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-six: A school girl's yearning, part five
Juliana, with guidance from Ichimichi, made it to the Pokémon League building, which was located a bit away from Mesagoza. "When you get inside," Ichimichi said to Juliana, "You'll have to answer a few questions. The person who will be quizzing you will be Sakurai, he's the Fourth Captain of the Paldea Sector of Team Heart. He'll be accompanied by his Captain's Assistant, Taro."
Juliana nodded once in the affirmative. "Understood."
"Assuming you pass the first part of the Champion's Assessment," Ichimichi went on, "You'll then have to go on to the second part, which will involve battling the Paldean elite four and, should you best all of them, Top Champion Geeta afterwards. If you best Geeta, then you'll pass and become a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region."
Juliana gave another nod of her head. "Understood."
"Just to give you fair warning," Ichimichi said, "The elite four of the Paldean Pokémon League are no pushovers. Neither is Geeta. Mind you, your Pokémon will be restored in between battles, so you are not going to go into battles all tired and exhausted. Even so, it's best that you don't lose your head if things start to look dicey for you in a battle."
Juliana gave yet another nod of her head. "Got it."
Gesturing to the Pokémon League building, Ichimichi said, "Well, there it is. If you feel like you're ready, you may go in an take your Champion's Assessment test." Juliana could feel her heart racing a bit, but then again she WAS about to take a very big leap. She steeled her nerves and, with all of the courage that she could muster, Juliana strode on in.
...
When Juliana got inside, she saw that there were two people, both men, standing in the room. Both wore Team Heart uniforms, although one of the men wore a unique outfit. The uniquely dressed man was fair skinned, had chin length black hair with three pink streaks in it, and he wore a pink butler suit top with long coattails, a black dress shirt under the butler suit top, black gloves, pants that match the butler suit top, a pink neck tie, black dress shoes, and he had a black Team Heart 'H' on the butler suit top over the left pectoral.
The other man wore a standard male Team Heart grunt outfit, but he was a fair skinned, tall, mildly stocky man. The uniquely dressed Team Heart guy gave a mildly amused smile that made Juliana think for a moment that she was dealing with a devil of a man. He certainly did have a good looking face, but there was something... unsettling... about the man as a whole.
"Ah, you must be Juliana," said the uniquely dressed Team Heart guy, "I am Sakurai, and my fellow here with us is Taro. But Ichimichi contacted us ahead of time to tell us she was bringing you, so she must have told you about us already."
Nodding once, Juliana said, "Yeah, she did."
The now identified Sakurai nodded back once in response. "Please," Sakurai said as he gestured to a chair in front of the desk in the room, "Have a seat. I, Sakurai, will be your interviewer." Juliana, still a bit nervous, sat down as instructed, while Sakurai took the seat at the desk. Taro remained standing, as if keeping vigil, off to the side.
"Let's get started with the first portion of the Champion's Assessment," Sakurai said, "We begin with the interview. First things first, let me check to see how many badges you have." Sakurai looked to the computer on the desk. "...Excellent!" Sakurai said, "You have all eight! Next, I'd like to ask you a few questions, if you wouldn't mind, Juliana. Please think carefully, as you may automatically fail the interview depending on your answers. Let's begin."
Juliana was even more nervous, given the threat of failing that was just issued, but she kept firm, and waited for Sakurai's first question. "Do you support the will of Lady Bianca?" Sakurai asked.
It didn't surprise Juliana that such a question was asked, given things here are being dictated by the Team Heart authority. "Yes," Juliana replied, knowing better than to say no here to what Team Heart wants.
Sakurai gave a gentle nod of his head. "Very good, very good. Do you believe it's wrong for bigger people to be big?"
Again, Juliana wasn't surprised by the question, and knew just how to respond. "No."
"Excellent, excellent," Sakurai replied, "Which between classism, ageism, and ableism is the most wrong?"
This question actually concerned Juliana a bit; she knew that Team Heart hated fatphobia above all other forms of discrimination, but she wasn't sure how they ranked the other kinds. This was the first question that Juliana was going to have to gamble on, and she hoped that her blanket answer would fly. "All forms of discrimination are wrong."
"Ooh, I like that answer," Sakurai said, "It very much reflects Team Heart creed." Juliana felt a bit more confident, but she was still on the edge of her seat. "If you become a Champion ranked trainer, will you support Team Heart creed?" Sakurai asked.
"Yes," Juliana replied, knowing full well it was the right answer here.
"Hmm, I never had a doubt that you would," Sakurai replied, "Tell me, which form of discrimination offends you the most?"
"Fatphobia," Juliana replied, again knowing that it's her best bet.
"Oh yes, I feel the same," Sakurai said, "This question is something that, while an actual part of the interview here, I'm still personally a bit curious about. Which gym leader in Paldea do you most approve of?"
Juliana recognized this as a question that she could pick any option and still be right. She decided to go for one that she bet would be good. "Larry."
"Oh my, I believe that Larry is Champion Rimu's personal pick as well," Sakurai said, "And speaking of, Champion Rimu is the subject of the next question. Can you name at least one Pokémon that Champion Rimu owns? If so, name just one of them."
This question surprised Juliana a bit, but again it was an easy one for her. "Yes," Juliana replied, "He owns a Skeledirge."
Nodding in approval, Sakurai said, "Oh my, yes. Champion Rimu does indeed own a Skeledirge. Do you know the typing of Skeledirge? If so, tell me."
"Yes," Juliana replied, "Skeledirge is a dual fire ghost type." Juliana supposed that the question was just general knowledge testing.
"That is indeed correct," Sakurai said, "Becoming a Champion ranked trainer of Paldea approved by Team Heart is no easy task. You not only need to believe in Team Heart creed with all of your heart, you also need a sharp mind and great strength. You've proven thus far to have a sharp mind with this interview, and getting all eight badges shows you have great strength. Tell me, will you place that strength at Team Heart's disposal if and when need be?"
"Yes," Juliana replied, knowing that she was going to be expected to follow Team Heart's will.
"I'm glad to hear that," Sakurai remarked, "Now, I need to ask one last question." Juliana was ready for anything, but what the last question ended up being surprised her. "Do you like Pokémon?"
"Yes," Juliana replied, feeling that the last question would have worked in the interview in the pre-Team Heart ruling Paldea's Champion's Assessment.
"Excellent, I'm glad to hear that," Sakurai said, "That wraps up the interview. Now then, allow me to be the first to congratulate you, Juliana..." Smiling a bit with his eyes closed in a happy expression, Sakurai said, "You just passed the first part of the Champion's Assessment!" Juliana felt a wave of relief wash over her immediately, although she looked a little bit surprised when Taro did a quick little cute polite clapping.
"You truly do have what it takes if I do say so myself," Sakurai went on, "Anyway, it's time to switch gears and get ready for the next segment. The second segment is called the elite test. You're going to be facing the elite four in Pokémon battles. But then again, that ought to be pretty obvious given the name of the segment."
Shrugging, Sakurai continued, "Well anyway, they're the best the league has to offer. You'll face them four in a row, no turning back. It's not exactly gonna be easy, let me tell you. Make sure that you're ready first, then go into the room behind me. Oh, and good luck to you." Juliana hoped that the part with the battles would be a lot more straight forward than the test was; where she didn't have to be all that concerned about doing and saying what Team Heart wants, she just has to win.
Juliana got up from her seat, moved to the door behind where Sakurai sat, and then went right on through it in order to continue pursuing her destiny.
The remainder of her time at the Pokémon League building in Paldea proved to be a lot easier for Juliana to make sense of.
She first battled Rika, the first member of the Paldean elite four and user of ground type Pokémon. Rika apparently was originally the person who conducted the interview before Team Heart had risen to power in Paldea, but now Rika juat has to wait like everyone else. Additionally, Rika had to identify herself as a woman; apparently she was mistaken for being a man quite a few times in the past, and Team Heart now requires her to be clear and upfront about her gender so as to avoid people making embarrassing mistakes when introduced to her.
Regardless of all of that, Juliana was able to win her battle against Rika and move on to the next battle. After her team was restored and her Tera Orb recharged, Juliana had her next battle which was against Poppy, a very young looking girl who specializes in steel types. Poppy apparently is also actually nine year old and is being required by Team Heart to be clear and upfront about how old she is so as to avoid people making embarrassing mistakes when introduced to her. Just how many people screw up when first meeting the Paldean elite four?
Again regardless, Juliana was able to win and move on to her next battle. After her team was restored and her Tera Orb recharged, Juliana next was in for a surprise when she saw that the third member of the Paldean elite four was Larry, the gym leader for the gym in Medali. Now Juliana saw what Larry meant when he had previously told her that he'd be seeing her later. Additionally, Larry as an elite four member uses flying type Pokémon as opposed to the normal types that he used back when Juliana battled him for her fifth gym badge.
Regardless of Larry's type change, Juliana still beat him. Also regardless of type change, Larry still used a Staraptor; but then again it is dual normal flying type, and Larry uses normal types as a gym leader and flying types as an elite four member. Putting all of that aside, Juliana had her team of Pokémon perked back up and her Tera Orb recharged before she had her battle with the fourth and final member of the Paldean elite four. Although Juliana was on a roll, she didn't get cocky, given the sheer importance of what she was doing.
However, Juliana was surprised to see that the fourth and final member of the Paldean elite four was Mr. Hassel, her art teacher over at Naranja Academy. Hassel has a bit of a reputation of being the favorite teacher of many of the students over at Naranja Academy, but that belied Hassel's great strength as a trainer, one who specializes in the use of dragon type Pokémon. But regardless of the great power that Hassel brought to the table, Juliana was able to beat him, thus clearing all of the Paldean elite four.
But after that, as well as Juliana's party being restored and her Tera Orb being recharged again, she went to the top of the tower and had a battle on the roof against Top Champion Geeta. Although she had a reputation of being the highest ranked Champion in Paldea, Geeta wasn't actually the most powerful among that count; she's weaker than Nemona, and Nemona is weaker than Rimu. Juliana had also seen Geeta battle a few times, and had a vague strategy in mind on how to battle Geeta here and hopefully win.
Which she did, taking out Geeta's last Pokémon Glimmora with her Tatsugiri. With her having bested Geeta in battle, Juliana had cleared the Paldean Pokémon League and became an official Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region. Juliana was excited to tell Penny and Arven-senpai and maybe even Nemona assuming she doesn't immediately challenge Juliana to a battle. Given how reserved she has been as of late, Nemona could be expected to restrain herself here.
However, right after Juliana was officially minted as a Champion, she was out the door of the Paldean Pokémon League building when she was stopped by Sakurai. "It is perfectly reasonable for you to want to go off and celebrate with your friends the great feat that you had just accomplished," Sakurai began, "But before you can go and celebrate, there's something that you have to do, as per the will of the Team Heart authority."
"What is it?" Juliana asked, wondering what it might be.
"You are to report to Admin Hochu," Sakurai began, "Admin of the Paldea Sector of Team Heart and Head of State of the Paldea region. He will conduct a swearing in ceremony to cement your loyalty to the Team Heart regime. This is required for you to actually get the Champion rank officially given to you, Team Heart cannot have Champions in Team Heart territories not loyal to the Empire."
Juliana understood what Sakurai was getting at here. Team Heart wanted to be sure that all trainers of note within Empire territory is sworn to loyalty to the will of the regime. Knowing that this was not something that she could deny, Juliana asked Sakurai where she had to go to in order to take care of what all business that had to be done now.
"Admin Hochu will be at the Team Heart government building located in Cascarrafa," Sakurai began to explain, "He will perform the swearing in ceremony within the confines of a private office room. It will not be a public event. After the swearing in ceremony is completed, you will be given an official document signifying that you are a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region."
Juliana nodded once in the affirmative before she was allowed to take off. This last part, although it will bind her to the will and rule of the Team Heart authority, was necessary for Juliana to become a Champion ranked trainer. And becoming a Champion ranked trainer was very necessary in order for Juliana's goal of appealing to her beloved Arven-senpai.
That was something that Juliana could not waste time on.
The swearing in ceremony that was conducted by Hochu in the Team Heart government building located in Cascarrafa wasn't all that big of a deal to get through, all things considered. After that all was taken care of, Juliana walked out into the Cascarrafa streets, officially minted as the newest Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region.
To a lack of surprise on Juliana's part, she was met up by Penny, Nemona, and Arven. "Wow, you're officially a Champion now, Juliana," Nemona said, "Congratulations." Juliana could tell that Nemona was not actually intending to challenge her to a battle, but at the same time more and more of the former excitable attitude Nemona had was returning.
Nodding once to Juliana, Penny said, "This really is a big deal, Juliana. You're now a walking symbol here in the Paldea region. The people are going to be looking to you. Don't be surprised if someone asks you for your autograph or something else that's of a similar nature."
"Thanks, Penny," Juliana replied, before she turned to look at Arven. "Umm, Arven-senpai," Juliana began, "There's something that I wanna tell you."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Arven said, "At the risk of sounding like I'm full of myself, I'm guessing that you wanna say that you have romantic feelings for me, Juliana."
The girls with Arven all looked at him in surprise. "How... I mean... how did you guess that?!" Penny asked, "I mean yeah that is the truth, but how did you guess it?"
Gesturing to Juliana, Arven said, "I got it that she suddenly wanted to pick up learning how to cook and that me being into cooking is part of the reason. There's also how she always refers to me as Arven-senpai and in a respectful tone, and I have occasionally noticed her blushing whenever she's talking to me."
"...Was I that obvious?" Juliana asked, embarrassed by how easily Arven was able to read her like and open book.
"I didn't think you were," Nemona said, "Heck, I didn't even know until just now as all of us began to talk about it. It even took Rimu telling me that he and Penny were dating for me to notice anything in that regard there. I... guess I'm not much of one who's got her thumb on the world of romance."
Penny gave Nemona the driest of looks. "Nemona, you aren't one who's got her thumb on the world of anything outside of Pokémon battling."
As Nemona slumped a bit in defeat, Juliana looked to Arven. "...So... umm... yeah, Arven-senpai. I... I really do... umm... like you..." Juliana spoke the last two words so quietly, she was barely audible. It really was embarrassing to confess to one's crush, especially after they had figured it out so easily.
Shrugging, Arven went on, "Well, I have to admit, it's not something that bothers me." Juliana perked up a bit, hearing that she didn't bother Arven. "If anything, the only thing between us that still has me feeling embarrassed is what our respective Mabosstiffs got up to with one another that one time in Medeli," Arven went on, "I'm never gonna live that down."
Juliana nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's gonna be a memory that's gonna stick with me for the rest of my life," Juliana said, "I still can't believe that my Mabosstiff and your Mabosstiff gave into their instincts like that. And in public no less."
"But we can put that to the side for now," Arven said, "Because if you want, we can try to see how it would go for the two of us going out."
"You... I mean... really?!" Juliana exclaimed, elated to hear that Arven was saying that he's willing to give her a chance.
Arven gave a single nod in the affirmative. "Let's... just remember to keep our Mabosstiffs in their respective Pokéballs while we're together," Arven said, "Or at least not have the both of them out at the same time. Deal?"
"Oh totally!" Juliana declared, practically giddy with excitement given that she was getting a chance to be with her beloved Arven-senpai. Penny applauded Juliana, as did Nemona who saw that it was a moment that she was supposed to cheer on Juliana for. It was a dream come true for Juliana, she got the guy. She had a very strong feeling that things from this point moving forward were going to be nothing but smooth sailing.
For her, and for everyone else.
(Sunyshore City, Sinnoh region)
"Hot damn!" Kenny exclaimed as the forces of Sinnoh began to settle things after the last of the invading Team Heart forces were repelled from the Sinnoh region. Despite the fact that Team Heart had come at Sinnoh with forces from every territory under the Team Heart authority, including some notable trainers from those regions but weren't part of Team Heart, Sinnoh was STILL able to hold the line and keep from being conquered.
Sinnoh was also able to keep Team Heart from getting to any of the persons in Ericson's Company, the very reason that Team Heart tried to invade Sinnoh in the first place. Eric, Yoshitsugu, Haruka, Minoru, Carmine, Faba, Silver, Chandler, and Zed were all still safe and sound on Sinnoh soil, despite Mina suggesting using some of the less favorable members of Ericson's Company as bait to try and lure some of the Team Heart forces into a trap.
...However, things were not entirely clean. Team Heart had, albeit temporarily, taken control of the Battle Zone, forcing Mina and those with her to flee to mainland Sinnoh. A brutal and bloody battle to reclaim the Battle Zone was what it took to drive Team Heart out. To make matters worse for the heroes fighting to defend Sinnoh, several people were killed in the fighting to reclaim the Battle Zone from the hold of Team Heart.
Several other persons were also killed in the fighting to defend mainland Sinnoh, and a few heroic Pokémon had also been slain during the fighting. The battle to defend Sinnoh (and defend slash reclaim the Battle Zone) from Team Heart had gone down in history as the bloodiest, most brutal battle in the history of the Sinnoh region, beating out even the worst of what had been seen during the Hisuian period of Sinnoh's history.
Dawn, naturally, was BEYOND pissed that the battle had to even happen in the first place, given that it could have been avoided if Zed and Chandler were capable of reigning in their egos and prides. Using time travel to prevent them from acting would be pointless, as the only way to stop them from acting would be to either cripple them beyond the point of being able to act or just straight up kill the idiots so they couldn't do any damage.
Both the option of crippling Chandler and Zed and the option of killing them were off the table, partly due to the fact Dawn and her fellows don't wanna have to resort to such drastic measures, but it was mostly due to the fact that Sinnoh's government had declared Chandler and Zed to be untouchable meaning no measures that were more drastic than dragging and keeping them out of the way could have been implemented.
One bright spot in all of this mess was the fact that Twinleaf Town remained untouched by the siege on Sinnoh by Team Heart. That meant that, aside from the families of Dawn, Trip, and Kenny never being bothered, Salvia and Freesia were never found out either. Victor and all of his family, who stayed in Twinleaf Town to protect Salvia, never saw any action period during the invasion of Sinnoh by Team Heart.
With Sinnoh defended for the time being, Dawn and the rest of her crew had to meet with the rest of the defenders of Sinnoh to discuss a game plan to go over the rest of cleaning up Sinnoh, among all of the other things that Sinnoh's big wigs had to discuss.
"Alright everyone," Dawn said as she began a really big meeting, consisting of her crew on The Big Beauty and various other notable Sinnoh trainers, "We just foiled Team Heart's plan to invade and take over Sinnoh, as well as liberate the Battle Zone which temporarily fell under their banner. We've driven out all of the invading forces aside from those we've captured and have detained here. Now what do we do?"
"I say we make an example of the Team Heart loyalists that we have captured," Zed spoke up; Zed and the rest of Ericson's Company were also at the meeting.
Turning to look at Zed, Paul scowled, "I'm sorry, but who in blazes said that you and your fellow idiots were allowed to attend this meeting?"
"You had better watch that disrespectful tone, young man," Zed said firmly, "You're speaking to the Supreme Commander of Sinnoh's Military For- ERK!"
Zed was cut off by Chandler who dragged him out of the way. "No, I'M the Supreme Commander of Sinnoh's Forces," Chandler declared, "Get your fac- ERK!"
Chandler was cut off by Roark getting him in a headlock from behind. "No, if anything it's Dawn who's the Supreme Commander of Sinnoh's Military Forces," Roark said, "She is the Champion of the Sinnoh region after all."
"Yes, the man with the cute wife has a point," Paul remarked, "If anything, we ought to defer to Dawn."
It still surprised Dawn that Paul not only has no idea that it's Maylene who Roark is married to, but that Paul thinks that Maylene's cute on the basis that she had developed something of a geeky appearance ever since she had stepped down as the Veilstone City gym leader. But now wasn't the right time exactly to be talking about that.
"By now," Dawn spoke up, "The rest of the world is bound to be aware of Team Heart ultimately failing to take Sinnoh. Not only that, but the forces that came from outside of Sinnoh that fell back are still battered and bruised, and we still have multiple high end persons taken as prisoner, mostly the Champions of the regions under Team Heart's banner."
"I still say we ought to make an example of them!" Zed spoke up, "A public execution to show Team Heart that we of Sinnoh aren't afraid to play hardball!"
"We are NOT executing anyone, you blunt oblivious oaf," Trip snarled, still pissed at Zed given he had killed Trip's biological mom in this world.
Dawn nodded in agreement. "We're going to interrogate them instead, see what sort of information we can get out of them."
Looking to Dawn, Mina asked, "Who all do we have as prisoners who aren't Team Heart members?"
"The League Champions of all regions under the Team Heart banner," Dawn replied, "Their Pokémon have been confiscated so they can't fight back. ...Well, Gold and Nina had to be permitted to keep Typhlosion and Cinderace respectively, turns out those Pokémon double as emotional support. But Gold and Nina are still under tight surveillance."
"You allowed prisoners to keep some of their Pokémon?!" Chandler exclaimed, "Are you mad?!"
Turning sharply to Chandler, Dawn said, "Typhlosion and Cinderace are emotional support Pokémon. It would be cruel to take them from Gold and Nina. Rest assured, Chandler, that both Gold and Nina have no intention of acting up. Same applies to their respective Pokémon." Giving a very dangerous glare to Chandler, Dawn added, "And nothing had better be done to take Typhlosion and Cinderace away from Gold and Nina. Got it? That rule applies to everyone here, by the way."
Turning to look at Dawn, Barry asked, "So how do we interrogate the captured Champions?"
"Well for Kalos Champion Serena, I have a full proof plan," Kenny said, "First, we call our bud Ash over from his home region of Kanto."
Looking curious, Paul said, "Ah yes, I have heard that Ash and Serena are an item. You think he can help with getting Serena to talk by leveraging their relationship?"
"Well Ash will go in wearing only a speedo and red bowtie," Kenny began, "Carrying a silver tray loaded with treats, and he'll serve Serena as her per-"
*smack*
Kenny was cut off by a smack to the back of his head from Trip. "Thank you, Trip," Dawn said, "Look, we are NOT going to do something like that to make Serena talk. We want Serena to talk, not pass out from a nosebleed."
"Yeah, I don't think making Ash act in so degrading a manner is necessary," Paul remarked.
"But simply getting him involved to directly interrogate Serena may be a boon," Leona spoke up, "Can we even get Ash to come to Sinnoh?"
"I'm not sure," Sho remarked, "He still has to defend Kanto, doesn't h-"
Sho was cut off when there was a commotion outside of where everyone was meeting, and within a few moments Ash came striding on in, Pikachu on his shoulder and Brock following along behind. "I got it that you guys had just captured Serena as a prisoner of war," Ash said.
"Yeah, and we were discussing ways of getting you involved in interrogating her," Kenny said, "I'll just need to get your special interrogation outfit for you to wear while you interrogate Serena and-"
As Kenny was cut off with another smack to the back of his head from Trip, Dawn turned to look right at Ash. "...Please ignore Kenny for now," Dawn said dryly, "But yeah, we could use your help in the interrogations, at least with Serena."
"How'd you guys get here so fast, by the way?" asked Sho, "Do you know how far away Kanto is from Sinnoh?"
"We flew here on a plane as soon as we heard things were easing up for Sinnoh," Ash replied.
Clapping her hands together, Dawn said, "Alright, I'll set up the teams to do the interrogations and assign them as I see fit. Who all here is ready?" Everyone who was present gave an excited cheer as the work of o interrogate the captured Champions of the regions under Team Heart's banner was set to kick off within short order.
...
Serena was sitting alone in a jail cell when she was visited by Dawn, Ash, and Dawn's crew mate Mitch. Similar to how Ash was having Pikachu on his shoulder, Mitch was having his shiny Dedenne Den sitting atop his shoulder. James and Meowth were also in the room, keeping an eye on the door as per Dawn's orders.
"Mitch urges captured Champion girl to talk to Captain Dawn," Mitch said, "It is best option that you have." Den then chittered at Serena in a tone showing that she had better comply with what Mitch had just told her.
"...I was just following orders," Serena said, her tone and expression showing even mixes of defeat and somber resignation.
Dawn and Ash both had a feeling that Serena, who came from Kalos which is the newest official conquest that Team Heart had claimed, was being coerced into marching to the beat of the drum of Team Heart. "What all can you tell us about Team Heart's rule in Kalos?" Ash asked.
"Only that according to Professor Yvonne," Serena began, "It's the same standard fare that other regions under the authority of Team Heart get. The only reason why things in Kalos look a lot more severe is due to how rampant fatphobia was in Kalos prior to Team Heart taking over."
That bit had reminded Dawn that Team Heart, which holds all forms of discrimination as bad, sees fatphobia as the ultimate taboo. "I think that I remember you mentioning Professor Yvonne before," Ash spoke up, "She's the professor in Kalos who keeps your other Pokémon at her lab, right?"
Serena nodded in the affirmative. "Yes. She, along with Professor Minerva, are the only professors in Kalos who openly support the rule of Team Heart in the region. Professor Sycamore and the others from his class from Pokémon Professor school are not so accepting, at best only paying lip service to avoid getting in trouble, according to Professor Yvonne."
"...Interesting that Professor Yvonne would be openly supportive of Team Heart rule," Dawn said, "Wait, how sincere do you think she is in her openly supporting of the Team Heart rule in Kalos?"
"Wholeheartedly," Serena said, looking like she was beginning to suspect something, "She seems as if she were actually waiting for Team Heart to take over the Kalos region." Serena then looked a bit energized, she stood up suddenly from the cot she was sitting on the side of in her jail cell. "Wait a moment," Serena began, a dawning look of horrified realization on her face, "This may sound like a wild and crazy theory, but maybe Professor Yvonne has been secretly supporting Team Heart this whole entire ti-"
*BANG*
Serena was cut off when the door leading into the area her jail cell was in was thrown open with amazing speed and force, and coming right on in was Rhyanna and her little brother Mitchael. Both of them had wide eyed, shocked looks on their faces, telling Dawn that something major had just gone down. Dawn wasted zero time. "...What's the situation?" Dawn asked, her attention fully on the sibling pair, her tone and expression fully serious.
"You are not going to believe this," Mitchael exclaimed, "But the true Boss of Team Heart has just been outed! It's some professor chick in the Kalos region named Yvonne!"
Dawn and everyone else in the room looked shocked, Serena especially so. "...No... no way..." said Serena, her tone barely above a whisper, looking like she had just been betrayed by a long regarded and beloved mentor figure seen in some ways as a parent.
Not wanting to waste time, Dawn immediately asked, "Do either of you have any idea on how this information was made available?"
"Olympia, a psychic type Pokémon user who's a gym leader in Kalos," Rhyanna said, "She was able to use psychic powers she has to scry the answer. She said the answer was previously blocked from her, but it had suddenly came to her, and at around the same time that Serena was defeated in battle during the attempted invasion of Sinnoh no less."
Dawn had a look of consideration on her face. "A lot of Serena's Pokémon are legendaries," Dawn said, "And their presence can disrupt attempts to scry answers using psychic powers. All of the other legendary Pokémon that Serena owns are all kept at Professor Yvonne's lab over in the Kalos region. Their combined presence must have protected Yvonne from being found out by anyone who would try to use psychic powers to just get the answers. But maybe Serena's defeat during the Team Heart invasion of the Sinnoh region weakened the protection enough to allow for Olympia to get the answers."
Mitchael had a grim look on his face. "...That would probably explain why Yvonne not only is now actively leading things for Team Heart, but she's now ordered a world wide effort to take what all lands that aren't currently under Team Heart rule. She also had Olympia captured and executed for having revealed her truth to public knowledge."
"Olympia is... she's dead?!" Ash said, looking beyond shocked.
Nodding in confirmation, Rhyanna said, "Chances are that all notable trainers with comparable psychic powers are also gonna be hunted down and put to death so they can psychic up and reveal Team Heart secrets." That alarmed Dawn and the others; there are a few other psychic trainers, like Sabrina in Kanto, and the twins Tate and Liza in Hoenn. This reminded Dawn of something similar that happened in the Team Scorn timeline.
But this time, it was happening here in the Team Heart timeline. Dawn swore silently to herself to let as few others, people and Pokémon alike, as possible to die to the madness that she now knew was attributed to Professor Yvonne of the Kalos region. Although things in Sinnoh had just been settled down now, Dawn felt that things were about to get heated up in areas all over the world. Dawn had a very strong feeling that conflict bigger than any that ever took place in the timeline where Pariah of Team Scorn tried to take all that there was is about to go down.
...Only this time it's Professor Yvonne who's trying to take all that there was.
END, CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Author's notes;
This chapter sees Juliana meet the final Team Heart Officer for the Paldea Sector of Team Heart, who conducted her interview for the Champion's Assessment. Juliana passed that, then she was able to beat the Paldean elite four and Top Champion Geeta after that, becoming a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region in the process. After she's made to swear loyalty to Team Heart, Juliana tries to confess her feelings to Arven.
Only for Arven to accurately guess that Juliana had feelings for him, given all of the signs he had noticed. Really, only Nemona was completely clueless; Arven was able to guess, Penny knew as she was told by Juliana, and even Rimu knows as Penny was able to text him about it while he was off helping the Paldean Team Heart forces sent to the invasion of Sinnoh. Juliana is a bit embarrassed to have been so easily figured out like that.
But she is soon elated when Arven says he has no issue with giving being in a romantic relationship with Juliana a shot. She achieved her goal of getting her beloved Arven-senpai to notice her, which now allows Juliana to not only rest, but also enjoy herself as she and Arven are now going to be in a romantic relationship with one another. All that Juliana has to watch out for is Nemona wanting to challenge her to Pokémon battles randomly.
But then things shift to the Sinnoh region where, despite what all Team Heart came in with, Dawn, the other reborn trainers, and all of their various allies are able to repel Team Heart, even take back the Battle Zone which Team Heart temporarily took over. Granted it was a long, brutal, bloody, and hard conflict, and there were lots of deaths, human and Pokémon alike. But Sinnoh was able to get the invading forces off of Sinnoh soil.
The good guys were even able to capture some enemy trainers, mostly the Champions of regions under the Team Heart authority, plus a few other notable trainers (Kieran is one of them, and as per Kenny's word if Carmine tries to visit Kieran she's to be (physically) beaten back) as well. Among the captured trainers is Serena, who Dawn grills for info with help from Ash who comes by as he heard that Serena was captured in Sinnoh.
It's eventually revealed that Professor Yvonne, who is the Professor in Kalos that handles Serena's extra Pokémon, was a lot more on board with Team Heart rule than what most others in Kalos are. The reason for that is because it's soon revealed that Yvonne is actually the true real Boss of Team Heart, and she's been forced to take action now out in the open due to having been found out via Olympia's psychic powers.
This is the last chapter of the Paldea arc, despite only half of it taking place in Paldea. The next chapter will be the first chapter of the 'Final War Arc'. You can probably guess what all is going to be going down in that arc, given the name that it has. Things will be continuing from here in the next chapter. 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)