs." It really made Dawn think about how some folks in the world think about things, if some consider the life of a Pokémon arguably more valuable than that of a human. Still, there wasn't much time for Dawn to muse on that for now, as she and the other reborn trainers had to continue their quest to complete the Hoenn Pokédex.
And all of the other Pokédexes after Hoenn's.
Later in Mossdeep City, Dawn and Mina were watching as Kenny was fishing off the coast. Around this time, Trip came back from Shoal Cave. "Got Spheal and Snorunt," Trip said, getting Dawn and Mina to turn to face him as he came up to them, "Now I just need to evolve Snorunt into Glalie and fully evolve Spheal, and we'll have a few more species crossed off of the list of Hoenn Pokémon."
Pointing to Kenny, Dawn said, "Kenny has been fishing to try and get a Wailmer. I already got Carvanha, so Kenny is gonna get Wailmer."
Snickering a bit, Mina remarked, "Imma gonna laugh if it's a female shiny that ends up crushing on Jibanyan."
Folding his arms over his chest, Trip asked, "Mina, how come Kenny lets you get away with messing with him in such a fashion?"
"I dunno," Mina replied, "Oh Trip, make sure your Snorunt doesn't get near any Dawn Stones. We don't want it evolving into Froslass."
"My Snorunt is male," Trip confirmed, "The males of the Snorunt species can't evolve into Frosslass. It can only evolve into Glalie."
Dawn nodded once in approval. "Good, that eliminates some risk. Now all that we-"
"Woah it's a biggun!" Kenny cried out, cutting Dawn off and making her plus Trip and Mina turn to see Kenny reel in a Pokémon from the waters off the coast of Mossdeep City. To the surprise of everyone, it was a wild shiny Wailmer. "...It had better not be female," Kenny scowled as he got ready to catch the wild shiny Wailmer.
...
"Artemis damn it," Kenny said as he later scanned his shiny Wailmer's ball with his Pokédex, "It's a female Wailmer."
"So you caught Jibanyan's girlfriend," Mina said, a hint of mischievous amusement in her tone as well as expression.
As Kenny turned to look at Mina in unamusement, Dawn said, "We ought to hit up Sootopolis City next, go diving in the underwater seaweed area to find a Relicanth."
"Hey, I just had a thought," Trip said, "Something that Mina's teasing of Kenny just now reminded me of. What are we gonna do about Delcatty?"
"Delcatty?" Kenny repeated questioningly.
Nodding once, Trip said, "You made it clear you never intend to evolve Jibanyan, but he's a Skitty which evolves into Delcatty. So what will we do about Delcatty if you won't evolve your Skitty?"
"Simple," Dawn remarked, "We go catch another Skitty and evolve that one."
"Just keep the Moon Stones away from Jibanyan," Kenny remarked, "He needs to stay as a Skitty in order to be able to channel maximum amounts of moxie and The Hose."
"Alright, so we got Relicanth and a second Skitty on the list," Mina said, "What order are we gonna go in? How will we do this?"
"We'll fly The Big Beauty to Sootopolis City," Dawn said, "Then while one of us goes diving for a Relicanth, either myself or Trip will go to the grassy route east of Rustboro City and search for a Skitty. It'll have to be either myself or Trip because using Lincoln or Lisa to fly will make things much faster."
Looking curious, Mina said, "Okay, I know that Lincoln is your Latios, but who is Lisa?"
Tossing up a Master Ball, Trip called out the Latias he had caught earlier. "This is Lisa," Trip said as he gestured to his named Latias, "Also, respectfully I'd rather go after Relicanth."
Nodding once in understanding, Dawn said, "Well then, I guess that I'll have to go find a Skitty in the tall grass."
"You're gonna find a pussy hiding in the bush," Mina said.
Turning to look at Mina with the driest of expressions, Dawn said in a likewise tone, "You... you are just firing them off one after another today, aren't you?"
Sighing, Mina with a regretful look on her face said, "I didn't get my prerequisite amount of coffee this morning during breakfast. I tend to... lose my filter if I don't have enough coffee."
"Yeah, I think that the stock that's kept in The Big Beauty may need to refill certain items soon," Dawn remarked, "I'm a bit of a mess myself if I don't get my usual amount of coffee in the morning, especially if all of the hazelnut creamer gets used up before I'm done."
"So it's settled," Kenny declared, "Dawn will go catch a Skitty, Trip will go catch a Relicanth, and I shall go on a run to pick up a few grocery items so as to keep the filter on Mina and to keep Dawn from losing her shiznitz."
Trip after recalling his named Latias said, "Yeah, and if a grocery run is being done, can we also get a bottle of Galarian Cream flavored coffee creamer? That one's my favorite."
"Ooh, if we're getting Galarian Cream and Hazelnut, we also need to get Kalosian Vanilla," Mina said, "That's a popular flavor of coffee creamer."
Taking out a notepad and pen to write with, Kenny said, "Okay, I got bottles of Hazelnut, Galarian Cream, and Kalosian Vanilla coffee creamers. Also some more coffee grounds. Anything else that I ought to keep an eye out for?"
"We ought to probably take inventory first before we do a grocery run," Dawn remarked as she and the others made their way back on board of Dawn's flying ship. After take off, The Big Beauty made its way over to Sootopolis City, where more Hoenn Pokédex work and some grocery shopping was taken care of.
Later in Rustboro City, Dawn walked over to where The Big Beauty was parked, having just landed there after Dawn called for it to come pick her up. When the other reborn trainers received Dawn, they learned that she did indeed successfully capture a wild Skitty. To everyone's surprise, the Skitty that Dawn had caught was a male shiny Skitty, same as Kenny's named Skitty Jibanyan. Dawn, due to how Kenny stated a firm desire to keep Jibanyan as a Skitty, will be evolving her shiny Skitty into a Delcatty when the time comes.
But that has nothing to do with why The Big Beauty flew to Rustboro City to pick up Dawn. In her efforts to look for, find, and catch a Skitty, Dawn accidentally sprained her ankle due to tripping on accident over some tangled branches. Luckily Dawn was still able to catch her Skitty, he actually came up to her out of concern after she tripped and fell over while spraining her ankle. As Dawn hissed in pain while trying to massage her ankle, Skitty rubbed the side of his body gently against Dawn's bad ankle, he nuzzled his face into hers.
Dawn was able to befriend and catch the shiny Skitty, then she used Lincoln to carry her to the Pokémon Center, and waited there for the pickup. It was to Dawn's embarrassment that Mitch had been chosen to carry her up onto The Big Beauty, given that he picked her up and carried her bridal style. After John the ship medic wrapped Dawn's bad ankle, she was helped to the meeting room by the other reborn trainers, where they all sat down to a private meeting to go over all of their catches thus far in their quest.
"So yeah, I got Relicanth," Trip said, "And Dawn caught the Skitty we'll evolve into Delcatty."
"I really need to be more mindful of my footing," Dawn said, hissing in pain as she gently rubbed a hand over the wrap around her bad ankle.
"So how are we doing on completing the Hoenn Pokédex?" Mina asked.
Trip, after crossing things off of a list, said, "Huh, well I'll be damned! All we got left to do are some evolutions, and we'll have Pokédex number three completed!"
The other reborn trainers all let out a cheer, although Dawn's was more subdued due to her injury. "Wait, how does Feebas evolve into Milotic?" Kenny asked, "Something about glamming up to gain maximum beauty?"
"Either maxing out its beauty stat in Contests, which is done with high quality dry Pokéblocks or Poffins," Dawn said, "Or trade it while it's holding a Prisim Scale. The latter is far quicker and easier for us, so we're doing that."
"Woohoo!" Mina cheered, "Soon we'll be able to say goodbye to Hoenn!"
Arching a wry eyebrow, Trip said, "You're happy to be leaving Hoenn?"
"It's Team Heart turf, duh," Mina replied, "Hey, what's the next region we're doing after Hoenn?"
"We're heading back home to Sinnoh and completing the Pokédex for there," Dawn replied, "And given how we got all legendary and mythical Pokémon for Sinnoh plus what all Sinnoh Pokémon that we have already, I highly doubt completing the Sinnoh Pokédex will take us very long."
Stretching her arms into the air, Mina said, "Man oh man, am I looking forward to going home! Oh, is Silver still in Sinnoh after we brought him there?"
Gently shaking his head, Trip replied, "I doubt it, Mina. Silver did say something about looking to go to Alola, so chances are that he will be long gone by the time we get back to Sinnoh."
Snapping her fingers, Mina said, "Damn it, I wanted to get to know him more since Dawn said that he's potentially an important person." Indeed, Silver, the rival character from the Johto games, took the reborn trainers by surprise when he not only met up with them in Blackthorn City, Johto, but then requested they grant him passage out of Johto and into any of the free lands. Dawn agreed to do so without wanting any sort of payment out of it unlike what Mina implied.
They didn't want to stop off in Kanto, so they brought Silver to Sinnoh with them. Sinnoh, same as Kanto, is one of the free lands. It also had the benefit of being much further away from Johto than Kanto was, so Silver gracefully accepted the lift to Sinnoh. Given that Silver said that he was going to go to Alola, Dawn was figuring that he'd be long gone by the time that The Big Beauty will have landed back in Twinleaf Town after returning from the Hoenn region.
Dawn and the other reborn trainers could only hope that Silver, wherever his travels may take him, will be fine. The air and tone that Silver gave off showed him to be a far kinder and respectful person than his game self from the games in Dawn's previous life was. Kenny said he was like a version of Paul who had long since already started his redemption arc. Remembering what Kenny had said about Silver reminded Dawn of something she wanted to do, something that she told the other reborn trainers about and they too instantly agreed they wanted to check on it as well.
What is the task that Dawn had in mind? Checking to see if Paul is alive in the Team Heart timeline. Other persons who died or were killed in the Team Scorn timeline are alive in the Team Heart timeline, so the reborn trainers were hoping that Paul not only was alive in the Team Heart timeline, but that he was also doing his redemption arc.
Dawn and the others had to hope for the best.
(Melemele Island, Alola region)
Eric was relaxing on the beach, laying in a beach chair with a large beach umbrella over him to give shade. He also had a small table with a fruity drink on it next to his beach chair. He wore an Alolan shirt, swimming trunks, sandals, and sunglasses. "Ah, this is the life if I do say so myself," Eric said as he enjoyed relaxing in the tropical paradise that is Alola that he had managed to get to.
He had been through quite a lot of struggles, none of which he felt that he had coming, so now he was claiming what he felt was the good karma that he had due to him. He picked up his fruity drink, which had a straw and mini umbrella in it, and took a sip of it through the straw. He let out a rather satisfied sigh before he sat his drink back down and proceeded to continue lounging.
...Or rather he would have continued lounging had it not been for Faba coming up to where he was at, his pace something of a jog. "Hey Eric," Faba called out, his tone sounding with a hint of urgency as well as sounding like Faba deferred to Eric as a superior authority, "We got a bit of trouble at our business in the city near the trainer school. You may wanna come by and settle things."
"Faba, Faba, Faba," Eric began as he got up, having to mask how pissed he was that his relaxation was just interrupted, "I highly doubt that any of the businesses under my umbrella could be taking any sort of heat. Bear in mind that we're an economic force comparable to the Aether Foundation, after all." Turning to face Faba, Eric said, "Now then, what sort of 'trouble' are we dealing with?"
"Alolan Champion Elio," Faba said, actually succeeding in making Eric take pause, "He's mad at you personally due to your constant attitude towards his girlfriend. Also, Elio's friend Selene is there as well, and she's upset with your constant attitude towards her boyfriend."
Scoffing, Eric said, "Well can I be blamed for wanting to remind inferior people of their place?"
"Eric," Faba began, "You may wanna consider having to apologize to Champion Elio at least and refrain from doing anything to anger him. He's a much beloved figure in Alolan society, if it gets to a publicly made fight between you and Elio, the people of Alola will side with Elio one-hundred percent of the way. You'll lose a lot of face if you don't yield here."
Sighing, Eric muttered, "Fucking damn it." Speaking up, Eric went on, "Alright, alright, alright, I'll say sorry to the region's Champion and promise not to do anything to piss him off, even if it means I can't tell off his girlfriend for being less than human." Eric proceeded to power-chug the rest of his fruity drink before going with Faba to smooth over feathers with Alolan Champion Elio.
(Opelucid City, Unova region)
Bianca, the Boss's Assistant of Team Heart and the public face that rules the Team Heart Empire, was sitting in her office as she was going over a few forms. The usual maid stood nearby to attend to Bianca as needed. "It's utterly disgusting what happened over in Fallarbor Town, Hoenn," Bianca remarked, "At least if you ask me."
"Those terrorists who would remove Team Heart authority from Hoenn simply do not know any better, Lady Bianca," the maid replied.
"And to make matters worse," Bianca went on, "Those rebel fighters have the audacity to give their group a name that implies that they're actually heroes. Just where in blazes does Hoenn's Heroes get off at, I ask you?"
Gently shaking her head, the maid said, "They are as egotistical as they are hopeless, Lady Bianca."
Letting out a resigned sigh, Bianca said, "Admin Ken is still training the new Captain he picked to take the place of Captain Luis who was lost in the attack carried out in Fallarbor Town. The Hoenn Sector is technically down some manpower. It may give those rebel scum the ego boost to think that they can actually remove Team Heart from power in Hoenn."
"Do you believe that sending additional forces into Hoenn to lay down the law may be necessary to secure Hoenn's place in the Team Heart Empire?" asked the maid.
Doing the so-so gesture with her right hand, Bianca replied, "Ehh, if enough trouble following the attack in Fallarbor Town results. Hoenn belongs to Team Heart now, and if necessary then we WILL be reminding others of that little factoid."
Bianca leaned back in her chair, let out a troubled sigh. "...We need to nip the problem that is Hoenn's Heroes in the bud," Bianca began, "They haven't been around as long as Aincrad has been, but they have proven in their briefer time to have just as much potential to be thorns in our sides. We need to track down and round up Hoenn's Heroes. Same goes for Aincrad."
The maid nodded in agreeing compliance. "...Oh, it's almost time to get lunch started, Lady Bianca," the maid said as she saw the time, "What would you like the chefs to prepare for you?"
Bianca gave a bit of an amused smile, gently rubbed her plump hands over her very considerable belly. "Actually, have them surprise me with what lunch will be," Bianca replied, "Everything they had made has proven to be good, so I'm sure I'll like it regardless." The maid nodded in compliance as she went about to let the chefs know to get started on making lunch for Bianca.
END, CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the reborn trainers visit Fallarbor Town to check out the memorial set up to honor those killed in the attack carried out by Hoenn's Heroes, the rebel fighter group in Hoenn aiming to remove Team Heart authority from the region. Dawn and the others meet more Team Heart Officers native to Hoenn, as well as do more work to complete the Hoenn Pokédex.
Their work eventually gets to the point that they only have evolutions to do before the Hoenn Pokédex is complete. But before the chapter cuts to see how Eric and then Bianca is doing, Dawn has a passing thought on if Paul is still alive in the Team Heart timeline. That will be learned within the next few chapters, so 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), Ezio (male Eevee; shiny)
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), 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)