Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Pokédex no Isekai
Chapter Forty-five: A school girl's yearning, part four
Juliana, due to circumstances that she found herself in, was now taking on the Pokémon League of her home region of Paldea. She was led this way ultimately due to helping to save people from a burning clothes store and being recognized by an officer of the Paldea Sector of Team Heart, but it did help Juliana that taking on the Pokémon League, and becoming a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region, would help her with a goal she wants to accomplish.
The goal in question? Get her beloved Arven-senpai to notice her.
According to Penny, Juliana's best bet would be to challenge the gym leaders of Paldea in a set specific order; first the bug gym, then after that the grass gym, then after that the electric gym, then after that the water gym, then after that the normal gym, then after that the ghost gym, then after that the psychic gym, and then lastly the ice gym. It was, according to Penny, the same order that Rimu, the strongest Champion ranked trainer in Paldea and also Penny's boyfriend, did it in.
Juliana went over her team of Pokémon again. Arboliva, Tatsugiri, Armarouge, Squawkabilly, Garganacl, and Mabosstiff were all still in top form. Considering the types of the gyms that she had to take on, Juliana was wanting to be careful with how she approached the gyms. She didn't want to be failing here. After she called back all of her Pokémon, Juliana heard Penny call out to her. She turned to look, and saw Penny come running up with Arven and a still somber looking Nemona.
"You ready to take on the gyms of Paldea?" Penny asked.
Nodding once, Juliana said, "As I'll ever be."
Folding his arms over his chest, Arven said, "The gym leaders will be an eccentric lot, just to give you fair warning. ...Well, some of them will be eccentric."
"I think you once mentioned that Rimu had to review the gym leaders after he became a Champion ranked trainer," Juliana said, "And that the gym leader he picked as the best surprised Geeta."
"Yeah, Rimu picked Larry, the gym leader in Medali," Penny explained, "Geeta... isn't the nicest in the world towards Larry. She's not the nicest in the world to a lot of people. And yet she hides it behind that polite and friendly facade of hers."
Arven arched a wry eyebrow at Penny. "I'm surprised that you're speaking so openly and freely about how you don't like how much of a bully in meek clothing Geeta is."
"That's because one, Rimu can whump her if necessary," Penny said, "And two, I can report Geeta to the Team Heart authority here in Paldea if need be. A fair number of Paldea's issues prior to Team Heart taking over are the fault of Geeta and a mix of her ego and her inability to fully stand up to the wealthy elite of the region."
"Even I have noticed that the gym leaders of Paldea are now more openly bold towards Geeta," said Nemona, "I wasn't even aware that so many of them had so many issues with her, at least before Team Heart rose to power and took over everything." Looking to her friends, Nemona with a hint of concern in her tone and expression asked, "Were things really so bad tha-"
"Yes, yes they were," Penny said, cutting Nemona off. Looking to Juliana, Penny with a smirk of sincere amusement on her face went on, "But that's a point that we can discuss at a later time. For now, we ought to focus on how Juliana here is set to take the gyms of Paldea by storm. I'm not sure if she'll fare as well as Rimu, but I'm certain that she'll still beat all of the gym leaders on her first try per gym leader. You got this, Juliana."
Juliana nodded once in thanks to Penny and the others. "I'm not sure how I'll manage taking on the gyms while also doing classes at school, but I-"
"Actually, Naranja Academy is set to go on an extended break for two weeks," Arven said, "Starting tomorrow, you'll have fourteen days straight to work on showing the Pokémon League of Paldea just what you're made of."
Shrugging, Juliana remarked, "...Huh. Well ain't that convenient." Clapping her hands together, Juliana went on, "Alright! So starting tomorrow, I'll be taking on the gym leaders here in Paldea in a bid to become a Champion ranked trainer! Will you guys be there with me to cheer me on?"
"The last time I saw someone go through the Pokémon League," Nemona began, "It was Rimu, and I sort of kind of followed him around because he was getting stronger and I was wanting a good battle. But..." Nemona gently shook her head. "...But this time," Nemona continued, "All of us will be there for you, to cheer you on as we watch you take on gym leader after gym leader. There's no way that you're going to fail here, Juliana. I just know it."
"Yeah, I was working through... my own problems while Rimu was taking on the Pokémon League," Arven said, "And yet he even found time to help me with my stuff. He's a real bud."
Penny nodded once in agreement. "Rimu also helped me while he was doing his Pokémon League challenge," Penny said, "And after all of that was done, he... he even asked if I was interested in him, given he was interested in me." Penny blushed, as if recalling an embarrassing but lovely memory. "...Rimu really is one heck of a guy."
Looking to Juliana, Arven said, "And now we'll see it as you make your way to Rimu's level. Seeing the birth of a new Champion's legend... it's got me excited, I will admit."
"Hey, I'm at Rimu's level too," Nemona said.
"Heh heh, no you're not," Penny smirked. The group of friends laughed a bit as things settled down, but starting the following morning, Juliana would be in for her greatest test yet, a test that will see if she has what it takes to stand where Rimu stands.
...Oh alright, where Rimu and Nemona stands. There, happy?
The following morning in Cortondo, Juliana had her first gym battle, that being against Katy. Due to a mix of making use of type advantage and coming in with a full team that's fully evolved, Juliana was able to pull off a clean win against Katy. With that battle out of the way, Juliana earned the Bug Badge, and was able to set her sights on the next gym.
After a flying taxi ride, Juliana and her friends were able to make it to Artazon, where Juliana would end up having her second gym battle. This time, she would be facing Brassius, an artist who makes use of grass type Pokémon. Using the same strategy she used against Katy more or less, Juliana was able to win the grass badge and knock out a second gym.
Juliana then had to go to Lavincia, where Iono the streamer and influencer would be the third gym leader that Juliana would have to battle. Iono first insisted on interviewing Juliana for her streaming show, wanting to know more about Juliana's heroic feat of saving a bunch of people from a burning clothes store, as that had actually made the news in recent events.
After that interview for Iono's streaming show, however, Juliana was able to have her battle against Iono for her third badge. Iono is a user of electric Pokémon, and unlike Katy and Brassius who each used three Pokémon, Iono uses four Pokémon. Additionally, Iono during the gym battle had made her Mismagius go tera electric which, combined with its Levitate ability, made it so that Iono was using a Pokémon with no weakness.
Regardless of that, Juliana was able to score a clean win against Iono, and thus securing for herself the electric badge in the process. After Juliana had to oblige Iono for one last thing of streaming show interview business, Juliana and her friends were able to take off, as Juliana still had a couple more gyms left standing before her.
Juliana was able to take on one more gym before having to call it a day, that being the water gym that's located in Cascarrafa. There, Juliana battled Kofu, the water type gym leader and a chef with his own restaurant. That last part explained to Juliana why Arven, who wants to pursue the culinary arts himself, had such respect for Kofu.
Regardless of that, Juliana had her battle against Kofu. She was able to win things fairly easily, although she had to be careful given that one-third of her party is weak to water. She relied a bit on her Arboliva and Tatsugiri for the battle against Kofu, but when all was said and done, Juliana had emerged from her bout against Kofu as the winner.
With the water badge in hand, Juliana and her friends went to Medali where the fifth gym, presided over by Larry, was located. It would be too late in the day to give Juliana a chance to challenge the normal type gym leader, so her battle against Larry was going to have to wait until first thing in the morning. Until then, Juliana and her friends were going to rest.
...
"Well she's got a fairly high leveled team of Pokémon," Penny said as she and the rest of the group rested in a hotel room, "She had gone into challenging the gym leaders of Paldea with said team. Of course she's going to be clearing them with no issue."
"I'm just looking forward to seeing how she clears the rest of the gym leaders," Arven said, "If she can clear the others as easily as she had cleared the first four, then she may very well set a record for fastest time in getting all eight Paldean gym badges."
"I can't afford to get arrogant now, though," Juliana remarked, "Although I have been successful, just one slip up can screw me over. That's why I'm going to be tackling all of the remaining gym leaders with the full seriousness that battling them requires."
Penny nodded in approval. "Yes, it's best to not get a swelled head. I mean, look at how hard all of the wealthy elite of Paldea had been whipped when Team Heart came in and took over everything. Stuff like that is what happens when you get a swelled head and then get tripped up."
Looking to Juliana, Arven asked, "So do you think that you can take on the remaining gym leaders here in Paldea? You still have to face Larry, Ryme, Tulip, and Grusha to get the four remaining gym badges that you need. The whole lot of those gym leaders are fairly strong, after all."
Nodding once, Juliana replied, "If I'm careful, I can manage it." Juliana then turned to look right at Nemona, who was looking down at her lap, a look of somber contemplation on her face. Nemona was still thinking about what all she had done to screw up, ever since Penny had set her to reflect upon what all she had done to mess up.
Seeing Nemona this characteristically quiet and reserved for this long... actually disturbed Juliana to a degree. She hoped that Nemona will perk back up to her usual self soon. ...Well, at least as much of her usual self as possible without being a blunt oblivious battle-hungry idiot. That's a part of Nemona that Juliana and the others can do without.
The next morning in Medali, Juliana had her gym battle with Larry and won, thus earning her fifth Paldean gym badge. Juliana also learned a bit about why Larry is the Paldean gym leader that Rimu most approves of, and Larry offered a rare smile (it seemed to be a rare smile coming from Larry) when Penny mentioned Rimu. Before Juliana took off from Medali with her friends, Larry told her he will be seeing her later.
Juliana had no idea what Larry was talking about, but she pushed that from her mind as she and her friends took flying taxis to Montenevera, a town located in the cold and snowy mountainous area of Paldea. There, Juliana met Ryme, the ghost type specialist and rapper extraordinaire. Ryme is also the sister of Tyme, the math teacher over at Naranja Academy who is on leave right now, but Juliana had other things to focus on.
Juliana's battle with Ryme ended up being a double battle, but that hardly changed things for her as she ended up winning, thus netting herself the sixth Paldean gym badge that she needed. Nemona had asked Ryme why she didn't do any of her usual rapping, as Nemona remembered her doing that when she challenged her a while ago and found it quite charming. Penny said that even Rimu was also amused by it.
Ryme, a bitter look on her face, said in a likewise tone that 'Team Heart was throwing off her groove' and left it at that, but she did like hearing some people appreciate her musical prowess. After she and her friends were done in Montenevera, Juliana and the rest of them took off for Alfornada, the location of the next Paldean gym that Juliana had to take on in her bid to collect all eight of the gym badges in the Paldea region.
There in Alfornada, Juliana took on Tulip, the psychic type specialist and make up spokesperson. Juliana was able to score a fairly clean win against her, and as such earn her seventh gym badge. As Juliana got her seventh gym badge, Tulip mentioned that she and Dendra, who she's friends with, recently had a bit of a fight concerning a challenge they had against each other in the past that Tulip won, and right now the two of them aren't talking.
That actually concerned Juliana, given that Dendra is another Naranja Academy teacher who's off duty right now, but for different and more better known reasons than Tyme. Juliana was wanting to know more about why Dendra and Tulip were fighting, also she wanted to know what exactly it was that Tyme had done to make a former student no longer be a student, but she had one more gym badge to go and earn.
That final gym badge was located over in Glaseado, and Juliana had to battle Grusha, a former professional snowboarder and ice Pokémon user, for said final badge. As a side note, Penny said it didn't surprise her in the least that Grusha, who is a former professional snowboarder and whose gym is located in an even colder and even more snowy area than Montenevera, specialized in using ice type Pokémon.
Regardless of that, Juliana had her gym battle against Grusha and won, thus earning her eighth and final Gym badge. After Juliana got her last gym badge, she and her friends took off from the gym in Glaseado. But as she and her friends were getting into flying taxis to head back home to Mesagoza, Juliana heard some women nearby being gossipy hens while scowling about Grusha, citing 'it's his fault Team Heart rules Paldea'.
That stuck with Juliana as she and her friends flew back to Mesagoza, as she wondered what those gossipy hens meant exactly by that. Juliana figured that the flying taxis weren't an appropriate place to discuss what she had heard, so she resolved to ask her friends about it after they all get back to Naranja Academy. Juliana has to rest anyway, given that she has to rest up as much as possible for taking on what all she has to do tomorrow.
...
"Oh yeah, that," Penny said when she had Juliana over in her dorm room later that evening. Juliana had decided to ask Penny about what she overheard the gossipy hens back in Glaseado talk about. "Well Juliana," Penny began, "Back when Team Heart was working on their invasion of Paldea to add it to the list of territories under their banner," Penny said, "Things had fallen into place to make it so that one battle would determine if the conquest would be successful or not."
Looking curious, Juliana asked, "One battle?"
Penny nodded in the affirmative. "It was a battle between Admin's Assistant Tomari and some girl named Liko. Despite how utterly random the battle was, due to circumstances, the winner of that battle would be the determining factor on if Team Heart would be successful in conquering Paldea or not, with Tomori winning meaning Team Heart would be successful, and Liko winning meaning that Team Heart wouldn't be successful."
Juliana had a look on her face that was three parts concerned and seven parts curious. "I'm going to guess that Tomori won that battle."
Penny nodded in the affirmative. "Word got out later, as Team Heart was settling in and laying down the law, that Liko potentially could have won it she had used terastallization, and thus prevent Team Heart from taking over Paldea. Liko had a Tera Orb, meaning she could have used terastallization to give herself a better shot at defeating Tomori. However, Liko didn't make use of her Tera Orb in her battle against Tomori."
Juliana looked curious. "Why not?"
"I was just getting to that," Penny said, "You see, Liko and some friends were doing some sort of test thing to determine if they'd be allowed to keep using their Tera Orbs. Grusha was the person that was slated to test Liko. Grusha ended up failing Liko, thus she couldn't use her Tera Orb and had to hand it back over to Naranja Academy. However, between Liko being failed by Grusha and having to turn her Tera Orb back over..."
"...Team Heart invaded Paldea," Juliana said.
Penny nodded once in the affirmative. "Indeed. During the Team Heart invasion, things ended up happening so that the fate of Paldea remaining a free land rested on the outcome of a battle that Liko got into with Tomori. Many folks theorize that Liko might have won if she used her Tera Orb, as she hadn't turned it over yet, but Liko didn't due to a mix of failing to pass the test from Grusha and her own personal shame."
"And when she was asked why she didn't use her Tera Orb?" Juliana asked.
"Liko explained that she didn't use her Tera Orb due to not being allowed to as she failed her test against Grusha," Penny said, "Given that she had mentioned Grusha by name as the reason why she didn't use her Tera Orb, Grusha got a LOT of flack and was labled by many as the reason why Paldea was taken over by Team Heart. He had ended up becoming something of a pariah here in Paldea as a result, especially among those suffering due to Team Heart rule."
Juliana couldn't help but look concerned. "...Respectfully, how is it really Grusha's fault?" Juliana asked, "I mean, no-one in Paldea had any way of knowing that Team Heart was going to be invading the region right after he failed that Liko girl for that Tera Orb test thingy. It was just some really poor timing is all."
"Yeah, well a lot of the people not happy with Team Heart rule here in Paldea want someone or something to blame," Penny explained, the mild hint of grimness in her expression matched by that in her tone, "And Liko wasn't really blame-able due to being a young girl who is scared and upset, also Liko's friend Dot had mentioned the attitude and overall personality that Grusha showed after he had defeated Liko and failed her. That REALLY set the Paldean people against Grusha."
Looking to Penny, Juliana asked, "What can be done to help Grusha?"
"At this point, absolutely nothing," Penny replied, "I mean sure, things just ended up having really bad timing for Grusha. But he WAS noted to have been a cold and utter jerk towards Liko, and for no real reason. Some think that it's karma kicking Grusha square in his kiester."
"Jerk attitude and behavior or not, Grusha still doesn't deserve to be made into a pariah here in Paldea just because of some rather poor timing," Juliana remarked, "He needs to be given a chance to own up for screwing up, rather than be scorned for events that he not only had no control over, but also had no ability to predict."
Shrugging, Penny replied, "The people want a scapegoat to blame for Paldea falling to the Team Heart regime, and Grusha got the short end of the stick in that regard. There's no helping it." Looking to Juliana, Penny said, "But you got other things to focus on for the time being, Juliana."
Looking curious, Juliana asked, "What do you mean?"
Gesturing to Juliana, Penny explained, "You had just earned all eight of the gym badges offered here in Paldea. You're now ready to take the Champion's Assessment, and passing that you'll be able to take on the Paldean elite four. Beating them means you'll get to battle Geeta, the Top Champion of Paldea, and beating her means you'll become a Champion ranked trainer of Paldea."
Juliana perked up at that news, remembering what she was now primed to do thanks to earning all of the Paldean gym badges. But a thought crossed her mind. "...You think that I can do it?"
"Rimu was able to do it no problem," Penny said, "And you did technically clear the gyms faster than he did. Mind you, he had started out and built up over time as he went through the gyms whereas you came in with a fully evolved full team, but I can tell that you still have what all you'll need to give the Paldean Pokémon League reason to certify you as a Champion ranked trainer."
Juliana, a small but sincere appreciative smile on her face, nodded once to Penny. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Penny," Juliana remarked, "I'm feeling a little bit better about my odds already."
Penny arched a wry eyebrow, offered a mildly amused smirk. "...There's also the fact that the elite four and Geeta all stand in your way of becoming a Champion ranked trainer and thus being able to impress Arven."
"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me about that," Juliana replied, her expression getting a lot more serious, "Like hell I'm going to be letting all of them get away with keeping me from being able to get Arven-senpai to notice me."
Penny couldn't help but let out an amused laugh, seeing fire reignited under Juliana to get her back up into the fighting spirit she'll be needing if she's to win against the Paldean Pokémon League and thus become a Champion ranked trainer. It was a major step that she was needing to take if she's to get her beloved Arven-senpai to notice her. That being said, since the elite four and Geeta all stood in the way of that goal, none of them stood a snowball's chance in hell.
They were about to feel the sting of a schoolgirl yearning for her crush.
The following morning in Mesagoza, Juliana was going over her team of Pokémon again before she went on to challenge the Paldean elite four and Geeta. Juliana's Arboliva, Tatsugiri, Armarouge, Squawkabilly, Garganacl, and Mabosstiff were all still as sharp as ever. Juliana was confident that her party here would be sufficient in helping her to take on the elite four of Paldea, and then the Top Champion after them.
After she recalled all of her Pokémon, Juliana perked up when she heard Penny call out to her. Turning to look, Juliana saw Penny come jogging up, with both Arven and Nemona following along behind. Nemona seemed a bit more perked up, but she was still very clearly contemplating certain matters that kept her more quiet than what many folks consider to be the norm for her. Juliana was not entirely sure if she liked the quiet Nemona so much.
"So Juliana," Penny began, "Today's the day. Are you ready to take the Champion's Assesment to see if you'll become a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region?"
Juliana gave a single nod in the affirmative. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be. What about you guys? Will you come to cheer me on?"
"You have to take the Champion's Assessment alone," Arven pointed out, "Also we can't watch the battles, no spectators allowed." Offering a reassuring smirk, Arven went on, "But we'll be there for you in spirit. You got this, Juliana."
Juliana gave her friends a single nod of thanks. "I'm gonna need all the well wishes that I can get my hands on," Juliana said, "This is gonna be my big-"
*CRASH*
Juliana stopped short when she and her friends all jumped at the sound of something coming down in a big crashing scene. "What the heck was that?!" Nemona exclaimed, the surprise bringing her out of her reflective stupor, if only for a moment.
"We ought to go look," Penny remarked, before she and the others all ran to check to see what all had happened to make that crashing noise. Hopefully it wouldn't be too big of an issue that might delay Juliana's ability to get to the Pokémon League building so that she could take the Champion's Assessment, although it won't start until she arrives and is ready.
...
When Juliana and her friends arrived on the scene, they saw that a few vendor carts had been knocked over, and no less than three trainers were having a shouting match with each other as a group of dazed looking Cyclizars all stood nearby. Penny was able to put two and two together to figure out that there was a street race going on and this scene before her and the others was the result of a wipe out slash crash slash accident.
Before Penny could ask what was going on, an adult female voice called out, "What in blazes is going on here?!" The friends all turned to look as a squad of Team Heart members came up to the scene, led by a uniquely dressed female Team Heart member. She was fair skinned, had whitish hair with face framing bangs and a ponytail that reached her waist, and she was... admittedly rather well endowed in the upper chest area, and her body was slender yet strong.
She wore a pink long sleeved suit top over a black dress shirt, dress pants matching the suit top, shiny black shoes, and there was a black Team Heart 'H' on the suit top over the left breast, with said breast admittedly stretching that symbol of Team Heart quite a bit. The lady's... assets... were really rather notable. Most women would have to be very obese to have a chance for their breast size to match or surpass that of what this woman had.
The Team Heart woman with big titties actually struck Penny as familiar. "Miss Ichimichi?" Penny called out, making the Team Heart woman with big titties turn to look.
"...Penny? Yeah it's me, Ichimichi," said the now identified Ichimichi as Penny came jogging up to her, "What are you doing here?"
"You know her, Penny?" Juliana asked as she and the rest of the group caught up.
Gesturing to Ichimichi, Penny said, "For those not familiar, this is Miss Ichimichi. She used to be a teacher at Naranja Academy before she was fired because she tried to discipline one of the rich spoiled brat legacy kids who's a student there."
Looking to Ichimichi, Juliana said, "You... you were fired solely because you were trying to do your job? That doesn't sound fair."
Sighing, Ichimichi replied, "Well that's how life was in Paldea before Team Heart took over. But they gave me a new job, and I even got made Third Captain of the Paldea Sector. I've got an Assistant of my own now, too!" Ichimichi turned to the Team Heart grunts managing the scene of the accident. "Hey Dubose!" Ichimichi called out, "Get over here! I got met up by one of the students I knew back when I still taught at Naranja Academy!"
Within a few moments, a somewhat short male Team Heart grunt came jogging up. He had tanned fair skin, and he had his gaiter mask down due to his dark tan bushy beard and moustache. Jerking a thumb at the Team Heart grunt who just came up, Ichimichi said, "This here is Dubose, who serves me as my Captain's Assistant. He's pretty strong physically, he used to work as a blacksmith." To the now identified Dubose, Ichimichi said, "Dubose, the girl with red and blue hair is-"
"I know her," said Dubose as he pointed at Penny, cutting Ichimichi off in the process, "She's Penny. She's occasionally seen in the company of Champion Rimu."
"I'm guessing Team Heart came here due to getting word about this accident?" asked Arven.
Ichimichi nodded in the affirmative. "We came here to see what happened and to resolve what all matters that sprung up from it as a result." At around that moment, a female Team Heart grunt had come jogging up to Ichimichi.
Giving the Team Heart Captain before her a salute, the female Team Heart grunt said, "Captain, we just did a full inquiry of the incident. It was just a bunch of kids being reckless idiots while trying to show off to some friends of theirs, although one of the boys who was racing was trying to impress a girl that he's got a crush on."
Ichimichi arched a wry eyebrow at the female Team Heart grunt. "What's the total damages from the incident?" Ichimichi asked.
"Just those three vendor carts that were knocked over suffered some damage that in all honesty can be repaired," replied the grunt, "Two of the vendor carts sold food items and can easily replace what stock was ruined, but the third vendor cart sold sunglasses and will need more time to order and replace its damaged stock. The estimated cost of the overall damages caused by the incident is a shade over one million."
Ichimichi looked over to where the three students who were racing were being talked to by a group of who she was assuming their friends. Juliana and her friends also looked to the group, and saw that one of the boys who was racing was being tended to by the very obese girl who Juliana had insisted on not leaving behind in the clothes store fire from a couple of days ago. The very obese girl even kissed the boy she was tending to on his lips.
Ichimichi let out a mildly resigned sigh. "What are the owners of the vendor carts asking for?"
"They want the three kids who were racing on Cyclizars to all be punished, as well as for them to pay for the costs of all of the damages," replied the female Team Heart grunt.
Gesturing to the female Team Heart grunt, Ichimichi told them, "Figure out the exact cost of the damages each of the vendor cart owners had respectively suffered, then have compensation checks for the appropriate amounts written out and sent to them. I'll look into figuring out how to properly punish the racing kids for their recklessness."
The female Team Heart grunt nodded once to her Captain before she turned back around and ran back to assess things for the three vendor cart owners. After that grunt had taken off to do the job she had been charged with, Ichimichi turned to look back at Juliana and her friends. "Many people in the world think of us in Team Heart as unreasonable monsters," Ichimichi said, "Even some of the common citizenry within the Empire's own borders. We of Team Heart are not blind to this, we know full well it's going on. Even Lady Bianca is aware of it."
"But you guys are trying to say you aren't as unreasonable as what those outside of Team Heart would claim about you," Nemona said.
Ichimichi nodded in the affirmative. "We punish those who have it coming, people who those outside of Team Heart are incapable of so much of approaching. But we are not unreasonable in the punishments we dole out. We are capable of showing leniency if and where need be, such as in the case of the one person from the burning clothes store incident who had made a rather fatphobic suggestion, that person was ruled as having acted under duress and let off with a warning."
"But you guys also strictly punish others as you see fit," Arven said.
"...When I was still a Naranja Academy teacher," Ichimichi began, "And I had gotten fired from that former post of mine. Some of the students I had tried to discipline, children of some of the wealthy elite families of Paldea, at least one of those kids were a part of the party guilty of bullying Makoto's younger sister into taking her own life. And yet the wealthy elite of Paldea were fully expecting those kids to be let off the hook scot free for their crime. Where is the justice in that?"
"There is none," Penny said before any of her friends could mount a response.
Ichimichi nodded in agreement with Penny. "Cases like that happen in places all over the world, where real, true justice is not allowed to take place because those who want to avoid it make it so that they are above reproach. Team Heart won't be allowing that, those would be karma houdinis will be dragged down and out from their set up safe havens and made to take the lashings that they have coming for their crimes."
Gesturing to Ichimichi, Juliana said, "It's why the Empire is trying to invade Sinnoh right now, they're trying to get the terrorists who are hiding there."
Giving a single nod in the affirmative, Ichimichi replied, "Exactly. Those terrorists who are hiding on Sinnoh soil like the cowards that they are will be taken from their hideout back to Team Heart soil, they will be punished, and they will be made to take whatever punishment is doled out to them."
Knowing Team Heart's track record, as well as what all the terrorists hiding out in the Sinnoh region have been reported to have done, chances are that at least most of them will be sentenced to death by the Team Heart authority. That was not something that Juliana was going to be jealous of, nor is she going to think about it for very long. Talk like that can be saved for later. "Well, I have a test that I need to get to, Juliana said, "I'm ready to take the Champion's Assessment."
"Yes, you'll be seeing Sakurai soon, he'll be interviewing you," Ichimichi said, "It'll be a test that you'll have to take alone. Do you know how to get to where the test will be held?"
"...I was going to ask Nemona to show me how to get there as I have no idea where to go," Juliana admitted, looking mildly embarrassed.
Smiling gently, Ichimichi said, "It's fair to ask for help to get there if you're lost. I can show you the way myself, just give me a moment to settle things here." Juliana still couldn't help but be excited about how she was set to take a test to see if she could become a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region. It would be a very great leap for her, as it'll see to her name being recognized all over the Paldea region.
It'll also help Juliana to be noticed by her beloved Arven-senpai. That's very important.
END, CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Author's notes;
This chapter covers Juliana's trek through the gyms of Paldea, clearing them relatively easily due to how good of a team she starts out with. She and her friends also talk a bit, and run into Ichimichi, who used to be a Naranja Academy teacher before she was let go because the wealthy elite of the region don't like it when people fail to recognize them as untouchables.
But when Juliana and her friends meet Ichimichi, she's a Team Heart Captain, and there's no such thing as being 'untouchable' within the Team Heart Empire. After learning a bit about Team Heart philosophy, Juliana gets ready to take the Champion's Assessment as Ichimichi will lead her to the place she has to take her very important test at. Here's hoping she succeeds.
Anyway, the next chapter will see to the rest of Juliana's character development, as well as if she is able to succeed in her most important of goals. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Tsukune (Palkia), Fangfang (Yveltal), Kurumu (Groudon), Sif (Zacian), Veldora (Koraidon), Odin (Arceus)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Black (Giratina), Zamasu (Necrozma), Shenron (Rayquaza), Porunga (Zygarde), Armstrong (Regigigas), unknown legendary Pokémon
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Deelia (Dialga), Villetta (Miraidon), Cameron (Kyorge), Tetsu (Xerneas), Rogers (Zamazenta), Alucard (Lunala)
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)