Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Pokédex no Isekai
Chapter Twenty-four: The weekly Driftveil tournament
The reborn trainers were able to handle catching legendary and mythical Pokémon in Unova with some degree of ease, surprisingly enough.
Trip was able to find and catch Genesect, an unsurprising instance given that steel is one of the types that Trip is fond of. Dawn was able to find and catch Keldeo, a catch that she appreciated as she finds the Special Attack and Speed stats of Keldeo to be impressive. And Kenny caught Kyurem, thus fulfilling his vow related to how Dawn already has Reshiram and Trip had caught Zekrom more or less the moment that The Big Beauty entered Unova.
The reborn trainers were gonna have to touch trade with Ash to get Meloetta registered as caught (same for Melmetal), but they were expecting that. However, the Forces of Nature and the Swords of Justice were all nowhere to be seen, even at places where they could be expected to be found in the wild. For the time being, Dawn decided to call for putting the catching of those guys all on hold so that the heroes could focus on other things.
Scowling, Trip said, "You're just saying that because you had also found and caught Victini, Dawn."
"Be that as it may," Dawn began as she and the other reborn trainers had a private meeting in the meeting room on board of The Big Beauty, "We shouldn't needlessly waste energy trying to struggle to find the Forces of Nature and the Swords of Justice." Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn said, "Let's have the ship fly to Driftveil City, rest there for the day, then try for Milos Island in the morning."
Looking curious, Mina said, "Milos Island?"
"It's where some Forces of Nature shenanigans went down in the previous timeline," Kenny explained, before going into detail about it for Mina's sake. After Kenny was done explaining to Mina about what happened, Kenny ended the tale by capping it with, "And Enamorus showed up there as well, although Ideku caught it there."
"Oh yeah," Trip said, "We hadn't checked Milos Island yet. And Enamorus could also show up there as well, giving us a shot at completeing the Hisui dex."
Dawn nodded in agreement. "Indeed. But for now, we ought to rest. And we can easily do so over in Driftveil City." The others all cheered in agreement with Dawn, before they went about informing Heath the pilot slash helmsman that their next destination was going to be Driftveil City, as they had plans to rest there for the day before heading off for Milos Island in the morning.
After The Big Beauty landed and parked next to the Pokémon Center in Driftveil City, the reborn trainers decided to explore the city a bit, bringing with them Lucas, Barry, and Paul. To the surprise of the reborn trainers, Salvia insisted on coming along as well, bringing with her Leona and Omiyo for some company.
Dawn decided to have Trip and Kenny go with Lucas, Barry, and Paul, while Dawn herself and Mina stuck with Salvia, Leona, and Omiyo. "I'm confident that my disguise that Leona came up with will shield me from Team Heart notice," Saliva said as she and the other girls checked out the market area in Driftveil City, "And I DO have to find and gather some allies to help me with taking back my kingdom from Team Heart rule."
Dawn was glad that they were speaking in hushed tones, given that she just saw a group of Team Heart grunts walk by in the distance a few stalls away. "It's still a bit risky, though," Daen said back to Salvia, "And we're not sure if we'll find anyone here."
"Dawn had a point, princess," Mina whispered to Salvia, "There's no need to-"
"Oi! Are you Dawn Berlitz?"
The girls all froze when they heard a somewhat commanding female voice call out, making them all turn to see a group of female Team Heart members approach them. There were four Team Heart grunts following a fifth one and a uniquely dressed female Team Heart member. The uniquely dressed female Team Heart member was fair skinned with eyes denoting an oriental heritage, long dark brown hair with a pink hair band in it, a pink baggy sweater that exposed the shoulders, black baggy shorts held up with a belt, pink socks, black shoes with pink shoelaces, and a black Team Heart 'H' on the seater over the left breast.
As for the female grunt next to her, she was also fair skinned and had eyes denoting an oriental heritage. However, this grunt had long white hair. Gesturing to Dawn and the other girls, the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member said, "Yeah, yeah you are Dawn Berlitz. Admin Wolfgang said that he met with you guys when you came to Unova, and Jahzir further said that he also saw you guys a short while ago. What sort of business do you have here in Driftveil City?"
"My crew and I are resting here while taking a break from the field research we're doing on the native Pokémon here in Unova," Dawn replied. She had instructed her crew to all give the same tale if they were found and questioned by Team Heart, and not to give any specific details.
Shifting in her stance a bit, the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member said, "Funny that you and your crew are here in Driftveil City in time for the weekly Friday tournament."
"Weekly Friday tournament?" Salvia spoke up, her interest piqued.
"It's a tournament held in Driftveil City every Friday," began the female grunt with long white hair, "It's sort of like Monday night monster truck rallies, a big entertaining clash held in the evening slash nighttime. It's a single style tournament, where each competing trainers uses three Pokémon to battle to see who wins. It draws a lot of crowds and is well received on TV airwaves here in Unova."
"What sort of prizes are there to be won?" Leona asked.
"All four of the trainers who make it to the semifinals are guaranteed a cash prize," the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member began, "With the runner up getting a better payout than those who don't make it to the finals, and the winner getting a better payout than the runner up. Also, the four trainers who make it to the semifinals are all invited to the weekly social gathering party held in Opelucid City."
"Weekly social gathering party, huh?" Dawn asked.
Nodding once, the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member said, "It's where all the top names in Unova society come to rub noses. Also, during the party, Lady Bianca privately speaks with the winner of the tournament and grants them any favor within reason. A lot of trainers enter the weekly Friday tournament because they hope to get that favor granted to them."
Dawn was surprised to hear that Bianca was granting favors to the tournament winners. The favors had varied, apparently; a good few tournament winners used their favors to rescue loved ones from labor camps, although one story was told with how a tournament winner used her favor to get her autistic teen daughter whose special interest was maids a job as a maid.
Said daughter had also studied up on the subject and practiced a lot, but no wealthy family would hire her because they were immediately turned off of the idea of employing her upon learning that she is autistic. Bianca upon hearing that story from the girl's mother did a VERY thorough inquiry because those wealthy people had been engaging in Ableism.
The uniquely dressed female Team Heart member finished the story about the autistic teen daughter who wanted to be a maid by saying how she was hired to the servant staff working at Bianca's mansion. "Because Team Heart doesn't discriminate," said the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member, "And Lady Bianca is a shining example of that."
Gesturing to the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member, Dawn said, "Do you have any idea what some of the trainers entering the tournament tonight may ask for if they win?"
"Admin Wolfgang's older sister Annaka is expected to enter," began the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member, "She has been ever since her little sister Ella was taken to one of the labor camps, and now I bet Annaka will battle even harder because her dad was taken to one of the labor camps. I suspect she'll use the favor to free her imprisoned family members."
"Couldn't Wolfgang use his connections to free his sister and dad?" Leona asked.
"One, I doubt that he's aware that his dad's in one of the labor camps," replied the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member, "He would have made a note of it otherwise like he did when Ella was taken to a labor camp. Two, even if Wolfgang WAS aware of it, he wouldn't lift a finger to get his imprisoned family members out. He isn't exactly fond of his family."
Leona, Omiyo, and Salvia were disheartened to hear how badly things were with Wolfgang and his family, although Dawn and Mina were well aware of the story thus far. "Are there any other notable trainers entering the tournament tonight who you know what they'll ask for if they win?"
Looking curious, the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member replied after thinking about it for a moment, "...Oh! The boy who owns Ogrepon! His older sister had recently been confirmed to have joined the terrorist group Aincrad."
The attention of Dawn and Mina had been caught by the mention of a boy who owns Ogrepon. That's one of the Pokémon the reborn trainers had in the Team Scorn timeline but don't have here in the Team Heart timeline, so they needed to find and catch it. But it already belongs to someone, so they'll have to convince the owner to do a touch trade so they can get Ogrepon registered as caught.
"You think that Ogrepon's owner will want his older sister pardoned?" Mina asked.
"Pfft, hell no," replied the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member, "He hates his older sister at least as much as Wolfgang hates his sisters. No, Ogrepon's owner, I suspect, will request a battle against Champion Nate. He was denied the chance by his sister who sabotaged him so she could beat him in the finals of the most recent Vertress Conference."
"Favors can be used to get battles with Nate?" Leona asked.
Nodding once, the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member explained, "One normally can't just battle Champions in regions part of the Team Heart Empire, unless they properly earn it via the standard means of winning the league conference for that region then beating the appropriate elite four. But the favor that Lady Bianca grants to the winner of the weekly Friday tournament held here in Driftveil City can circumvent that."
"Such battles are exhibition matches, by the way," said the Team Heart girl with long white hair, "So the tournament winner doesn't have a chance at getting Champion Nate's title. That is something that Dragon Master Iris doesn't seem to understand."
Dawn and Mina perked up at that. "...Iris is actually a friend of ours," Dawn explained, "Why does she want to take Nate's title?"
"She holds Nate accountable for an embarrassment dealt to Gym Leader Skyla," replied the uniquely dressed female Team Heart. The girls were then told the story of how Nate had reported Skyla for her 'simulation battles' she did to save time for her plane flying hobby, and it got her into a lot of trouble with the Unova Pokémon League Commission. It's the same as what happened back in the Team Scorn timeline, only here in the Team Heart timeline it was Nate rather than Ideku to have been the one to report Skyla.
"Dragon Master Iris wants to become Champion of Unova so she can overrule the sentence that Skyla got," said the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member, "But the one time she actually got the chance to battle Champion Nate for his title, she lost to him badly. His Excadrill alone defeated three of Iris's six Pokémon, including Iris's own Excadrill. Even if she's able to win the tournament and get a battle with Nate, one Iris can't get his title as it'll be an exhibition match, and two I highly doubt she'll win said battle anyway."
Gesturing to the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member, Dawn asked, "Would you know if Iris is in Driftveil City right now? And if so where is she?"
"She's here, scouting out the tournament hall," replied the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member, "A few other trainers are also there, including Ogrepon's owner." Dawn thanked the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member for her time. Dawn also got important names of the Team Heart members; the uniquely dressed female Team Heart member is Mei, Second Captain of the Unova Sector of Team Heart, and the female grunt with the long white hair is Astrid, who serves Mei as her Captain's Assistant.
Dawn and the girls went back to The Big Beauty, where Dawn and Mina had Leona, Omiyo, and Salvia wait. Dawn and Mina then went to look for the boys, found that they were already on their way to the tournament hall. Kenny apparently had also hears rumors of Ogrepon's owner, and went to seek him out. Fitting, as Kenny had caught Ogrepon back in the Team Scorn timeline, but here in the Team Heart timeline he didn't catch it.
Dawn, with all of the usual away team members, made it into the tournament hall. But who they ended up finding to be Ogrepon's owner surprised them. Kenny was especially surprised to see who it was that had caught Ogrepon here in the Team Heart timeline, and he felt that it was a perfect fit for the person in question. Also, seeing said person here in the Team Heart timeline brought tears of joy to Kenny's eyes.
"Kieran!"
The usual away team was in a back locker room at the tournament stadium building when they spotted Kieran, the boy from Kitakami who the reborn trainers met in the Team Scorn timeline. In that timeline, Kieran ultimately took his own life to avoid his older sister Carmine. But here, Kieran is alive and well. He also ended up catching Ogrepon, who was out with him at the moment; its color at the moment made it clear it was holding the Hearthflame Mask.
"Oh, it's you guys from the field trip that visited Kitakami," Kieran said, "I think that you helped to get Rimu and a few of his classmates from Naranja Academy to Kitakami." Kieran then described a few more events that the reborn trainers were apparently present for, but it was clear that things had gone down vastly differently in the Team Heart timeline as opposed to how they had gone down in the Team Scorn timeline.
Kieran being alive and well is the most obvious change. He looked as he did when the heroes first met him in Kitakami back in the Team Scorn timeline, but he had his jacket's sleeves tied around his waist with the body of the jacket covering his rear. Kieran also clearly didnt have any of the damage he had when the heroes met him again at Blueberry Academy, telling the heroes that things here in the Team Heart timeline were good for Kieran. Kieran even had his hair in the casual style he had it in back in Kitakami; no hair done up to look like an onion.
"It... certainly has been a while, Kieran," Kenny said, "And we've been so busy as of late, we've done so much, our memories are a bit fuzzy." Kenny was clearly setting up an excuse to let him and the other reborn trainers get away with getting certain facts wrong, as well as to ask a few necessary questions if need be.
Kieran nodded once in understanding. "Yeah, I don't remember the goofy looking blonde boy, the boy with the red beret hat, or the grumpy looking boy with purple hair."
"Those are Barry, Lucas, and Paul respectively, and they're new additions to the crew that we got recently," Dawn explained.
"Ah, that explains it," Kieran said, "So what can I do you guys for?"
"We're working on field research on various species of Pokémon," Kenny began to explain, "We've done field research so far in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and our home region of Sinnoh, and now we're on Unova. We wanna do research on as many different species of Pokémon as possible."
Looking curious, Kieran said, "You wanna do field research on Ogrepon, I take it? But she's not a wild Pokémon."
"We'll have to come back to you at a later time to do research on Ogrepon," Kenny replied, "But for the time being, we'd like to make a note of it by having you touch trade Ogrepon to one of us."
Looking curious, Kieran said, "Touch trade?"
"You trade Ogrepon to one of us, then after the trade is finished we immediately trade back," Kenny replied, "That will help us make a note of having to do research on Ogrepon later."
Kieran looked a bit uncertain. "...How long will you guys have Ogrepon?"
"A few moments max," Kenny replied, "Like I said, after the trade is complete we'll immediately trade back."
Looking at Kenny for a few moments, Kieran said, "...Alright, I've never had any reason to doubt you, Kenny. Although I suppose I owe you an explanation after this touch trade business." Thusly, Kenny went about doing the touch trade with Kieran so that the reborn trainers would be able to get Ogrepon registered as caught. Now they just have to worry about the Loyal Three in order to make up for what Pokémon they caught in the Team Scorn timeline not being theirs here in the Team Heart timeline.
After the touch trade business was finished, Kieran looked at Ogrepon's Pokéball as he held it in his hands, having just gotten Ogrepon back. "...You really are trustworthy, Kenny," Kieran said, "Unlike my jerk of an older sister Carmine."
"What exactly happened that we aren't aware of?" Trip asked.
"...During the most recent Vertress Conference," Kieran began, "Carmine and I had both entered, having gotten eight Unovan gym badges each, and we made it to the final round. We had to face off against one another."
"Considering that you were packing Ogrepon, I have no doubt that you creamed Carmine," Mina said.
Kieran, a bitter look of annoyance on his face, gently shook his head in the negative. "No, Carmine sabotaged me, resulting in me losing to her. She sabotaged me by stealing Ogrepon's ball from me while I wasn't looking and didn't give it back until after her cheat efforts won her the finals of the Vertress Conference, letting her challenge the Unova elite four if she wanted."
Paul instantly looked pissed off. "I'm sorry, but your older sister stole one of your Pokémon from you while you weren't looking in order to sabotage your ability to fight back against her in an official league tournament?"
"I actually reported what Carmine did," Kieran said, "And Admin Wolfgang called for an investigation, which ended up confirming what Carmine did to me. She had her Vertress Conference win revoked as well as her right to challenge the Unova elite four revoked, also her Unovan gym badges were rendered void and worthless, and she was blacklisted from entering any official Pokémon battling tournament in Unova for the next five years."
Scoffing, Barry said, "About time a Team Heart Admin did something good."
Gently shaking his head, Kieran said, "You guys should have seen how Carmine reacted to having received the punishment that she had coming. She's full of herself to the point that it's astounding that she had been able to function as a normal human being for as long as she had."
"We heard rumors that Carmine had shacked up with Aincrad," Kenny began.
Kieran looked an even mix of shocked and surprised, but it was only for a brief moment before he settled back down. "...That doesn't surprise me," Kieran said, "Carmine probably sees the villains that make up the membership of Aincrad as allies. She probably joined them after running away from home following her expulsion from trainer school here in Driftveil City."
The reborn trainers were surprised to hear that Carmine was expelled from trainer school, but got the full story from Kieran. Apparently, Kieran and Carmine were originally students at Blueberry Academy, but that school had to shut down due to being unable to afford to stay open. This is due to how Blueberry Academy was mostly reliant on financial donations from Paldea's wealthy elite, a fact that didn't change from the Team Scorn timeline.
But why that funding no longer reached Blueberry Academy was different here in the Team Heart timeline. Here, the Paldean wealthy elite was no longer able to send that funding to Blueberry Academy because of how they regularly had to pay tribute to the Team Heart authority. None of the peers of Kieran or Carmine were able to do anything to piss off the Paldean wealthy elite into no longer sending them the funding.
Regardless, Kieran, Carmine, and their peers all had to transfer to a trainer school located on mainland Unova, ending up in the one in Driftveil City. There, the students who felt confident enough to do so made a bid to enter the Unova League to try and make it into the Vertress Conference. It was just Kieran and Carmine who made it far enough though, and it was Kieran, who had caught Ogrepon, that many believed would win, or at least go further than Carmine.
But then everyone was shocked to see Carmine defeat Kieran, him never using Ogrepon. Then it was found out and revealed to Unova at large that Carmine defeated Kieran in the finals of the Vertress Conference solely because she had sabotaged him, taking his Ogrepon from him while he wasn't looking and withholding it to ensure that she would be able to beat him and win first place in the Vertress Conference.
When Carmine's foul play was made apparent, the trainer school in Driftveil City expelled her, citing how her misconduct was not a good fit for their hallowed halls. Carmine was reportedly last seen by her and Kieran's Grandpa over video phone, where the older man expressed disappointment in his granddaughter, before she vanished. Carmine didn't pop up until she was reported as a suspected member of the terrorist group Aincrad.
"Apparently," Kieran began, "Carmine thought that if she won the Vertress Conference and was able to defeat the Unova Elite Four and Champion Nate to become Champion of Unova, she could use said position to bargain with the Team Heart authority to pull out from Kitakami and release it from their banner, returning Kitakami to being one of the free lands."
"Wait a minute," Paul began, "I heard that Unova doesn't allow those not born and raised in Unova to hold any position of authority within Unova, including Pokémon League positions."
"That changed when Team Heart took over," Kieran explained, "Unova originally was pretty accepting of the various groups that Team Heart protects from discrimination anyway. But Unova DID have a bit of a problem with xenophobia. That was the main thing Team Heart had to stamp out after they took over the Unova region. Team Heart didn't even have to work too hard to stamp out fatphobia, the form of discrimination that they are against the most."
Dawn looked surprised at that. "Team Heart didn't have to work hard to stamp out fatphobia in Unova, huh?"
Kieran nodded once in confirmation. "Unova is naturally regarded as the most fat accepting region in the world, Unova has better rates of fat acceptance than any other region. Although it is noted that Alola is a VERY close second behind Unova in terms of fat acceptance."
"So Unova and Alola are both naturally against fatphobia," Trip said, "I can see how that would make Team Heart fond of them." It also made sense why Unova was the seat of the Team Heart Empire; Unova is part of the Team Heart Empire, and Unova is naturally the region most against fatphobia. Dawn had no doubt that if Alola, which is one of the free lands, were to be taken by the Team Heart Empire, it would be a backup seat at least.
Looking curious, Trip asked Kieran, "Hey Kieran, just wondering. If Unova is the most fat accepting region in the world, which region is the most fatphobic one in the world?"
"Kalos," Kieran answered, casually and without missing a beat, "It has to do with how being fat is largly considered unattractive by conventional standards of physical beauty, and the Kalos region is all about beauty, all about being physically beautiful by conventional standards."
Paul scoffed in annoyance. "I find whether a girl is fat or not to be irrelevant to if she's beautiful. Why, I recently saw one of the most beautiful girls in Sinnoh, and she just so happens to be fat."
"You think she's beautiful because she looks stereotypically geeky, and you have a thing for geeky looking girls," Lucas pointed out.
Blushing a bit in embarrassment, Paul said, "...My point remains."
Gently shaking his head, Kieran remarked, "Well in Kalos the standards are different, even with how Kalos Champion Serena is trying to campaign for other Kalosians to be more accepting and less vain."
"Oh yeah, I got it that Kalos Champion Serena is dating Kanto Champion Ash," Barry said.
Paul's eyes widened a bit out of surprise. "Ash is dating Serena? Huh, go figure."
Getting up, Kieran said, "Well anyway, I need to go prep for the tournament tonight. I intend to win it, I know just what to ask Lady Bianca for as a favor." Kieran then took off, leaving Dawn and her away team be. With the legendary Pokémon Ogrepon at his side, Kieran's odds of winning the tournament tonight were looking pretty good.
Dawn and the others, Kenny especially so, hoped for Kieran's sake that he'll win.
The away team was able to get seats to watch the tournament. It was a standard stadium that the tournament was fought in, although Dawn did spot a VIP viewing room with tinted windows, letting those inside watch but those who were outside couldn't see who was inside. Dawn later got word that the VIP viewing room was where Bianca sat to watch the tournament. She reportedly also had Wolfgang, Betzabe, Nate, and Rosa in her company there.
As for the tournament itself, Kieran ended up winning. He surprisingly knocked Iris out in the first round, and ended up winning the final round against a sporty looking girl identified as Annaka, who was noted to be one of Wolfgang's sisters. Dawn remembered hearing about Annaka from Lexi and Eva, Annaka was one of the worst (if not THE worst) of the ten sisters against Wolfgang. Dawn bet that Wolfgang felt some satisfaction seeing Annaka lose, especially as she had gotten so far.
The away team was able to meet up with Iris after the tournament, and she was very clearly steamed to have lost. They were also met up by Annaka, who saw them and heard from her sisters Lexi and Eva that they met them. "Now how in blazes am I going to challenge that bratty tattle tale Nate for his title?!" Iris exclaimed.
"Iris, you do realize that what all Skyla was doing as a gym leader was illegal and in blatant violation of official Unova Pokémon League rules, don't you?" Dawn asked.
"She still shouldn't have been punished because all she wanted was more time for her hobbies," Iris defended.
"Personally, I think that what Champion Nate did is perfectly reasonable," Paul said, "Shirking gym leader duties for hobbies, throwing temper tantrums when one gets in trouble for that business or someone throwing temper tantrums when someone else gets in trouble for it. It sounds like the kind of stuff that a little kid would do."
Iris looked fit to burst with righteous fury at Paul. "Did you just call me a little kid?! Nuh uhh, no way! No-one is allowed to call me a little kid! That insult is mine and mine alone to use against others!"
"Wow, you're kind of a brat," Annaka remarked at Iris.
Turning to look at Annaka, Dawn said, "Don't think that you're flawless yourself, Annaka. We got the full story from your older sisters Lexi and Eva. You're bar none one of the most arrogant and spoiled sore losers I have ever heard of. The hell made you, and your other sisters as well, think that what all you were doing to your brother was okay?"
"Because he's a worthless loser who was never going to amount to anything!" Annaka retorted, "Mom and dad have always been saying that! And look at him now! He's a damn villain who won't lift a finger to help get Ella and dad out of the labor camps!"
"You guys never gave him a chance before you all jumped on him."
Annaka looked surprised by what Mina said to her. "You all had automatically assumed the worst in him solely because he's a boy," Mina went on, "Starting from the day he was born. You all had knocked him down before he even had a chance to stand up. Did you Annaka ever think that, if you and your sisters had been as considerate to Wolfgang as you were to each other, then maybe he wouldn't have turned out as he did?"
Scoffing, Annaka replied, "Yeah right! Like that sore loser Wolfgang, and he's the REAL sore loser here and NOT me, would have turned out alright! It's just as mom and dad had always been saying, he was a bad seed right from the start and would never be anything but bad and or useless!"
Rolling her eyes, Dawn said, "It looks like you've lived too long under bad influence to be able to reason things out properly."
"Hey, I am perfectly able to reason things out properly!" Annaka snapped, "Don't you ever tell me that I can't do something right!"
"Or what?" Dawn snapped back, "You'll assault me like you did to Wolfgang when he was winning against you in a battle and also pointed out how you're a sore loser?"
"I told you," Annaka began in a growling tone, "I am not a sore los-"
"Is there a problem here?"
Annaka was cut off when she and the others heard Captain Mei call out, making them turn to see Mei come walking up, Astrid next to her, and a good number of Team Heart grunts behind them. "I heard that an argument was breaking out here," Mei began, "I don't have to settle things by force here to preserve the peace, now do I?"
Growling low with annoyance, Annaka said, "No, ma'am. That's not necessary."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Mei said to Annaka, "You're one of Wolfgang's sisters, if I recall correctly. You're the one who frequently enters the weekly Friday tournaments in Driftveil City."
"You actually forgot my name?" Annaka asked, "As I recall correctly, all of that bra- erm, all of my younger brother's... friends... ought to know me and all of my sisters by name." Dawn was able to tell that Annaka had caught herself multiple times before she said something insulting about either Wolfgang or one of his friends. Speaking of, friends of Wolfgang's are members of Team Heart?
"He has so many sisters, it's hard to keep track of all of them," Mei said, "Not helping is the fact that he refuses to name any of them, or even recognize them as family."
"You girls as a collective are mean to Wolfgang," Astrid said, "He's been nothing but good to us, he's actually a nice guy if given the chance. Why didn't you give him a chance?"
Annaka was about to speak up, but she caught herself again. "...I don't have anything to say," Annaka replied. Again, Dawn could tell that Annaka was stopping herself from saying something that could potentially get her in trouble with Team Heart. Obviously Annaka had nothing nice to say, so she was electing to not say anything period.
Mei gave Annaka an assessing look before deciding to drop the matter. "...Whatever," Mei said, "Anyway, if it counts for anything, I hope you'll eventually win one of the weekly Friday tournaments here in Driftveil City." Mei turned around and left, Astrid and their squad of Team Heart grunts going along with her.
After Mei and her group were gone, Annaka let out a sigh of relief. "Whew, that was nerve wracking," Annaka said, "Even I know better than to not watch what I say around Team Heart here in Unova."
"I should be the one to get well wishes to win the weekly Friday tournament," Iris said, "I need it so I can challenge Nate for his Unova Champion title."
"Again, if you are able to get a battle with Nate by using a favor you won in a weekly Friday tournament," Dawn pointed out, "It can't be a title match, meaning even if you do win, you won't end up becoming Champion of Unova." It was actually rather mind boggling how dense some people can be, really. Iris really was not thinking things through, and Annaka had shown she doesn't think things through period.
Dawn was worried about how things will pan out in the future.
(Melemele Island, Alola region)
Eric was sitting in an office somewhere that's part of some of the business ventures that he had started up since he and Silver got to Alola. Eric had also put on a bit of weight; he didn't yet qualify as obese, but he was still very clearly fat. Eric sat at a large and stately desk, counting up money in cash that he had on the desk.
He perked up a bit when he heard a knock at the door. "Who is it?" Eric called out.
"it's me, Eric," the voice of Minoru called out, "Some guy who came here with a scary looking bipedal dragon thing is angrily demanding to see you!"
"How can you not tell what a Kommo-o is?" a second male voice, one that Eric was familiar with, said in response.
Sighing, Eric said, "Show him in, Minoru!" The door opened, and in walked Minoru, his faux hawk of purple hair swaying gently as he was followed into Eric's office by Elio, the Champion of Alola. Elio is the male player character from the Sun and Moon games back in the previous lives of the reborn trainers, not that anyone (aside from the reborn trainers themselves) would be able to tell that. Elio is dressed as he is (by default) in the original Sun and Moon games.
A clearly unamused scowl was on the Alolan Champion's face as he regarded Eric. "*sigh* What do you want this time, Elio?" Eric asked.
"You consistently keep harping on my girlfriend because she's fat," Elio snarled, "Despite how you've been asked repeatedly to stop. Also, I fail to see how you have any leeway to harp on anyone who's plus sized when you look like how you do now."
"AY!" Eric snapped in an annoyed tone, "Don't call me fat!"
"If you can't take it, then don't dish it out," Elio replied coolly, "Anyway, you had better stop it with the harshing on my girlfriend. If you don't, then I promise you that things can and will get real ugly real quick. Am I clear?"
"I'll stop harshing on her for being fat when she stops being fat," Eric replied, an amused and cocky sneer on his face, "How about that?"
"How about you stop being fat first?" Elio said.
"AY!" Eric snapped in an annoyed tone, "What did I say about calling me fat?!"
Elio leveled an annoyed look at Eric. "...You're a damn hypocrit is what you are." Turning around to leave, Elio said, "You're lucky I have more mercy than Selene does. She said she'll attack you if you make fun of her boyfriend one more time. I at least am giving you a chance to straighten up and fly right before I decide if I'll go with Salazzle immolating you or Kommo-o gutting you."
Elio then left Eric's office, which let Minoru breathe a sigh of relief. "Seriously Eric, you have GOT to stop picking fights with strong Alolan trainers like that," Minoru said, "Especially Elio! His threat to you just now will easily be excused by the Alolan people, he's that beloved by them! The Alolan people will be especially accepting of it if word got out he threatened you because he's growing increasingly pissed at you for not stopping it with insulting his girlfriend!"
Scowling in annoyance, Eric said, "I have got to figure out a way to get the heat off of me in a way that won't inconvenience me."
"Stop insulting Elio's girlfriend," Minoru pointed out, "And stop insulting Selene's boyfriend for that matter. You should also apologize properly for all that you've done in that regard so far. Getting the heat off of you is that simple and easy."
Leaning back in his chair, Eric replied, "Nah, what I'm doing isn't wrong. There's gotta be another way to get Elio to back off." Minoru could only sigh in a troubled tone, knowing full well that Eric probably won't change his ways unless he's physically beaten into it. Some people simply won't change by nice and easy means, if at all.
END, CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the reborn trainers go to Driftveil City to learn more about the weekly Friday tournaments held there. They also see that Kieran is alive in the Team Heart timeline, while Carmine who is also alive is on the run and, at the moment, heavily suspected of having joined Aincrad. The heroes also meet Wolfgang's sister Annaka, and reunite with Iris who hates Champion Nate due to how Nate reported Skyla 'simulations' battle thingy that I personally believe was fucking stupid.
Meanwhile in Alola, Eric who now has gotten rather fat (but not enough to qualify as obese yet) is met by his associate Minoru who brings in Elio, who proceeds to threaten Eric into stop being an asshole. Things more or less end at a stalemate, but Elio warns he'll be back if Eric doesn't shape up and fly right. Anyway, the next chapter will see a brief stop at Milos Island before the heroes go on over to Virbank City, where they'll meet more of Wolfgang's sisters. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Leni (female Lucario), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Lincoln (male Latios), Ezio (male Eevee; shiny)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Black (Giratina), Shallot (male Glaceon), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Roshi (male Torterra), Zarbon (male Machamp), Kermit (male Politoed)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Deelia (Dialga), Lisa (female Latias), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Veda (female Abomasnow), Myde (male Empoleon), 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)