Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Pokédex no Isekai
Chapter Twenty: The perfect Captain
The Big Beauty was parked in an open field next to the Pokémon gym located in Sunyshore City as Dawn and her away team of Kenny, Trip, Mina, Lucas, Paul, and Barry were out meeting with Volkner, the gym leader of the Sunyshore City gym. "Pfft, yeah it wouldn't surprise me if Team Heart tried to pull off some bogus business here in Sunyshore City," Volkner remarked, "But then again I'm here in Sunyshore City, so Team Heart's bound to fail."
"You alone, no matter how strong and skilled of a trainer you are, won't be enough to deal with Team Heart and the numbers that they always strike with," Trip said, "Aren't there any other trainers here in Sunyshore City that you can rally to help fight off Team Heart if they ever strike?"
"If need be I can drum up a force," Volkner replied, "But I haven't ever seen the need. Team Heart has never struck here in Sunyshore City, and the reports I've heard of Team Heart strikes here in Sinnoh tells me that Team Heart can be repelled quite easily if they do strike. I'm confident that if they ever do strike here in Sunyshore City, I can handle it on my own."
"I'm not exactly liking that arrogance of yours," Kenny said, a wry eyebrow arched.
Shrugging, Volkner said, "It's not arrogance, it's stating common fact. I mean, who in Team Heart I ask you can beat me?"
"I'm not sure of any one single member of Team Heart who can do it," Mina began, "But like Trip had just said, Team Heart always strikes in great numbers. If the first member or two can't beat you, then more and more will battle you until you're eventually worn down enough for one member to be able to swoop on in and finish the job. You can't fight Team Heart alone. You'll need backup."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Volkner said, "Why should I get people who will just weigh me ba-"
"Volkner," Dawn began in a firm tone, catching Volkner off guard, "Don't make me use my authority as Champion of Sinnoh to make you gather and work with a force of other trainers to help you with keeping Team Heart out of Sunyshore City."
The leader of the Sunyshore City gym gulped nervously. "O-Okay," Volkner replied, knowing better than to anger the girl who is inarguably and officially the strongest trainer in the world, "I'll make a call to arms here in Sunyshore City to see who can help stand up against Team Heart."
Mina had to resist the urge to make a comment that went along the lines of saying that Volkner was a dog Pokémon that Dawn had whipped, given how easily he folded to Dawn's commanding word on the matter of drumming up numbers to help deal with it if Team Heart ever tried to pull off any sort of foul business there in Sunyshore City.
...
"So according to what we were told on the matter," Dawn began, "We have reason to believe that Team Heart may try to pull something off at the beach area here in Sunyshore City. But given what all went down when the lighthouse was almost stolen-"
"-Yeah I still can't believe that someone once tried to steal a friggin' building by turning it into a rocket and flying away with it," Volkner remarked.
"-We ought to have security for the lighthouse as well," Dawn went on, "Wait, are there any other places of note that Team Heart might be interested in here in Sunyshore City?"
Shrugging, Barry said, "How about the Sunyshore City gym? It's where Volkner does his gym leader work out of, Team Heart may think of striking there to try and cripple Volkner's ability to fight back against them."
Nodding once in agreement, Trip said, "It wouldn't be the first time that Team Heart had tried to raise a ruckus at a Pokémon gym. We ought to keep that I'm mind."
"Oh Team Heart had better not do anything to my gym," Volkner swore.
"How about that market area?" Mina suggested, "Team Heart may think of striking there, especially if they have reason to suspect that they can score a pay day there."
Dawn, as she wrote up a list, added Mina's suggestion to the bottom as the latest entry. "Okay, so we got beach area, lighthouse, gym, and market," Dawn listed off, "Anything else?"
Shrugging, Lucas said, "No, I got nothing."
"I can't think of anything," Paul admitted.
"I'm drawing a blank here," Barry spoke up.
"Then that means we can now move on to the next part of the plan to protect Sunyshore City from Team Heart," Dawn said, "That being holding a rally to draw in trainers willing to join the force being thrown together to defend Sunyshore City from whenever Team Heart tries to pull an attack here. We're really gonna have to put a lot of effort into inspiring trainers to stand up and join the fight at least in some capacity if we're to keep Team Heart at bay here in the Sinnoh region."
The others nodded in agreement, knowing full well that every trainer here counts. Even Volkner was now understanding the idea that he alone won't be enough to fend off the sheer numbers that Team Heart always comes to the table with whenever they strike. Hopefully the rally that Dawn was going to be calling for would be enough to inspire trainers local in Sunyshore City to step up and help with fighting off Team Heart should those most foul of villains attempt to strike.
The rally was held in a local public park in Sunyshore City, but those who did come to see it didn't seem exactly to see the urgency in the call to arms. Aside from how all instances in Sinnoh of Team Heart striking have been foiled, Sunyshore City not only was in a relatively hard place for Team Heart to flee from due to its status as a seaside town, but it had Volkner, one of the strongest gym leaders in Sinnoh, as a resident.
The people of Sunyshore City seem to think that Sunyshore City's position mixed with Volkner being there meant that there was no need for them to worry, that everything would be taken care of for them, that they didn't have to lift a finger. As a result, hardly anyone out of those who had come to see the rally thought of signing up for the local trainer militia that Volkner was trying to drum up as a defensive force to help protect Sunyshore City from Team Heart.
"Well this is great," Paul scowled, "The locals here have grown too comfortable and assured of the status quo to believe that anything could ever shake it up."
"Meaning that if Team Heart DOES strike here in Sunyshore City," Lucas began, "And the strike is too much for what little defense there is to deal with, the people here are going to be in for a rather rude awakening."
Dawn looked over to where Volkner was talking to the few trainers who were recruited into the local trainer militia for Sunyshore City, a total of six trainers. They were an even mix of guys and girls, but none of them had full parties of six Pokémon. Each of them had parties of two to three Pokémon on average, although one of the recruited guys had a team of four Pokémon. It wasn't all that much to be honest, but at least it was something.
Turning back to look at her away team, Dawn said, "Well let's hope that Team Heart won't be striking here in Sunyshore City until the local trainer militia here is able to grow and become big and strong enough to effectively repel Team Heart efforts."
"So what do we do?" Trip asked.
Jerking a thumb to point out Volkner, Dawn replied, "What else? We're gonna help Volkner train up what few trainers he was able to recruit."
...
The training of those who were recruited into the Sunyshore City trainer militia proceeded to go, although it was a touch and go experience. Volkner himself was confused when Dawn suggested that some effort be made to work on having the trainers get their Pokémon ready to attack things on the water along the shore of the beach in Sunyshore City, with Dawn saying that for all that they know, Team Heart may try attacking from the shore.
Of the six trainers who were recruited into the Sunyshore City trainer militia, only one of them, the guy with a four Pokémon team, had a Pokémon capable of attacking things coming in from the water like that. An Ampharos, and its only ranged attack was Thunderbolt. Dawn said to Ampharos's owner that he ought to have his Ampharos learn more ranged attacks; it can at least pick up moves like Power Gem, Dragon Pulse, and Dazzling Gleam.
As for the recruited trainers whose efforts were going to be landlocked, Dawn had Trip and Paul help supervise their efforts to train and get ready for it if Team Heart tried to strike in Sunyshore City. This saw some degree of progress, and Paul was showing more of his gentle, redeemed side that had been developing ever since he began his redemption arc. Things at the moment seemed to be going rather smoothly for the heroes.
During a break that the heroes were taking, Dawn met up with Paul and Trip while everyone else was eating and the Pokémon were being treated with medicines as needed; mostly items to restore spent PP, but it was still necessary. "So how are things going?" Dawn asked.
"I'd be lying if I said that the recruited trainers are sufficient," Paul had to admit, "Three of them clearly only keep their Pokémon as companions and have virtually zero experience actually having to battle others. The best of the six that we were able to recruit is the fellow with the Ampharos, and you Dawn have been working with him to prep in case Team Heart tries to strike from the waters around Sunyshore City."
"Due to the people in the city as a whole getting too comfortable with the status quo," Trip said, "Chances are that what little force there is here in Sunyshore City isn't going to be enough to stop any and all Team Heart efforts made against the place. The people as a whole are not going to be all that happy in that case."
Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn replied, "Although I on principle hope that Team Heart doesn't strike in Sunyshore City, if they do strike and what little force there is here to stop them isn't enough to do so, then maybe it'll be a proper call to arms to inspire more to join up to help protect things from future strikes from Team Heart."
"Yeah, the people here have grown soft and assured," Paul remarked, "Those are the kinds of people who don't like having the status quo shaken up. They'll get upset and demand answers."
"And that's where Volkner will tell them that there needs to be more trainers who are willing to be part of the force he's trying to lead as a defense against Team Heart," Trip said, "Hopefully that will be enough to get more people in the Sunyshore City trainer militia."
Dawn was about to say something, but she was barely able to get a syllable out before the guy who owns the Ampharos came jogging up to her. "Hey Champion Dawn! Big trouble!" said the Ampharos owner, "Team Heart is here in Sunyshore City!"
Dawn, Trip, and Paul were all on alert, with Dawn turning to the Ampharos owner and saying to him, "What's the situation?"
"They're invading from the beach," said the Ampharos owner, "A good number of members have already made it to shore, more than enough to outnumber everyone that's here and willing to fight them! But they're also attacking from the water, they have a swarm of Gyarados firing-"
*THOOM*
Everyone flinched slightly from the loud explosive sound that they heard just now. "...Hyper Beams into the city proper," the Ampharos owner went on, "Damaging several buildings in the process."
Dawn swore under her breath before beginning to formulate a plan of counter attack. "Okay, how far do you think your Ampharos can fire Thunderbolts?" Dawn asked, "Gyarados are dual water flying type, a good zapping ought to help bring them down quickly."
"Only some were in Thunderbolt range," said the Ampharos owner, "At least last that I saw. And Ampharos only knows Thunderbolt as a ranged attack."
Dawn pinched the bridge of her nose as she squinted her eyes. "...Alright, I'll fly overhead on Tsukune and have it fire Power Gem attacks at the Gyarados swarm that Team Heart is using to attack Sunyshore City from the water," Dawn said, "Anyway, let's head on over and see what all we can do to send Team Heart packing." With an affirmative cheer, the others all followed Dawn right towards the danger.
Danger being brought to them by Team Heart.
Over at the beach area, as the land invasion by Team Heart was underway, supplemented by covering fire from the water via a swarm of Gyarados, a uniquely dressed Team Heart member was supervising the invasion. He was a fair skinned man with scruffy chin length black hair, and he wore a black long sleeved shirt under a pink t-shirt, black pants, black shoes with pink shoelaces, and he had a black Team Heart 'H' on his shirt over the left pectoral.
Standing with him was a male Team Heart member in the standard uniform for male Team Heart grunts. He was fair skinned and had scruffy greenish chin length hair. "So we're really going to try to bring Sinnoh to its knees, Artemis," the grunt said to the uniquely dressed member.
"Yes Jim," replied the now identified Artemis, "And would it kill you to show some decorum? I'm a Captain, so refer to me as Captain Artemis at least while we're on missions."
"Whatever you say," replied the now identified Jim, "Captain Artemis at least while we're on missions."
Giving Jim a dry and unamused look, Artemis said, "You're just fucking with me now, aren't you?"
"I may or may not be," Jim responded.
Artemis was about to say something, but a female grunt called out that some trainers were rushing in with the intent to fight off the Team Heart invasion. Artemis looked on ahead and saw that while where were indeed trainers rushing in, they were very few in number. He even gave an amused laugh as he thought that this was going to be an easy win.
But then he saw the legendary Pokémon Palkia called out, then saw it proceed to fly overhead to the water. Artemis turned around in time to see Palkia firing Power Gem attacks into the swarm of Gyarados, taking them out slowly but surely as it was flying around to avoid being hit by returning fire. Artemis then turned to look ahead and saw that Dialga had been called out and was fighting off the Pokémon of the grunt on land.
"And this is why I questioned trying to take Sinnoh right now," Jim said, "It's Dawn Berlitz's home turf. We might of had a decent shot of doing at least some damage if Dawn wasn't here, but it had made the news that she had returned to Sinnoh and is going to be sticking around for a while."
Scowling, Artemis said, "Well shit. It looks like we're going to-"
"You're one of the Team Heart bastards who led to my older brother being arrested!"
Artemis stopped short when a young and angry male voice barked out at him. Suddenly, Artemis and Jim were confronted by Kenny and Paul, although Paul looked to be taking point here as he had his angry glare planted firmly in the direction of Artemis. "You're that Artemis fellow who with that bastard Zidane were the two Team Heart members who had been seen being helped by my older brother Reggie!" Paul snapped, "He got arrested because of you!"
"Reggie?" Artemis said, "You mean the guy who helped with flipping the van off of Zidane?" Giving a confused shrug, Artemis asked, "Well how is it our fault he got arrested? We weren't in our outfits for Team Heart, hell we never even said anything that could have tipped him off on who we were!"
"You were identified in the news and law enforcement here in Sinnoh used that to arrest Reggie!" Paul exclaimed. Taking a firm stance that made it clear he intended to fight, Paul went on, "And I'm not going to let you get away from the fierce pounding that I'm going to give you!"
Zarbon the named Machamp came out of his ball on Kenny's person on his own to give off a resounding, moaning cry of aroused, sensual pleasure. "Sorry about that," Kenny said to Artemis and Jim, "Zarbon here was... triggered, yeah that's a good way to put it."
"Yeah, not gonna lie," Artemis replied, "Admin Zidane would have reacted the exact same way to what the boy just said to me."
Looking confused, Paul said, "How would what I said elicit that kind of a reaction?"
"Because Admin Zidane is a freak," Artemis replied casually, "Anyway, I suppose that introductions are in order. I am Artemis, First Captain of the Sinnoh Sector of Team Heart. The idiot here with me is Jim, my Captain's Assistant."
"Yeah, we got a bit on you guys from Artemis Jr.," Kenny said, "You need to keep an eye on Jim, and your son needs to keep an eye on Martin."
"Do either of you two have ANY idea on how much trouble even one between Martin and Jim can cause on their own if left unsupervised?!" Artemis exclaimed.
"Oh come on Artemis," Jim said, "Martin and I can't be that bad, can we?"
Artemis turned to look at Jim, shot him a dry and unamused look. "You were nearly executed on the spot because you made a crack about Lady Bianca's weight," Artemis said.
Shrugging, Jim replied, "I wasn't making 'a crack' as you had so colorfully put it, I was being honest. Honesty is the best policy, after all."
"To her face and within earshot!" Artemis exclaimed, "Me whacking you in the back of the head with that two by four plank of wood and knocking you out is the only reason you're still alive, you stupid son of a bitch! How could you possibly forget about Team Heart creed, and right when the second in command of Team Heart herself is right there in front of you?!"
"At least Martin is worse than me," Jim replied, "Right?"
Doing the so-so gesture with his right hand, Artemis said, "Ehh, I'd say that the two of you are about even. Martin's probably worse because he's actually an Officer, so his actions make things look a lot worse for the Sinnoh Sector than your actions."
"Hey," Paul spoke up angrily, "Are we going to battle or what?" Tossing up a Pokéball to call out his shiny Nidoqueen to back up Kenny's named Machamp Zarbon, Paul went on, "Because Kenny and I have both been standing by for battle while the two of you have been rambling on like the pair of idiots that you are!"
"Hey yo, you ought to pay us some more respect," Artemis said as he sent out a Pikachu, "Especially since Team Heart is eventually going to rule the whole world."
Tossing up a Pokéball to call out a Grumpig, Jim added, "And the first thing I'll do once Team Heart owns everything in the end is rub it in the face of my ex-wife, from whom I got my Grumpig in the divorce settlement."
"Alright, at last you're being smart for once Jim," Artemis said, "Have Grumpig focus on Nidoqueen, it's a threat to-"
"Grumpig use Shock Wave on Machamp, YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Jim exclaimed.
"At least have it use a psychic type attack on Machamp you idiot!" Artemis scowled. Turning to face the battle, Artemis said, "Pikachu, use Grass Knot on Nidoqueen!"
"Pikachu!" Artemis's Pikachu cried out, its cry having a distinctive Latino hint to it.
"Zarbon, use Knock Off on Grumpig!" Kenny ordered.
"Nidoqueen, use Earth Power on Pikachu!" Paul commanded.
Zarbon ended up getting zapped by Shock Wave as he charged in, but he was able to take it despite how being naughty made him more vulnerable to special attacks. He struck Jim's Grumpig hard and knocked it out. As for Nidoqueen versus the Latino sounding Pikachu, Nidoqueen took Pikachu out in one hit with Earth Power. Both Artemis and Jim were forced to call back fainted Pokémon.
"Feh, how pathetic," Paul said as he channeled a bit of his pre-redemption arc attitude to taunt the members of Team Heart, "I know a few people who know how to ACTUALLY raise Pikachus, and none of them would have gone down in one hit like that to Nidoqueen's Earth Power, even WITH the fact it's super effective. Team Heart really IS full of a bunch of pathetic losers."
"Oh it's on now, ya little punk," Artemis said as he sent out his next Pokémon, "Go, Wigglytuff!"
Artemis's Wigglytuff came out, giving off a cry of, "WIGGLYTUFF!" with a voice that made it sound like a distinguished dark skinned gentleman from the Detroit projects.
"Go, Politoed!" Jim said as he sent out his next Pokémon which was a Politoed.
"Your Politoed has a type advantage on the Nidoqueen, Jim," Artemis said, "Have it focus its attacks on Nidoqueen to give me some cov-"
"Politoed use Scald on Machamp, YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Jim exclaimed.
"Jim what in the cinnamon toast fuck is wrong with you?!" Artemis exclaimed. Scowling, Artemis said, "Wigglytuff, use Flamethrower on Nidoqueen!"
"Zarbon, counter the Scald with Stone Edge!" Kenny ordered.
"Nidoqueen, use Sludge Bomb on Wigglytuff!" Paul commanded.
Zarbon's Stone Edge, flying out from a glowing sphere over Zarbon's holy land as he cried out in a moaning tone of aroused, sensual pleasure, flew right at the oncoming Scald, busting it and going on to strike Jim's Politoed with pinpoint accuracy. Politoed ended up being knocked out because it was hit by the load that Zarbon had fired.
As for Nidoqueen versus Wigglytuff, Sludge Bomb burst through the Flamethrower and went on to burst onto Wigglytuff hard, knocking it out with super effective STAB damage. As Artemis and Jim recalled their fainted Pokémon, Jim said in a casual tone, "Welp, I'm out of Pokémon."
"You'd probably of lasted longer if you weren't an incompetent idiot!" Artemis said as he sent out a third Pokémon, surprising Paul and especially Kenny as Artemis's third Pokémon was a male shiny Scizor. "Now Scizor and I have to carry the rest or things here!" Artemis said in a tone of complaint to his Captain's Assistant.
"A shiny Scizor," Kenny remarked, "And I can tell it's a male. Zarbon!" With his named Machamp perked up at the call, Kenny said, "We know full well how to score max possible damage on a male shiny Scizor! Use Dynamic Punch!"
"Scizor, use Iron Head!" Artemis ordered.
Paul, for reasons that escaped even him, held off on issuing an order to Nidoqueen because he felt that Kenny knew what he was talking about. Watching Machamp and Scizor rush at one another, the former jerk-wad wanted to see where exactly Kenny was coming from with his claims of knowing how to score max possible damage on male shiny Scizors specific-
*PUNCH*
"SCIZ!"
Paul was dumbfounded when he saw Kenny's named Machamp throw its Dynamic Punch attack right into the abdomen of the opposing Scizor, making it go bug-eyed as it then covered its stricken abdomen with its metal pincer claws before it began to stumble around in a very certain kind of pain that only guys would be able to understand.
"Your Machamp hit my Scizor right in the schmeat!" Artemis exclaimed, "Why would your Machamp hit my Scizor right in the schmeat?!"
"Because if there's one thing I know about male shiny Scizors since I myself also own one," Kenny began, "It's that they're vulnerable to shots to the schmeat!" Gesturing forward, Kenny said, "Now let's finish things off here with a Stone Edge, Zarbon!"
Zarbon fired another load of Stone Edge at Scizor, striking it as it was crippled by male pain, and taking it out of the battle. "Oh now that was just dirty kid," Artemis said as he recalled his fainted Scizor, "Fighting dirty like that!"
"You and your bum buddies here are literally criminals who are members of a multi-region villainous organization that currently rules over half of the world," Kenny pointed out, "Who are you to complain about it when someone isn't playing nice?"
"That... is actually a valid point," Paul remarked, "Granted I wish that it wasn't brought along with the fact that I just saw a Machamp punch a male Pokémon in its groin area, but it's still a valid point. What right do literal villains have to complain about it when their opponents don't fight fair? It's even more important to point out that we're fighting to keep the literal villains from trying to take over the Sinnoh region and keep it as one of the free lands."
"That's not the point, you little brats!" Artemis exclaimed, "The point is that-"
"Captain Artemis!" a male Team Heart grunt called out as he and a few of his fellows came running over, "Our efforts here have failed! We're being pushed back!"
"Well shit," Artemis scowled, "Alright, sound the call to retreat, also I will be needing some of you men to give me and Jim cover so we can fall back."
"Oh there is NO way that we're letting you and your idiot with you escape," Paul snarled at Artemis, "You both are going to-" Paul was cut off when a few of the Team Heart grunts who came over to see Artemis proceeded to challenge Paul and Kenny, distracting them while giving Artemis and Jim ample time to escape. A lot more of the present members of Team Heart were also able to fall back after their attempt at a sea invasion via Sunyshore City's beach was foiled.
The day was saved, the attack that was being attempted by Team Heart was foiled, and even a few Team Heart grunts ended up being captured. But the Officer who had been leading the attack, along with his Assistant, was able to get away.
The heroes would have to claim what victories that they were able to.
Later, as the captured Team Heart grunts (two guys and four girls) were taken away by Police and damage assessment began to figure out how much damage Team Heart had caused with their bid to invade via an assault from the beach, Dawn and her away team met back up with Volkner, who had a grim look of defeat on his face. "Why do you look so defeated, Volkner?" Barry asked, "You're one of the few trainers in the local militia for Sunyshore City to not have been defeated during the recent attempt made by Team Heart to invade."
"Because Team Heart had still been able to do a bunch of damage to Sunyshore City," Volkner began to explain, "There was no predicting that they would have tried coming in from the sea with a horde of Gyarados that they'd have fire Hyper Beams into the city!"
"Even I wasn't expecting that, and I was literally the only one who thought that Team Heart might have tried coming in from the water," Dawn said, "I thought that they'd try coming in on water Pokémon they could ride across the water, make landfall, recall their water Pokémon, and then try to invade the city on land."
Folding his arms over his chest, Volkner said, "Silver lining, due to how effective Team Heart was able to be with their attempted invasion of Sunyshore City today, coupled with how few trainers there was to defend against the invasion, a lot more trainers in Sunyshore City are willing to sign up to join the local trainer militia."
Trip gave a grim scowl. "So it took a close call that's too close for comfort to make enough trainers to be effective get off of their duffs and step up."
"There's also the fact that, admittedly, the main reason we were able to repel the invasion today is because of you, Dawn, and the rest of your group here," Volkner said, "And I know that your group can't be here in Sunyshore City full time. Heck, you guys are probably needed in every one of the free lands to help set things up to sufficiently defend against Team Heart. To keep you guys here in the Sinnoh region exclusively when the other free lands could also use a helping hand is selfish."
Mina took note of the rather grumpy look on Paul's face, and respectfully grew concerned. "Hey yo," Mina began, "You okay, Paul?"
"One of the two specific members of Team Heart who are responsible for getting Reggie arrested was here in Sunyshore City today," Paul began, "Actually being the Officer leading the attack. Kenny and I had that jerk and his idiot helper defeated. But the Officer had a few men keep me and Kenny occupied so that he and his fellow could escape!"
Shrugging, Kenny said, "Yeah, the big names of Team Heart who work in the free lands always seem to be able to get away when their schemes are foiled and they plus the men they're leading are all forced to fall back."
"I could have gotten some of the revenge that I'm wanting!" Paul exclaimed, "I could have begun to try and help free Reggie! But the coward that I had helped to take down got away in the end! Do any of you have any idea on how utterly frustrating that is?!"
"Paul, relax," Dawn began, "We will eventually have Team Heart beaten, and will eventually save the world from the threat that they pose. But until then, we can't lose control of ourselves. We'd only be playing right into the hands of Team Heart in that case."
"You'd be letting them use your tactics for dealing with them against you," Kenny pointed out.
Paul forced himself to calm down when he realized that Dawn and Kenny were both making valid points. "...You're right," Paul remarked, "I can't let those idiots in Team Heart get to me like this. It'd be shooting myself in the foot."
Turning to look at Dawn, Trip asked, "So where are we going to be flying off to next?"
"We're going to Hearthome City, Trip," Dawn explained, "Our mom is going to be there to serve as a judge for a special Pokémon Contest. There will of course be proper security for the event in case Team Heart tries to pull anything."
A look of remembering something appeared on Kenny's face. "Oh yeah! Your and Trip's mom is big on Pokémon Contests! How is she doing, by the way?"
"She's doing fine," Dawn replied, "Although she said she feels a bit stifled with all of the additional security for her."
Shrugging, Lucas remarked, "Well she's family of a rather prominent figure in Sinnoh region society, so of course she'll need the security. We wouldn't want Team Heart to get a hold of her and use her as a bargaining chip to force the best defense Sinnoh has against their efforts to stand down, now do we?"
It would be a rather terrible scenario indeed if Team Heart were able to get a hold of some rather important persons in Sinnoh society and use them as hostages to force the finest that the region has to stand down and allow Team Heart to move in and take over the show. It's part of the reason why, over in the Kanto region, Delia Ketchum is one of the Kanto region citizens to have such good security protecting her.
There is no low that the people of the remaining free lands in the world believe that Team Heart wouldn't sink to in order to claim all that there is for their own ends.
(Opelucid City, Unova region)
Bianca, the Boss's Assistant of Team Heart and the (public face) ruler of the Team Heart Empire, was sitting out in the garden of her mansion home in the wealthy neighborhood of Opelucid City. She was enjoying a morning mug of coffee as she soaked in the pleasantly chill morning that had the occasional beam of warmth from the sun above. A truly comfortable morning.
As the very well fed mid-teens girl took a sip from her coffee, she was met up by her usual maid, who was followed by a pair of butlers. The butler uniforms worn by the butlers, same as the maid uniform worn by the maid, were in the Team Heart colors. "Lady Bianca, I'm terribly sorry to interrupt your morning coffee," the maid began, "But there's news coming out of Sunyshore City, Sinnoh."
Bianca turned to regard the servant staff members as one of the butlers handed a form to the maid, who then handed said form to Bianca. Bianca scanned the report with a critical eye, an expression of unamused concern spreading across her round, plump face. "...So Captain Artemis's bid to begin trying to take over Sinnoh via attacking and invading from the sea around Sunyshore City failed due to Dawn Berlitz and her companions being there," Bianca remarked.
"There are reports that Sunyshore City gym leader Volkner had started up a trainer militia to deal with it if Team Heart efforts ever do try to take Sunyshore City," the maid began, "But even WITH the forces Volkner had, Captain Artemis's efforts still would have been sufficiently successful in taking Sunyshore City and beginning Team Heart's efforts to take Sinnoh. The only reason the invasion had failed is because, again, Dawn Berlitz and her companions were there."
"The sea invasion saw Team Heart efforts there command a horde of Gyarados that fired Hyper Beams into the city proper of Sunyshore City," one of the butlers spoke up, "But they weren't able to do much before Dawn flew overhead on one of her legendary Pokémon to take the Gyarados out with attacks from above."
"And now with a precedent having been set," the other butler spoke up, "Sunyshore City is bound to up security. There's also reports of the local trainer militia in Sunyshore City raising numbers as well as overall strength."
"There hasn't been such issues since Dawn and her companionship were over in the Kanto region," Bianca remarked, "It seems the only places where Dawn and her friends can't stop Team Heart from taking over are places that Team Heart has already taken over." Gently shaking her head, Bianca went on, "Anyway, is there any news on the escaped terrorist Chandler?"
The maid gently shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Lady Bianca. All that we do know is that he's no longer in Hoenn. We've also confirmed that he's not in any territories that's part of the Team Heart Empire. But then again, why would a coward like Chandler want to go to a territory where he's going to be caught and returned to Hoenn to face the death sentence he's earned?"
Bianca nodded in agreement before she picked her coffee mug up and finished her coffee off. She sat her mug back on its saucer, the servant staff will collect it and take it inside to the kitchen to be washed, before she heaved herself up from her seat with a grunt of effort. She then had her maid lead her back inside, saying she wanted to make a call to check up on things over on Hoenn. Even though she had just settled down after returning to Unova from her Hoenn trip, Bianca still had a bit of work to do.
END, CHAPTER TWENTY
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the heroes arrive in Sunyshore City due to hearing rumors that Team Heart may strike, but although they get Volkner on board with rustling up a trainer militia to help defend the city, hardly anyone joins at first due to how the people of Sunyshore City as a whole have a sense of security due to the city's location plus the fact they have the strongest gym leader in the Sinnoh region watching over them.
But that sense of security is striped away when Team Heart not only strikes, but they invade from the beach which some of them man with a horde of Gyarados that they have fire Hyper Beams into the city proper. Kenny and Paul team up to beat the Officer leading the attack and the Assistant of said Officer, but the Officer and his Assistant fall back after losing and the invasion is foiled. Not only that, but Sunyshore City is STILL rather badly damaged.
The incident allows Volkner to get more trainers to join the trainer militia, as well as up security for Sunyshore City as a whole, meaning future attempts by Team Heart to take Sunyshore City will be a lot more difficult. The crew of The Big Beauty then have to go out to Hearthome City, as Johanna, the mom of Dawn and Trip, will be there for a special Pokémon Contest for which she will be one of the members of the judge panel. 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)