Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Pokédex no Isekai
Chapter Thirty-six: Strength
After doing a little bit of work, the reborn trainers were able to finally get all of the Pokémon in the Alolan Pokédex registered as caught. They even got all Alolan regional variant species registered as caught, although a second Alolan Meowth had to be caught as Kenny for reasons only he knew did not want to evolve is named Alolan Meowth Darknyan. The work of the reborn trainers in the Alola region was done, so they would soon be able to get going.
But that wasn't everything to look into in Alola for the reborn trainers. "So things concerning Misty, Selene, and Sophocles had been settled," Dawn began. Rolling her eyes dryly at the idea, Dawn went on, "And apparently, the girls ARE going to use the idea that Kenny came up with about them being a harem for Sophocles."
"Booya!" Kenny cheered, pumping both of his fists into the air.
Looking to Dawn, Trip asked, "Is there anything else that we ought to do before we leave Alola? I mean, we've gotten all of the Pokémon in the Alolan Pokédex registered as caught. What more is there left for us to do here?"
"We ought to check in with Professor Kukui," Dawn said, "And after we say our piece we return home to the Sinnoh reg-"
*knock* *knock*
Dawn was cut off by a knocking at the meeting room door, she and the other reborn trainers were having a private meeting in the meeting room on board of The Big Beauty. Dawn was closest to the door, so she answered it. Surprisingly, it was a rather concerned looking Barry who was knocking on the door, wanting to get Dawn's attention.
"Umm, there's some rather... troubling breaking news," Barry said, looking and sounding an even mix of unsure and worried. A far cry from his usual attitude.
"What's the situation?" Dawn asked, already dreading something terrible.
As it turned out, the terrible breaking news was the fact that the Kalos region had finally fallen in full to the Team Heart Empire, having been wholly conquered by them. The taking of Kalos by Team Heart sent shockwaves throughout the world as it was one of the remaining free lands, but now it was a property under the banner of the Team Heart regime.
The victorious Team Heart was in the process of asserting its laws and rule over the latest territory to become their property, as well as freeing any and all Team Heart members in Kalos who were caught by the authority of Kalos's previous government. Actions were also being taken to have the members of the Kalos Sector installed as ruling authority figures in Kalos, with Admin Tress being made Kalos's Head of State.
Additionally, various persons of note within Kalosian society were made to swear their loyalty to the Team Heart regime. This was mostly the Kalosian nobility, but various notable gym leaders, as well as various other notable trainers including Kalos Champion Serena, also had to swear loyalty to the rule of Team Heart. The reborn trainers were worried about how this could potentially affect things between Ash and Serena.
"Great, now Team Heart has that sacrilegious hussy at their beck and call," Kiawe snarled when the Alolan classmates had a meeting at Ania's Kitchen with Dawn and her usual away team but Calem also came along, "They now effectively have control over the Island Guardians of Alola! A few other legendary Pokémon as well, but it's the Island Guardians of Alola that have me worried!"
"Kiawe has a point," Kenny said, mildly noted alarm in his tone, "Team Heart now has authority over a trainer with legendary Pokémon. Two, if you count how Kieran in Unova has Ogrepon."
Paul turned to look at Calem, noted the concerned look on his face. "...You're thinking about how your home region had just fallen to Team Heart rule, huh Calem?" Paul asked.
"I'll admit it has me worried," Calem said, "I mean, suppose your home region fell to Team Heart rule. How would you feel?"
"Immensely alarmed," Dawn cut in, "Because Paul, same as most of the rest of the crew of The Big Beauty, comes from Sinnoh." Gently shaking her head, Dawn said, "If Sinnoh fell to Team Heart rule, then we'd be... no, I'd rather not think about that."
Scowling, Mina said, "Well I can't think of any way for this to get any worse."
Looking at his wrist he wore his Mega Ring on and looking at his Mega Ring as if it were a watch, Kenny while holding up a few fingers said, "And things will get worse in three, two, one-"
*bang*
Kenny's countdown ended right when the front door of Ania's Kitchen was thrown open, letting in Eric as well as Silver, Faba, and Minoru. Following after them were Yoshitsugu, Haruka, Carmine, Zed, and Chandler. The combined group all huddled back in one corner of the dining area of Aina's Kitchen, facing towards the front door of the restaurant.
Dawn, her away team, and the Alolan classmates all took note of the looks of panic in the faces of Eric and the others. "...Lemme guess," Dawn began, "You guys pissed Team Skull off so much that they all turned on you."
"On the contrary," Zed said, "I sent them into glorious battle against a sudden rush of Team Heart members, and when those villains in Team Heart made it clear that they were after me and my eight subordinates here with me, I had my men in Team Skull occupy Team Heart's time in order to buy time for us to make a tactical withdrawal."
"Team Skull attacked Team Heart more or less on instinct and Zed ushered all of us out of there while Team Heart was distracted," Faba translated, then added while turning to look at Zed, "And since when were the lot of us your subordinates?"
Looking to Eric's entire group, Dawn said, "First, I'm mentally labeling you all as Eric's group due to how he's arguably the biggest asshole out of the lot of you."
"AY!" Eric exclaimed in annoyed indignation.
"If we're going by how much of an asshole someone is, then we ought to lable this group as Carmine's group because she's the biggest asshole out of all of them," Kenny remarked.
"AY!" Carmine exclaimed in annoyed indignation.
To Eric's group, Dawn asked, "Second, why is Team Heart after you guys?"
Gesturing to Dawn, Silver said, "Apparently, Team Heart members here in Alola know who Eric here is. They also learned of Zed and Chandler, and apparently Yoshitsugu and Haruka are both wanted for actions in Unova, Yoshitsugu especially so."
Looking to Dawn and her away team, Yoshitsugu said, "That being said, we're gonna be needing a favor from you to get us out of Alola and to a safer location."
"And you guys WILL be helping us," Haruka said firmly.
"We're under no obligation to help you guys," Dawn said, "Despite how you're technically on the same side as us against Team Heart, we REALLY can't stand any of you, mostly due to how all of you are either unbearably obnoxious, utter assholes, self-entitled pompous pricks, straight up actual terrorists, or a very generous combination of the four."
"What, do you guys think you can act as you wish towards others and still expect others to buddy up with you whenever you say sit and stay?" Mina asked.
"Yes," Chandler replied flatly and right away.
"Seriously, we're on the same side as you against Team Heart like you said," Haruka said, "So you HAVE TO help us out here."
"The rules changed when you took hostages!" Kenny declared.
Yoshitsugu gave the back of Haruka's head a chop before turning to look at the reborn trainers. "Look you guys, I understand that you aren't entirely fond of a lot of us," Yoshitsugu began, "I mean, since when had any of us ever given you any reason to be fond of us?"
"Actually, I can tolerate Faba and Silver at least," Dawn remarked.
"That short guy with Faba, Silver, and Eric is kinda giving me okay vibes too," Kenny said, "But imma have to ask that he leaves the ladies of the crew of The Big Beauty alone because I'm also getting vibes from him that he's a lewd pervert type." Looking to the rest of Eric's crew, Kenny went on, "But the rest of you, Carmine especially so, can suck fat nard for all I care."
"AY!" Carmine exclaimed in annoyed indignation, "What's with the personal and totally undeserved attack on me?! I'm perfectly flawless and flawlessly perfect!"
"I don't think you understand the situation," Kenny replied, "Similar to how you don't understand how to not be a turd bouquet towards your little brother Kieran."
"So you guys," Zed began as he gestured to the reborn trainers, "Despite how we're on the same side as you against Team Heart, are perfectly okay with letting Team Heart capture us. You're okay with essentially dooming the lot of us to die."
"You killed my biological mom, you jackass," Trip said to Zed.
Pointing to Chandler, Mina said, "And you got some of your family, including your wife, killed while getting the rest of them into trouble. You did more harm than good."
Pointing at Eric, Dawn said, "You're a bigoted, stuck up, self righteous and self serving bully who got others killed simply because said others were members of a faith that you don't like."
Pointing at Carmine, Kenny said, "You're a prick nugget who is literally incapable of seeing anything past her own ego and also is incapable of not bullying her little brother." Pointing at Yoshitsugu and Haruka, Kenny said, "And you two were members of a group that had kidnapped my girlfriend, even if it was for just a little bit. Why should anyone work with any of you guys? You guys make it really hard to tolerate being on the side of good."
Zed was about to speak up, but he was cut off when a few Team Heart members rushed into Ania's Kitchen, only to be attacked and thrown back when Elio sent out his Kommo-o and Selene sent out her Bewear. The two fighting type Pokémon both rushed the Team Heart members and pushed the both of them out of Mallow's family's restaurant.
"Ah! Team Heart is here at my family's restaurant!" Mallow exclaimed.
Snarling in annoyance, Dawn said, "Everyone, there's a fair chance there's more members of Team Heart outside of the restaurant. We're gonna have to go out and fight them!"
"Some of you ought to stay in here and protect us," Zed said, "We're the commanding officers of the forces fighting against Team Heart, after all."
"Zed, we have our own Pokémon," Yoshitsugu said, his tone showing he's similarly as exasperated with the stupidity of his group as Dawn is, "If we have to, we can defend ourselves. Besides, with Dawn Berlitz and all of her friends heading out to fend off Team Heart, what few members who do manage to come in ought to be slowed to a trickle that we can easily manage."
"Just try not to break any of the stuff in here," Mallow sighed as she and the others all rushed out of the restaurant to fend off Team Heart.
...
Outside of Ania's Kitchen, the heroes saw that there was a good number of Team Heart members surrounding the restaurant, so the heroes spread out to fend off Team Heart and keep as many of them as possible from entering Ania's kitchen. Not because they wanted to protect Eric's group who were inside (Dawn admitted she's only interested in protecting Faba, Silver, and maybe Minoru), but because they don't want Mallow's family's restaurant being damaged.
While the heroes battled the members of Team Heart, Dawn and Calem came across Admin Black and Admin's Assistant Kaori leading the charge. "You would be heroes ought to stand aside now," Black snarled, "Multiple criminals and terrorists wanted by Team Heart are inside of the restaurant. We're here to take them into custody."
"And let you potentially cause damage to Mallow's family's restaurant? I don't think so," Dawn said, knowing full well that it's impossible for the members of Eric's group that are asshats to be taken without at least some damage caused to the inside of Ania's Kitchen. "If you wanna get inside, then you're gonna have to battle your way in," Dawn went on.
"And I'm the first one who'll make you fight," Calem snarled, "I'm pissed that you guys just conquered my home region of Kalos."
Black made a scoffing noise that sounded annoyed. "Fine, have it your way, would be heroes," Black said before tossing up a Pokéball, "Go, Ninjask!"
"Go, Jynx!" Kaori said as she sent out a Jynx and Black sent out his Ninjask.
"Go, Blastoise!" Calem said as he sent out his Blastoise and immediately Mega Evolved it.
"Go, Zancrow!" Dawn said as she sent out her named Volcarona, "Use Flamethrower on Ninjask!"
"Blastoise, use Dark Pulse on Jynx!" Calem ordered.
"Ninjask, use Fury Cutter on Volcarona!" Black commanded.
"Jynx, use Ice Beam on Blastoise!" Kaori called out.
Zancrow barely edged out against Ninjask's speed, letting it blast Ninjask with Flamethrower and take it out. Having the advantage of distance and using a ranged attack also helped, given that Ninjask had to get in close to use its attack. And Blastoise's Dark Pulse plowed through Ice Beam and blasted into Jynx, knocking it out as well.
Black and Kaori had to recall their respective fainted Pokémon before sending out more Pokémon to battle. "Go, Accelgor!" Black said as he sent out an Accelgor.
"Go, Nidoqueen!" Kaori said as she sent out a Nidoqueen, a normally colored one as opposed to the shiny one that Paul owned, "Use Poison Jab on Blastoise!"
"Accelgor, use U-Turn on Volcarona!" Black ordered.
"Blastoise, use Water Pulse on Nidoqueen!" Calem commanded.
"Zancrow, use Flamethrower on Accelgor!" Dawn called out.
Zancrow once again had some speed on the opponent, as well as the advantage of distance and using a ranged attack while the target had to get in close to use its attack. The named Volcarona blasted Accelgor with Flamethrower as it came in, knocking it out in the process. As for Blastoise, its Water Pulse blasted into and knocked out Nidoqueen before it even got close.
Black and Kaori had to recall their respective fainted Pokémon again before they could send out their next Pokémon into the battle. "Go, Grafaiai!" Black said as he sent out a Grafaiai.
"Go, Miltank!" Kaori said as she sent out a Miltank, "Use Rollout on Blastoise!"
"Grafaiai, use Cross Poison on Volcarona!" Black ordered.
"Blastoise, use Aura Sphere on Miltank!" Calem commanded.
"Zancrow, use Psychic on Grafaiai!" Dawn called out.
Zancrow had an easier time moving before the other Pokémon, conjuring and casting a telekinetic blast of psychic energy that slammed into and knocked out Grafaiai. As for Blastoise, its Aura Sphere blasted into and knocked Miltank out of its Rollout, and knocked Miltank out entirely for that matter. Black and Kaori had to recall their respective fainted Pokémon yet again, and the fact that neither of them moved to send out more Pokémon meant that they were wiped.
Dawn and Calem, as Blastoise's Mega Evolution came undone, confronted Black and Kaori. "The both of you are done," Calem said, looking very unamused with Team Heart, "You'll be paying for what all evil you and your fellows the world over have don-"
"OI! ADMIN BLACK AND I ARE WIPED!" Kaori called out, cutting off Calem in the process, "SOME OF YOU COME OVER AND GIVE US COVER TO PULL OUT!"
Dawn and Calem were soon surrounded by a number of Team Heart grunts, keeping them from being able to get to the Admin and his Assistant. "What's the status on getting those criminals and terrorists wanted by Team Heart?" Black asked.
"We're close to being wiped here, sir," a female Team Heart grunt replied, "We simply lack the power right now to take even one of the wanted terrorists."
"Signal for the lads to shift to aiming to retreat," Black said, "We're pulling out. I'll have to report this to others and see what they have to say." Given that Dawn and Calem were surrounded, they had no way to stop Black and Kaori from falling back and getting away. And now Team Heart was shifting to focus on pulling back because Dawn and the other heroes being there meant that Team Heart by no means was able to get to Eric's group.
They still had to do what they could, though.
Eventually, the fighting was settled, and a total of four Team Heart grunts were captured by the heroes, mainly Elio and Selene. When the coast was clear, Eric's group came out of hiding from Ania's Kitchen. Zed and Chandler both immediately began trying to claim full credit for what victory there was over Team Heart here, but they got into an argument over who's the leader.
The argument ended when Selene's Bewear slugged Chandler in the gut and Elio's Kommo-o struck Zed with a backhanded fist slam that knocked him over onto the ground. When both pompous men laid prone on the ground, Bewear put its right foot on Chandler's stomach to keep him pinned, and Kommo-o likewise did the same, but its right foot was pressed into Zed's stomach.
"Yeah, Mallow's very upset that you guys had wrecked a table and three chairs in the restaurant beyond repair," Elio said.
"But some members of Team Heart came in!" Zed defended.
"ONE rank and file level Team Heart member got in, you bloody wanker!" Selene snapped, "And I took him out and caught him before he could do much of anything!"
"Yeah, Zed and Chandler wanted to make things look like a struggle occurred because they were hoping to use the 'struggle' to make themselves look better," Yoshitsugu said, "So they deliberately broke the table and chairs and were hoping to pin the blame on Team Heart."
Sighing, Dawn said, "And you guys all seriously still expect us to help you."
"As your commanding officer," Zed began, "I order you to-"
"Zancrow, use Psychic to strangle Zed's coin purse," Dawn said flatly. Zancrow's eyes glowed with psychic power as a similar aura covered Zed's groin area before he began to writhe and cry out in great male pain. Dawn, after a few seconds, had Zancrow stop before she marched over to where Zed laid prone and pinned.
Looking down at Zed, Dawn snarled, "Let me make one thing clear to you, Zed. You have NO power here. You're nothing more than a cowardly blowhard who keeps slinking out of trouble the moment it pops up, and are only alive and free due to an utterly obscene and frankly rather undeserved bout of good luck. You're also a bossy, highly incompetent bully who sees himself as being as flawless as Carmine sees herself as, and she's bar none one of the most flawed people alive."
"AY!" Carmine exclaimed in annoyed indignation.
Dawn's gaze at Zed narrowed. "I'm not going help Team Heart capture you or your fellows who I'm not fond of. But at the same time, I'm not going to help you and your fellows who I'm not fond of avoid being captured by Team Heart. I'm going to leave you and your fellows who I'm not fond of to fend for yourselves."
Gulping nervously, Eric said, "S-Surely I'm one of the people you're going to save, right?"
"Pfft, hell no," Paul spoke up, "I'm certain I speak for Dawn when I say that you're at the top of her list of people she's leaving here to fend for themselves. She's got a point, toxic allies will only drag down the efforts against Team Heart as a whole, it's best to cut them loose." Some of the other away team members all nodded in agreement with what Paul said. "I believe that Dawn said she's willing to escort Silver and Faba to safety, though," Paul went on.
"And Minoru if he promises not to act up like the pervert he's giving off the air that he is," Kenny went on, drawing an affirmative nod from Dawn. Minoru quickly and hurriedly nodded in agreement to be on his best behavior.
A look of wide eyed alarm appeared on Eric's face. "You... you guys can't be serious," Eric said as he regarded the heroes, "We could die if you don't help us!"
"And why should we help people who are nothing but toxic assholes to others?" Trip snarled, "Even IF said toxic assholes are allies of ours against Team Heart? Hell, Zed there is a person that I would not mind straight up killing because he's the bastard who killed my biological mom!"
"If you all wanted to be on our team, then you all should have been better team players," Lucas said as he gently shook his head in disappointment.
Looking to where Silver stood with Faba and Minoru, Dawn said, "My crew and I are actually done with business here in the Alola region, so we'll be leaving soon. If you three want, you can pack your stuff and come along with us to Sinnoh. Given your association with Eric there, you three might be in danger of going down with him if you remain in Alola."
Silver actually looked surprised. "You'd have me come along, even though I did technically deceive you when you and your crew got me out of Johto?"
"You were only trying to help someone," Dawn replied, "Granted, whether or not he actually deserved to be helped is questionable, but you were still acting wholly in good faith."
"We are gonna have to check any and all luggage that you and the others bring on board, though," Trip went on, "Just to make sure none of you try to smuggle anyone we don't approve of on board."
Zed tried getting up, but Kommo-o roared in his face. "Yeah, I'm not entirely fond of most of you guys either," Elio remarked, "Eric especially so. The damn hypocrite won't stop harshing on Lana for her weight. I think it's high time that the bad seeds are tossed out."
"Let cut those turds loose!" Mina exclaimed. Eric's group, aside from the persons Dawn's willing to save, couldn't believe it; Dawn and all of her away team, plus all of the Alolan classmates, were more or less essentially dooming them to die. That's what's going to happen when Team Heart gets a hold of the lot of them, because Team Heart is bound to put them to death.
They had to think of something, anything at all, so as to avoid the looming specter of death that was menacingly hanging right above their heads. Some had fights to carry on, some wanted to get a bit of revenge on certain persons, and some simply wanted to be free. However, there was one simple and yet rather notable little factoid that Eric, Chandler, Zed, Yoshitsugu, Haruka, and Carmine all had in common with one another.
They didn't wanna die.
Later that evening, Dawn and Mina were going over to visit Lana's family's house as they were both called over by Lana. When they got to within eyesight of Lana's family's house, they saw that Lana's mom Melissa was standing outside of the front gate in the fence that's around the house. Melissa was cautiously hanging back due to Elio standing before her, his Primarina at his side. Standing in the yard behind Elio were Lana and her little sisters.
"I smell trouble," Dawn said before she jogged up to the scene, making Mina jog to keep up. When the two girls got close, Dawn spoke up, "What's the situation?"
Dawn's call got the attention of everyone else on the scene. "Lana's mom here came by because apparently she was invited over," Elio said, "She claims that Lana's dad called her over, but we have no way to verify that." Dawn could tell that Elio sounded a bit on edge; Melissa didn't do anything or said anything to screw up already, did she?
"I'm... I'm perfectly willing to wait for Yasuhiro to come back and verify that he did indeed invite me over," Melissa said, her tone sounding an even mix of humbled and defeated, "He said that I should see how our daughters are doing, although I wasn't expecting Lana-"
"Oh here we go!" Lana interrupted, sounding pissed and like she knew what was going to happen which is why she sounded pissed, "You're going to harp on me for getting fat, aren't you?!"
"Lana, I-" Melissa said, but she was cut off.
Gesturing to Melissa, Lana snarled, "That's ALWAYS been your way! You ALWAYS had to force shallow standards of physical appeal onto me, Harper, and Sarah! You didn't even care about the three of us, you just cared about making things look appealing by your standards!"
"That's not true, Lana," Melissa said, "I do care about you gir-"
"I passed out from hunger at school and almost had to go to the hospital for it because you wanted to make and keep me as thin as possible!" Lana exclaimed, "All you had to say on the matter of me passing out from hunger at school was that I had to learn how to hold out better! You would rather that I starve than let me eat anything!"
"I had your best interests in mind, Lana," Melissa said, trying to reason with her upset daughter, "I was wanting you to be appealing enough to get boys to notice yo-"
"No you don't have my best interests in mind!" Lana screamed, "You cared more about me being appealing to boys than you did about me passing out from hunger! Your methods not only failed to get the results you wanted, but they almost landed me in the hospital due to being starved!"
"You're... certainly not starved now," Mina remarked.
Pointing at Melissa, Lana said, "Here's a news flash for you, mom; girls don't have to be super skinny and starving to be appealing to boys. Elio and I have been dating pretty much ever since he moved to Alola, and he's never seen me before I got to my current size! Also, one of the science teachers over at school, Clemont, is dating a girl who is roughly as large as I am!"
"Roark, the leader of the gym in Oreburgh City, Sinnoh, is actually married to a girl who is of a similar weight compared to Clemont's girlfriend," Dawn offered.
Lana nodded in agreement. "See, mom? Thin necessarily isn't in, despite your beliefs to the contrary! I mean, what even made you think that girls had to be skinny to be appealing to boys?"
Melissa, looking defeated, turned her head to the side and looked down. "...Back in my teens..." Melissa began, "...Long before you Lana were born... I was actually rather chunky myself. Nowhere near to the level of you and the other girls you told me about, but I did indeed have extra weight that I couldn't hide. Other girls living in the same town as me said I would never get the guy I was in love with, the guy who eventually became your dad, to like me back."
Letting out a whistle, Dawn muttered under her breath, "Hoo boy, here we go..."
"So I dieted and exercised like crazy," Melissa went on, "Got to my current size, and eventually was able to convince your dad to give me a shot. Everything from that point forward is history."
Lana, a surprised look on her face, said, "Umm... wow. Dad told me, Harper, and Sarah a similar story of how he was originally in love with a somewhat bigger girl, but she practically disappeared off of the face or Alola one day and never popped up again. He then met you and said you had convinced him to give you a shot. Dad even still has the photo of the somewhat bigger girl that he used to be in love with."
Melissa, looking curious, was wondering where this might lead to. Dawn and Mina however, due to how the two of them remember the events of the Team Scorn timeline, knew exactly where this was going.
...
Later when Yasuhiro got home and did indeed confirm that he called Melissa over, Lana got out the photo of Yasuhiro's first crush and showed it to Melissa, who confirmed that the chunky girl in the photo was actually Melissa herself pre-weight loss. Stories were exchanged, and all answers were given to long standing questions.
Yasuhiro's first reaction to learning the true full story... was actually to laugh.
Melissa also couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the sheer absurdity of it all; all of the pain she went through, everything she did with her daughters, it ended up being all for nothing. Mind you, Melissa and Yasuhiro were still upset with a lot of things, and the two of them weren't magically going to get back together after finding out the truth.
But they WERE willing to try to work things out in therapy. Lana was also willing to give Melissa another chance to be a proper mom, provided that Melissa leaves Lana alone on certain things and whatnot. Harper and Sarah were less sure, and Lana (and maybe Elio) would have to be there to help the twins feel at ease around their mom.
Damage was beginning to heal, but it was going to be a rather slow process that was gonna be taking a VERY long time. But it WAS happening, Dawn was able to note that. With signs that things for Lana's family was going to mend, Dawn and Mina were able to return to The Big Beauty with their spirits raised and hope in their hearts.
By the way, Trip when he was filled in on all of this later was rightfully pissed, saying that he knew that things were going to end up like that.
Dawn and Mina, when they got to where The Big Beauty was parked, saw that Silver, Faba, and Minoru were all ready to board the flying ship; they all even had luggage with them. But that wasn't all; Eric, Chandler, Zed, Yoshitsugu, Haruka, and Carmine were all there as well with luggage of their own. There were also several people from the Alola region's regional government there, and it was those persons who Dawn spoke to first.
"What's going on here?" Dawn asked.
Stepping forward, the most well dressed government man said, "My men and I are representatives of the government of the Alola region. We're here to inform you that you are being required to take Former Team Heart member Zed and all of his companions to the Sinnoh region, where members of Sinnoh's government will take over handling things."
"I'm sorry, what?" Mina said.
One of the lesser government men stepped forward and handed Dawn a letter. "This is a missive from Sinnoh's governor. It should answer any and all questions."
Dawn unfolded the letter and read it. "...Well damn," Dawn said, "Zed used his status as a former member of Team Heart to get Sinnoh's government to make me bring him to Sinnoh, leveraging how he can provide inside info about Team Heart to help bring them down."
"That's right, soldier," Zed said, sounding boastful and smug, "My men here and I will be boarding the ship now." Zed moved to go up the drawbridge, but Dawn moved to block him. "Hey, what gives?" Zex demanded, "You're being required to let me and my men on board!"
"Yes, that is true," Dawn said, clearly pissed that she was being force to bring Zed and his similarly disfavorable fellows along with her but she was outwardly trying to be civil, "But it's like I told Silver, Faba, and Minoru. Everyone I'm bringing with me out of Alola is going to be searched first, and that includes all of their luggage. Respectfully, I'm having to prioritize the safety and well being of my crew and ship."
"Like hell you're gonna search us!" Chandler snarled.
"Actually, that's a perfectly reasonable thing for Sinnoh Champion Dawn to wanna do," said the head Alolan government person.
Turning to Mina, Dawn said, "Mina, go get Mitch, Sho, and James. I want them to help me with searching everyone we're bringing before they're allowed to board." Mina gave Dawn a single nod of understanding before heading on up the drawbridge to go fetch the men who Dawn had asked for. Dawn then turned back to look at Eric and his group.
It really pissed Dawn off that Zed was able to weasel his way into making her have to save his sorry rear end, and the sorry rear ends of the others in Eric's group that Dawn didn't wannan have to bother with. But she'll be damned if she lets the unwanted guests who forced their way in anyway to act as they pleased while they're on board of The Big Beauty while she had to bail their sorry rear ends out of danger.
...
Luckily for Silver, Faba, and Minoru, all of their luggage got a pass by Dawn's standards. Carmine didn't have anything unreasonable in her luggage as well, so that's a point of credit for her. Yoshitsugu and Haruka had no issues with their luggage, although Dawn did require them to hand over their long sword and rapier respectively as Dawn didn't want people armed with weapons on board of her ship; she had for similar reasons confiscated Carmine's knife.
Eric had no issues with his luggage, although Dawn did note with some curiosity that one luggage case was full of junk food snacks and sodas, one was full of cash money which Eric explained was from liquidating his assets in Alola as he had to flee the region and planned to start fresh in Sinnoh, and the third was full of actual stuff that would be in luggage; clothes and other general things such as personal hygiene items.
Dawn found a gun among Zed's luggage, as well as what she saw was his old uniform from his days as a Team Heart member, and some questionable reading material that made Dawn suspect that Zed fully intended to mutiny and try to take over The Big Beauty. "Hey, let's throw Zed in the brig so he can't cause any trouble," Kenny said.
Perking up, Dawn said, "Since when did The Big Beauty have a brig?"
"Yes Kenny," said Salvia who came down to see the luggage searching process. Salvia was still in her disguise as 'Kanna Kobiyashi'. "I don't recall there being a brig in The Big Beauty," Salvia went on.
"I had a row of four jail cells, eight by eight, installed in the cargo hold area while we were here in the Alola region," Kenny replied.
"You made modifications to Dawn's ship without her knowing?" Saliva asked.
Shrugging, Kenny replied, "I figured that it'd come in handy if we ever have to transport someone who at a minimum we don't trust."
Dawn was about to say something, but then she stopped short. "...That's actually good foresight, Kenny," Dawn replied, "Granted the next time you wanna make a modification to The Big Beauty, I'll be wanting you to talk to me about it first, but yeah we'll throw Zed into one of the cells in the brig."
"You can't do that to me!" Zed said. Turning to look at the Alolan government people, Zed told them, "Tell her that she can't do that to me!"
Shrugging, the head Alolan government person replied, "She just has to bring you and your fellows to Sinnoh safely. She isn't exactly required to give you the best room in her flying ship. And you ARE technically a former Team Heart member, so putting you in the brig while you're being taken to the Sinnoh region IS reasonable."
Dawn, as she figured out who among the people she was being forced to bring to Sinnoh would be thrown into the jail cells that make up the brig, continued the search of everyone's luggage by getting to Chandler's luggage. Among the acceptable things in Chandler's luggage, Dawn found a hunting knife in a sheath, as well as a bottle of chloroform and a hand cloth to use it with.
All items that Dawn didn't approve of were confiscated, and she told Mitch that Chandler was going into one of the jail cells in the brig. The others thrown into the remaining three jail cells were Zed, Eric, and Carmine. "Hey! You can't throw me into the brig!" Carmine exclaimed.
"I can and will," Dawn snarled; Dawn originally wanted to go with Haruka over Carmine as the last person to throw into the brig, but Yoshitsugu was able to convince Dawn against it by promising to make Haruka behave herself. Dawn was able to have a working trust with Yoshitsugu, so she will have to trust him to make sure Haruka doesn't 'bitch over anyone' (Mina's term for it) while The Big Beauty was en route to Sinnoh.
Dawn didn't like how she had to bring a bunch of people that she didn't like, but that wasn't going to stop her from doing the job her region's government was requiring her to do. It also didn't mean that she had to be nice to the people she was being forced to whisk to safety before Team Heart found out about how the people they're after managed to rabbit out of Alola.
Dawn REALLY hoped that Eric's group will keep to themselves and not do anything to let Team Heart know they're in Sinnoh.
END, CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the reborn trainers finish completing the Alola dex and prepare to leave Alola. But Eric and his group make a cut in because Team Heart found out they were in Alola. Dawn and the others drive off Team Heart, and Dawn even says she'll take Silver and Faba to safety out of Alola as it's too hot for them to stay. She'll also take Minoru as well if he promises to behave. But the rest of Eric's group can rot for all Dawn cares.
Dawn and Mina then see things settle between Lana's parents, where Melissa learns that Yasuhiro was in love with her back when she was still chunky, but he didn't recognize her because she went missing to lose her excess weight because she thought guys only like thin girls. Things between the two of them, Melissa and Yasuhiro, aren't instantly magically healed fully, but some setup is done to see at least some mending.
Dawn and Mina then return to where The Big Beauty is parked, and see that the whole of Eric's group is there with Alolan government people; Zed had used his status as a former member of Team Heart and saying he can give valuable inside information to help bring down Team Heart to make the governments of Alola and Sinnoh move to make Dawn take the whole of Eric's group out of the Allow region to avoid Team Heart.
Dawn, given no choice because Sinnoh's government is requiring her to do so, complies. But she IS able to search all of their luggage first. She also throws Zed, Chandler, Eric, and Carmine into the brig that Kenny had installed in the cargo hold of The Big Beauty without first asking or even telling Dawn. Dawn normally doesn't approve of crew members making changes to her ship without her knowing and or permission, but she's letting things slide here just this once as it's proved useful.
Anyway, this brings the Alola arc of the story to a close, as the next chapter will be the beginning of the Galar arc. 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), Zancrow (male Volcarona)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Black (Giratina), Shallot (male Glaceon), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Roshi (male Torterra), Zarbon (male Machamp), Kermit (male Politoed)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Deelia (Dialga), Lisa (female Latias), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Veda (female Abomasnow), Myde (male Empoleon), Villetta (Miraidon)
Mina's Pokémon: (on hand) Scar (male Eevee; scared over one eye), Gardevoir (male), Lucario (female), Umbreon (male; shiny), Espeon (male; shiny), Jolteon (male; shiny)