Coral: FINALLY! I'VE UPDATED SOMETHING!

Hyna: That was quite a long time. What happened? Don't tell me it's Xion.

Coral: Oh no. I thankfully came into peaceful terms with her... somehow.

Hyna: Somehow? *looks at the boys*

Seth: We weren't there. Don't ask us.

Jackson: Yeah. And the girl is somewhere else right now, so we can't ask her.

Coral: I'd rather you don't ask at all! If she knew I don't know how we made up, who knows what she'll do?!

Hyna: I doubt she'll kill you... Maybe.

Seth: That's not really assuring.

Coral: *sigh* You know what, I'm just going to post this chapter up and then head to bed. It's late, I had work, I will have work, and then I have to study for my last goddamn final. Not like it will help considering my sucky professor is going to make it EVEN HARDER THAN IT SHOULD BE!

Jackson: Yikes, that really sucks.

Coral: I know. My whole class knows. He even asked how to be a better teacher once, and he doesn't follow our advice, no. He just hears what we have to say... and deliberately ignore them. There was one time where a student had complained about his 'rules', only to be ignored! I mean really! No matter what the reason, you do not just not accept a student's homework which is one class late just because they weren't there the day it was actually due! Nor do you just tell them that you will not accept homework at a later date when they weren't even there the day you goddamn announce the work! I mean, seriously! There's a website where you can just inform the students about the homework and he never puts anything up! Except for slides that he shows us in class... which he only puts them up right before we have our test based on the lessons! What would happen if we lost the notes we copied in the first place and had to study beforehand for the test?! And I am extremely pissed at one statement he said concerning the notes!

Seth: *bit fearfully* And that is?

Coral: Kill your dog to protect your notes!

*They gasped*

Coral: I have a dog! You do not just casually say such cruel thing like it's not big deal! How he became a professor is something I'd like to know! No, scratch that. It's not him becoming a professor I should question; more like how in the world did I end up with him as my professor for that one class?! If I have to retake that class, I hope I do not end up with him again! He's the worst teacher ever! Likes this class, he said. I call bullshit!

Hyna: Okay. Let's just take you to bed, okay?

Coral: *sigh* Sleep is good right about now.

*Girls left*

Seth: If I knew who her teacher is, I'd give him a piece of my mind.

Jackson: I'd rather we just protest against him being a teacher instead of using violence. But anyway, with that out of the way, readers, do enjoy this new chapter.

Disclaimer: Coral the Leviathan does not own RWBY, Pokemon, or the OCs. They all belong to their original creators.


*WITH VANESSA*

The girl was still trying to find her Pokemon and the way out of... wherever she was, all while avoiding being spotted by the enemy Pokemon.

'Where are they?' she thought. 'Where are my friends?! And where's the exit?!'

Unknown to her, she was being watched. Elsewhere in the dimension, one of the four dark legendaries were looking through an orb, which showed a running Vanessa searching for her friends.

"Run all you want. There's no escape," he said, chuckling evilly.


*OPENING*

(Music intro)
(In a tunnel of rainbow colored streams, the thirteen colors, representing team RWBY, JNPR, Jackson, Seth, Lyanne, Leafeon and Crescythe, shot like arrow, all heading towards the end of the tunnel. The tunnel opens up to a bright light.)

One dashing arrow!
(Four lights gather together to show Ruby, Jackson, Leafeon and Crescythe.)

One nimble arrow!
(Four lights gather together to show Blake, Yang, Nora and Ren.)

One thinking arrow!
(Five lights gather together to show Seth, Jaune, Weiss, Lyanne and Pyrrha.)

That's who we are right now!
(The heroes gathered together, with Ruby, Jaune, Jackson and Seth in front, as they all stood with grins of excitements on their faces. The title of the story appears in front of them.)

Let's cross the green mountain, surpass the pure-white clouds,
(Ruby and Crescythe dash up a grassy hill ahead of her team, leaping together into the sky eagerly.)

Color the wasteland and move forward by becoming an arrow!
(Nora racing through Route 13 ahead of team JNPR with Pitfall, while Jaune was exhausted at keeping up with her, but he took a deep breath and pursued, with Pyrrha and Ren behind him.)

Sometimes we suddenly turn, twist or tremble,
(Seth's appears as he lifted several large boulders around him with Psychic, with Alakazam, Espeon and Mismagius right by him. Seth's face is shown up close as the silhouettes of other Pokehumans he knew panned through his mind.)

It's not like we never get separated either!
(Jackson examining a few of the Mega Stones he collected, while Lyanne, Leafeon and Quilava watched him. Camera zooms in and pans around Jackson as he placed the stones away, and stood up, looking into the sky with a determined stare.)

I can no longer see the road and sometimes I get lost
(Vanessa running along a dark, eerie path, with the Dark Legendaries and Zetta surrounding the sky around and behind her, while Ruby and the rest of the team were ahead of her.)

But this guy is by my side!
(Ruby and Jackson waved their hands forward as Crescythe and Leafeon leapt over their heads, unleashing Dark Pulse and Solarbeam together. They struck the silhouetted enemies, creating a bright explosion. Jackson and Ruby cheered while their Pokemon looked eagerly back at their trainers.)

Even the dazzling sun hides behind clouds at times
(Valerie stood behind team CFVY with her arms wide, with Coco and Velvet in front. Scene shifts to Sarah holding onto an odd bottle in front of her as the ghostly confined Hoopa and the evil Unbound Hoopa silhouetted on either side behind her.)

But meetings will always bring light!
(Diantha stood on top of a pillar, surrounded by the Kalos Elite Four and the Gym Leaders, facing the heroes. Ruby taps her Mega Ring, Mega-evolving Crescythe in a bright light. Scene goes dark as Team CRDL show themselves, followed by the Flare female scientists, and Xerosic in the center of them.)

One too heated arrow!
(Nathan, Maui, and Eliza eagerly jumping about, as a Pichu and Nathan's Aipom danced around them and a Joltik rides on Eliza's head.)

Two arrows competing with each other!
(Adara and Haloke posing in their performance garments, with Charmeleon and Greninja beside them.)

Three arrows helping each other!
(Cypher stands in front with another silhouetted girl and boy standing right behind him, an Empoleon, Magnezone, and Heliolisk beside their respective trainers.)

That's why the heart doesn't break!
(The eleven heroes and, excluding Lyanne, their leading Pokemon beside them, with Ruby in the center of the team.)

Arrow, move forward!
(All of them shot into the air with streams of light at their feet or tails.)

Arrow, shine even more than now! Pierce your dream!
(They all gather together, forming an arrowhead that became a shining stream of light, shooting towards the skies above Kalos.)


The next day, the team walked up the hill to the giant tree, with Ruby eagerly grinning. "I'm so gonna get my next gym badge, no problem!" she declared. Yeah, they would've had their gym battle the day before, but Ramos came back quite late. Apparently he went on an errand shortly after gathering up the Tauros back where they came from, so the battle was delayed.

"Someone's over-confidant," Weiss noticed.

"Overconfidence is the weakness of all trainers," Jackson warned her, looking at the tree ahead. "Believe me, I know..."

"Isn't that nostalgic? Reminds me of when we lost to Morty to get our fourth gym badge," Leafeon recalled. "You thought for certain Weavile would win it all, you exhausted him right when facing his Gengar. And this wasn't the first time we lost a gym battle, too."

Jackson sighed as he recalled that, along with his first loss. However, that was a story of another time. He turned to Ruby. "Still, if I made a mistake back then, what makes you any different, Ruby? Don't act like you have this win in the bag," he warned.

The red-hooded trainer looked back at Jackson with a surprisingly desperate look as she pleaded, "I know, but can I at least be hyped for this battle, pleeeease? I have to keep my mind somewhere!"

"She means anywhere other than those horrid nightmares she's been having since seeing Mimikyu's true form," Crescythe explained. "She muttered that in her sleep. And she even screamed once. Which reminds me, how did you people not hear that last night?" Last night, out of everyone, Crescythe was the only one who woke in the middle of the night from Ruby's scream, before the girl instantly went back to sleep. (That happened to me! My dad was screaming in his sleep once and I was the only one who heard it! I don't know if it's because my room is next to his or because he had his door closed and my ears are sensitive, but still!)

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Seth agreed, leaving the Absol's question unanswered. "When you saw it, you kind of died. Yang was desperate to save you and wanted Nate to perform CPR on you."

Nate blushed horribly at this, while Yang felt she let an opportunity slip from their grasp, same with Nate's Aipom, who unknowingly agrees with Yang about having her trainer and Ruby together, in more ways than one. Ruby decided not to reply to this, already embarrassed to think about that.

The team arrived at the front of the ancient tree, looking up high into the branches, vines, everything that formed itself upon it.

"So this is it," Jaune stated. "The Coumarine gym."

"This is too huge!" Nora exclaimed. "It looks, like, millions of years old!"

"I can definitely feel the tree's natural splendor from here," the Grass-type Pokemon of their group stated. "It's a really comfortable place for any Grass-type to be close to."

"So, according to what I read, the gym is at the treetops," Blake recalled, looking at the large vine winding up the tree. "We just have to climb that?"

"Yep. Let's go," Seth declared. With that, they all started to climb.

The incline wasn't as bad, but the length of the path was very long. Some of the group, like Nora and Ruby, wanted to hurry up the tree, while others like Leafeon and Ren were wanting to take things slowly, looking at the view all around them as they went higher up. All in all, it took the entire team maybe twenty minutes before reaching the top.

When they arrived, they were greeted with nature's beauty all about them, along with the battlefield for the gym in the center of it all. None of the branches nor the greenery on them seemed touched, but was growing naturally about them. The only man-made objects around were a green-house, a few gardens, and what looked like a built-in library in one of the tree branches.

"This totally has the feel of a Grass-type gym," Nate stated as the others were in awe at the sight of the place.

"I feel almost tranquil with the natural aura of this place," Ren pointed out. "The battlefield and the area around it almost seem to fit together."

"I'm glad to see one of you feels the natural energies of this place," said a familiar voice. Ramos was approaching them from one of the gardens, where they saw none other than Eliza digging through and pulling out weeds.

"Hey, I almost didn't see you there," Yang stated. She then looked smugly at the short trainer as she added, "Then again, I barely saw the shorty within the plants as well."

"I heard that, blonde cow!" Eliza barked over the plants. Obviously insulted, the two girls glared so fiercely at one another, lightning was striking from their gazes.

"Anyway, do you mind if these seven trainers wouldn't mind having taking turns battling you?" Jackson requested, ignoring the obvious scene by them. "They've been ready to face you since yesterday."

"Of course. But first, why don't we go have some tea?" Ramos suggested.

Everyone was confused at this.

"Is there a reason why?" Lyanne asked.

"Well, one of my plants just produced some fine tea leaves, and it's almost my tea time," Ramos explained. "I would love to share some with all of you."

"In that case, we would be honored," Ren answered.

"Ugh! I hate bitter tea," Nora moaned.

"Tea isn't always my favorite thing, either," Jackson agreed. "Still, I'll accept the offer."

Ruby looked slightly depressed at another delay on their gym battle, but decided to take the offer.

They all entered into the little library, with some sitting on the floor while others sat around the table. Seth and Jaune went to help out Ramos with making the tea, while Blake instantly went for the books, looking into them. Jackson and Leafeon went out into the grounds, saying they were looking for something.

"All of these books are on gardening or different plant life around the world," Blake noticed, flipping through the fifth book she found.

"Yeah. My granddad may be a gym leader, but he's has a fascination of plant life," Eliza explained. "Since he's old as well, he finds plenty of time taking care of the plants and Grass-type Pokemon in the fields."

"I bet he has plenty of experience to go with that age," Lyanne said. "He probably has seen a lot of battles in his time, so watch out team."

"Speaking of which, how will we decide who will go first this time?" Ruby asked, looking about. "I don't see any sort of challenge we can take."

"How about a vine-climbing competition?" Nora suggested.

"But we already did a rock-climbing competition before," Pyrrha recalled. "And we did a roller-blading challenge in the Shalour gym. What else is there to do?"

The others seemed puzzled at how they will order everyone off.

Just then, Jackson and Leafeon returned as Ramos, Seth and Jaune came out with small glasses of tea.

"Here you all go. This tea turned out great," Ramos told them. They all took a cup each and drank the tea.

"Hey, this isn't too bad!" Ruby stated. "It isn't even that bitter."

"It actually feels much more refreshing considering the environment," Ren pointed out, looking at the natural scene about them.

"I'm glad you enjoy it," Ramos responded.

After a short moment of drinking their tea, Ruby brought up the question again; how were they gonna set the order for everyone in the gym battle. Fortunately, that's what Jackson and Leafeon were figuring out when exploring the place. Their solution; seven sticks with numbers on them, 1 to 7.

"So... we're just drawing sticks?" Ruby asked, feeling let down for something less exciting.

"Yep. Whoever draws the stick with 1 on it will go first, then the one picking 2 will go second, and so on and so forth," Jackson explained. "It will be short, easy, and not too lengthy of a read."

"Wait, what?" Jaune questioned.

"Nothing!" Leafeon responded quickly, then to Jackson she whispered, "Ix-nay on the all-way reak-bay."

"My bad." Jackson apologized.

Blake looked at the two with a look of confusion, considering she was the one who overheard them due to her faunus heritage.

Jackson cleared his throat as he declared, "Now, I'll shuffle them up. You draw." He held them behind his back, mixed them up randomly, then held them out in both hands. Everyone stepped forward and grabbed a stick, noticing the number on them.

"I got 3!" Yang cheered.

"Got 2 right here," Pyrrha noticed.

"Aw, I have 6," Ruby moaned in disappointment.

"What! How did I get 7?!" Nora exclaimed. "I demand a redraw!"

"Too late for that," Seth retorted, turning to Ren, who drew the #1 stick. "Looks like you're up first. Make us proud."

Ren nodded, turning to Ramos as he said, "Please bear with me."

Ramos chuckled in response to this.

"I'll be the referee," Eliza insisted, already heading to the referee box.

"A shorty as a referee." At those words from a certain brawler, Eliza ceased her walk. "Well, at least you won't have to worry about getting hit from stray attacks, if any."

"True, compared to a blonde bimbo who is practically a huge, walking target." At her retort, the two girls glared at each other once more, sending more electricity from their gazes.

"Okay, how about we get the battle started without interruptions?" Seth said, using his powers to move his fellow Pokehuman over to the referee box.

Turning back to the field with a huff, Eliza cleared her throat and said, "The battle between the gym leader, Ramos, and the challenger, Ren, will now begin! Each side may only use three Pokemon! The battle will be over when one side's Pokemon are all unable to battle! Furthermore, only the challenger is allowed to substitute Pokemon at any time!"

"You can do it Ren!" Nora cheered, waving some pom poms in the air.

"Where did you get those?" Pyrrha asked.

"A secret~"

"I do hope you're ready, young one," Ramos said to his opponent. He pulled out a Pokeball with his left hand, his right hand holding his big scissors. "Jumpluff! Let's go!"

A blue Pokemon with three fluffy, white puffs appeared on the field. "It's happy time~!" he cheerfully stated.

"What's that Pokemon?" Ruby asked.

"It sure is cute," Weiss stated, as she pulled out her Pokedex. "Jumpluff, the Cottonweed Pokemon. Blown by the seasonal winds, it circles the globe, scattering cotton spores as it goes. Even in the fiercest wind, it can control its fluff to make its way to any place in the world it wants."

"I wonder what Pokemon Ren's going to use," Jaune said.

"A Pokemon with a type advantage obviously," Yang guessed with confidence.

"It's going to be a miracle if you managed to get your badge," Eliza said with a smirk.

Yang glared at the short trainer.

"Venom! Let's go!" Ren called out his Whirlipede.

"I'm ready to battle!" he declared.

"Let the battle begin!" Eliza shouted.

"Venom, use Rollout!" At Ren's order, Venom spun at high speed and charged right to the Cottonweed Pokemon.

"Use Grass Knot," Ramos simply ordered.

"Slow down or you could get hurt," Jumpluff said, as his eyes glowed green. A pair of green glowing vines shot out of the ground and made Venom trip, causing him to tumble down.

"Venom, are you okay?" Ren asked. The Whirlipede nodded at his question. "Okay then, try Steamroller!" Using his new move, Venom shot himself towards the floating Pokemon.

"Leech Seed!" At Ramos' command, the Jumpluff spat out seeds from his mouth. The seeds made contact and started to sap away Venom's strength, causing the Curlipede Pokemon to wince.

"What's Leech Seed?" Weiss asked.

"A Grass-type move that slowly saps away the opponent's strength. And each time it does, the one that used the move will gain that amount as its own," Seth explained.

"What?! Then they need to hurry and end this battle!" Jaune said.

"Come on, Ren! You can do it!" Nora cheered.

"Venom, try Steamroller again!" Venom toughed out the effects of Leech Seed and used his move on his opponent.

"Acrobatics!" Ramos ordered in response.

"Feel the joy~!" his Pokemon cried out, as he dove down onto Venom at top speed. Both attacks struck, and Jumpluff's proved to be more superior.

"A flying-type move?!" Yang gasped.

Ren gritted his teeth as he saw the sudden counter and called back his Pokemon. "Venom, return!" And it was back in his Pokeball Venom goes.

"Good call there, whippersnapper. Now let's see how you can stop Jumpluff now," Ramos challenged.

"I wonder what Pokemon Ren will use this time," Pyrrha said.

"Whatever Pokemon it is, it can't be at a disadvantage against that Jumpluff," Blake said.

Ren chose his next Pokemon to fight. "Okay Archer. Your turn!" And out was his Archen.

"Leave it to me!" he said.

"Alrighty then, use Leech Seed!" Ramos shouted. Jumpluff shot out more of his seeds from his mouth.

"Jump!" Archen leapt over the attack at Ren's order, avoiding the Leech Seed.

"Use Acrobatics!" Jumpluff then shot himself over to the airborne, flightless Pokemon.

"Use Quick Guard!" Archer quickly blocked the attack, skidding the ground as he landed. "Ancient Power!" He then summoned out an afterimage of himself, forming it into an orb and tossed it at his opponent.

"Deflect it with Grass Knot!" At Ramos' command, Jumpluff summoned more vines, this time blocking the attack.

"Climb up those vines and use Wing Attack!" Ren ordered. Archen ran up the Grass Knot, his flapping wings glowing white.

"Distance yourself from that Grass Knot!" The Cottonweed Pokemon quickly took it higher into the air, in an attempt to get out of the Archen's reach.

"That won't help much," Ren simply stated.

"Time for the results!" Once he reached the top, Archer practically kicked his feet off the vines and, as unbelievable as it was, took flight.

"That Archen is flying?!" Aipom gasped in shock.

"No way!" Nate followed.

Still shocked over what was happening before it, Jumpluff got hit by the Wing Attack. Archer landed on his feet right after landing a hit.

"My. Now that's what I call a surprise," Ramos commented.

"Archer and I have been working on helping him fly. We can't have him stay flightless forever. As an ancestor to other Flying-type Pokemon, he has to fly someday," Ren stated.

The gym leader nodded at his words. "But if you ask me, I'd say your training has yet to be complete, by the looks of it."

"It's still in-progress, that I admit. But we're getting there."

"However, don't think that means you've won. Acrobatics!"

"Payback with joy!" Jumpluff shouted, as he took it into the air once more and dove straight down at Archer.

"Use Quick Guard!" The Archen blocked the attack at Ren's command, standing his ground. "Peck!" Before the Cottonweed Pokemon could distance himself from his opponent, Archer gave him a good set of pecks right on the forehead, knocking him back down. "Finish it with Ancient Power!"

"Here's the finale!" Archer exclaimed, as he shot his Rock-type move at the downed Pokemon.

"There goes the joy!" was all he could say as he was hit by the move. The next thing the group knew, Jumpluff lied there in defeat.

"J-... Jumpluff is unable to battle! Archer is the winner!" Eliza announced with a slight stutter.

"Yes! That's one down!" Nora cheered.

"And two more to go!" Ruby added, as the two high-fived.

Ramos called back his Pokemon. "Not bad, whippersnapper. Not bad at all. You're no doubt a clever boy, but I ain't cut down yet! Come on out, Weepinbell!"

Up next was a yellow, bell-like plant Pokemon with a green leaf on both sides, almost as though they're its arms. He had a huge, gaping mouth with pink lips and three small green spots and a small hook-shaped stem above his eyes. "Hello," he greeted in a bloated voice.

"What's that Pokemon?" Jaune asked, taking out his Pokedex. "Weepinbell, the Flycatcher Pokemon. The leafy part acts as cutters for slashing foes. It spits a fluid that dissolves everything."

"That's one dangerous Grass-type," Ruby stated.

"Ren can handle him. Go Ren!" Nora shouted.

"Archer, Wing Attack!" the R of JNPR ordered.

"Take this!" The Archen charged at his opponent with his glowing wing.

"Poison Powder!" Ramos countered.

"You'll love this," the Flycatcher Pokemon said, as he breathed out sparkling purple powder at Archer. The attack caught him off guard and ceased his attack, as well as inflicting a poison status on him.

"Archer!" Ren cried out in worry.

"Poison Powder?!" Yang questioned.

"A status move that inflicts poison onto the opponent," Jackson explained.

"Then right now, Ren's at a disadvantage!" Jaune said.

Not willing to believe that, Nora kept cheering for Ren to win.

"Archer! Get a hold of yourself!" he shouted.

"I'll... try," the First Bird Pokemon replied, weakly getting back on his feet.

"Grass Knot," Ramos continued. Weepinbell used the same move Jumpluff had used, summoning vines from the ground. He commanded the vines to wrap themselves around the poisoned Archen, sending him into the air and slamming him back down. "Now use Acid." He then shot out acid at Archer, who cried out in shock at the stinging hot liquid.

"Ow! That's hot!" he cried out, glowing a blue aura as purple bubbles left his body.

"What's happening with Archer?" Blake asked.

"Acid has an effect that lowers the target's special defense," Leafeon answered. "It's either that or Archer's special ability."

"Which is?" Pyrrha asked.

"Defeatist. When a Pokemon with that ability has its hp at half or less, its attack and special attack power is lowered," Seth said.

"Either way is not good!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Let's use Grass Knot again," Ramos ordered.

"Knotty Pokemon!" Weepinbell said, as he tossed Archer away. The moment he said that pun, many in the audience and Ren had to groan, especially the huntsmen and Crescythe, excluding Yang who smiled at the pun.

'Even Pokemon?' they thought.

Archer was knocked into a tree and laid on the ground in defeat.

"Archer is unable to battle! Weepinbell is the winner!" Eliza announced.

"Aww..." Nora spoke as she drooped and frowned.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Nora. Ren is still tied up with Ramos," Jaune said.

"He's right. Ren still has a chance in winning this," Nate added.

Nora instantly cheered up at their words. "You're right! He got this!"

"Now then, whippersnapper, what will you do?" Ramos asked.

"You did your best, Archer," Ren said, switching his defeated Pokemon with another Pokemon. "Venom, time for round two!" Returning to his field was his Whirlipede.

"I won't fail you this time!" he vowed.

"Oh ho. Smart move there. I'll definitely have a difficult time now. Or am I?" Ramos stated. "Weepinbell! Tie him down with Grass Knot!"

"You are also quite knotty!" the Flycatcher Pokemon punned, causing most in the audience to groan again.

"Use Protect!" At Ren's command, Venom created his green barrier around himself, protecting him from the attack. "Now use Rollout!" The Whirlipede then rolled over to Weepinbell, bypassing the vines.

"Dodge it!" Weepinbell took it to the air. "Now another Grass Knot!" More vines appeared around Venom.

"Break through them with Steamroller!" Ren called. Venom changed his attack and teared through the Grass Knot, much to everyone's shock.

As Weepinbell was going to land on the ground, Venom struck him hard, back into the air.

"Weepinbell! Grass Knot!" Ramos shouted. The Flycatcher Pokemon summoned more vines, this time in an attempt to block the Whirlipede's path to him.

"It's no use!" Venom said, breaking through the attack, only to see his opponent had disappeared. "Huh? Where'd he go?" he then wondered as he landed.

Unbeknownst to him, his opponent was behind him, hiding behind some of the destroyed vines.

Ren noticed the Pokemon. "Venom! Behind you!"

"Grass Knot!" Ramos ordered.

"Time to tie you up!" Weepinbell declared, as he summoned more vines.

"Quick! Steamroller!" Venom acted fast and broke through his would-be vines, heading towards the hiding Pokemon. The attack struck, and Weepinbell was knocked out.

"Weepinbell is unable to battle! Venom is the winner!" Eliza announced.

"Yay, Ren! Nice going!" Nora, of course, cheered.

"Just one more to go!" Yang also cheered.

"But the last one is always the most difficult one to beat," Ruby pointed out.

"True, but Ren should be okay. He has one Pokemon he hasn't used yet either," Nate recalled.

"Still, like Ruby said, it's too late to celebrate," Seth agreed with the red-cloaked trainer/huntress.

Ramos returned his second Pokemon. "Alright, ye whippersnapper. Time for my third Pokemon." He threw his Pokemon into the air. "Come on out, Gogoat!" And on his field was the Pokemon the group saw him ride on the other day.

"Let's have ourselves a good battle," he said.

"His last Pokemon's a Gogoat?" Blake asked.

"Yeah. Gogoat is my granddad's best Pokemon," Eliza explained.

"Whoa. If he's going to battle..." Jaune took out a Pokeball. "Skid, come out!" To everyone's shock, out of the Pokeball was a Skiddo.

"Yeah, Jaune?" he asked.

"Look at that Pokemon over there." Skiddo, or Skid, looked at the Pokemon Jaune was pointing at. "That's what you're going to evolve into someday. I want you to observe him in this battle. You know, learn something for when you evolve."

"Got it," Skid nodded, looking intently at his evolved form.

"Hold up! Jaune, when did you catch that Skiddo?!" Yang asked.

"Yeah, and why didn't you tell us about it!" Ruby followed.

"It was back at the night before we left the ranch," he began to explain. "I was getting a drink of water, when Skid approached me, said he wanted to come along with us on our journey after hearing a lot of stories about our adventure from your's truly. That and he said he wanted to help us find Vanessa and take down any bad guys that come our way."

"And we hear about this now because?" Weiss asked.

"It never came up."

Back to the battle, Ren was the one who made the first move. "Steamroller!" Venom charged at Gogoat at full speed.

"Grass Knot!" Ramos countered. Gogoat's eyes glowed green as he stomped the ground, summoning out more vines to block his path.

"You should know those won't work!" Ren told him.

"I do. Question is, do you know what's in store for you?" As Ramos asked that question, Venom made it to the other side. Like with Weepinbell, Gogoat was gone.

"Behind me?" He looked behind, only to see nothing but the destroyed vines.

"Bulldoze!" At the gym leader's order, Venom felt something stomp him hard from above, which was none other than Ramos' Gogoat, who jumped into the air and landed on the Whirlipede with a powerful Bulldoze attack, getting slammed into the ground hard enough for a small crater to form, lying in defeat.

"Venom is unable to battle! Gogoat is the winner!" Eliza announced.

"No way! In just that one hit?!" Ruby gasped.

"True, but Venom did take a lot of damage from Jumpluff's Acrobatics earlier," Nate remarked.

"And now they're both down to one Pokemon," Blake said.

"Ren! Don't lose to him!" Nora shouted.

Jackson had a slightly serious look on his face, as if anticipating Ren's next Pokemon. 'If anything, now's the time to see if you two are worthy of it,' he thought.

"You're up now. Go, Hercules!" Ren called out his last Pokemon.

"Understood," he responded.

"That's a good choice," Weiss stated. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe Bulldoze and whatever Grass-type move Gogoat has won't be able to do much damage against Hercules."

"No, you're right. Which means, unless if Ramos has some tricks up his sleeve, Ren and Hercules should be able to defeat him," Seth answered.

"Although... what's on his horn?" Ruby asked, noticing a band on Hercules' horn.

The rest of the group noticed it and also questioned what it was. Seth widened his eyes slightly in realization and looked over at Jackson, who had a small smirk on his face. 'Now when did you give him that thing?' he wondered.

"Hercules, Aerial Ace!" As soon as Ren shouted his command, his Heracross shot himself towards his opponent.

"Counter that with Take Down!" Ramos ordered. His Gogoat charged as well.

Both attacks collided and the two Pokemon skidded away from each other.

"Use Arm Thrust!" Hercules charged at Gogoat with one of his arms pulled back.

"Bulldoze!" The Mount Pokemon stomped the ground once more, this time sending shockwaves that expanded all over the battlefield. Everyone tried to keep their balance from the attack.

"What's going on?! This didn't happen when he used it on Venom!" Weiss questioned.

"It was because Venom practically cushioned the attack, therefore the shockwaves weren't as strong as the one right now!" Eliza explained.

Hercules fell on his front, unable to keep his balance any longer.

"Now Take Down!" Gogoat charged at Hercules and tackled him back to Ren.

"Hercules!" the boy cried out. The Single Horn Pokemon got back up. As he did so, Ren observed his opponent.

'He really is tough. Then again, he must have had years of battling, developing many different strategies against different types of opponents. In that case, we should give him something new,' he thought. He looked over at Hercules, who looked back at him and nodded.

"Let's do it," he said.

"I hear you," Ren nodded. He raised an arm that has a his Mega Cuff on it. Seeing this got everyone excited as they guessed what he was going to do. "Bloom, and exceed your limit! Hercules, Mega Evolve!" He tapped his keystone, which caused Hercules' Mega Stone on his band to react. The two stones generated energy that connected each other, allowing the Heracross glow and change to his next level.

The glow died down, revealing Hercules' new form. He was bulkier than before, with orange markings on his body. He now has a long, pointed nose that curved upwards and a yellow back. The horn and antennas grew, the former into a large simple spike with two smaller spikes at the front, and the latter now having ovoid tips.

"Time to get serious!" Hercules exclaimed.

"He changed completely!" Aipom screeched in surprise.

"So that's Mega Evolution... It's really as awesome as I've heard," Nate stated in amazement.

Eliza was just as amazed at the sight before her.

"Well I'll be! You can do Mega Evolution?!" Ramos gasped in shock and surprise.

"Yes. And it is this sort of strength that will defeat you," Ren nodded.

The gym leader regained his composure. "Then we shall give it everything we got! Gogoat, Bulldoze!" Gogoat did as told and stomped the ground hard, sending shockwaves to his opponent.

"Arm Thrust on the ground!" At Ren's command, Hercules got on his knees and thrusted the ground with great strength, sending just as powerful shockwaves at Gogoat. The two attacks canceled each other out.

"He deflected the Bulldoze!" Yang remarked.

"Of course! While in his Mega Form, Hercules gained a great boost in strength and has the ability Skill Link, which maximizes multi-strike moves like Arm Thrust!" Seth said.

"And with that boost and ability, you'll get a shockwave that's just as or even more powerful than Bulldoze," Jackson finished.

"In that case, use Grass Knot!" Ramos shouted. At his new command, Gogoat summoned his vines.

"Break through them with Aerial Ace!" Ren ordered. Hercules charged at the attack at high speed, tearing through the vines and nullifying them. He then struck Gogoat hard, pushing him back.

"Oh my!" Ramos gasped. "Grass Knot again!" The Mount Pokemon called upon more vines to assist him.

"Block with Arm Thrust!" Arms pushed back, Hercules watched carefully as the attack closed in on him. At the last second, he struck each and every one of them, pushing them away and cancelling the attack. "Finish this with Aerial Ace!" The Mega Heracross charged once more at Gogoat at high speed. The attack hit, knocking him into a tree. Gogoat lied on the ground, eyes swirled in defeat.

Though reluctant, Eliza knew she had to announce it. "Gogoat is unable to battle! Hercules is the winner! The victor of this match is Ren!"

"YES! HE DID IT!" Nora cheered at the top of her lungs.

Everyone else was just as happy to see Ren had won his gym battle. The victor trainer and his Pokemon, returned to his normal form, did a brotherly handshake in victory.

Ramos chuckled as he approached the two. "Well now, Ren. You sure got me in that last battle. I never thought I'd have to face off against a Mega Evolution trainer. You've truly bloomed with this victory, and your and your Pokemon's belief in each other is very strong. As proof of that, I present to you this Plant Badge." The badge he was giving Ren looked like a leaf with gold edges, with a gold stem with a couple of leaves growing.

"Thank you very much," Ren bowed, accepting the proof of his win.

After Ren's battle, Pyrrha went up against Ramos. She first used Shield against his Jumpluff, the former whose great defense was tiring the latter out and defeated him with some Iron Head and an Ancient Power. He was also ad an advantage against Weepinbell, whose Poison-type attacks did nothing to him since he was also a Steel-type Pokemon. Due to the damage he took, however, he was taken out, right after dealing massive damage to the Flycatcher Pokemon. After him was Shanti, who ended the battle with a Dragon Breath. The battle against Gogoat was a little tricky, especially with Shanti's slight impatience. But thankfully, Pyrrha was still able to win thanks to Zen Headbutt's flinching effect.

Yang was after her. As she had planned beforehand, she used her Fire-type team to earn the badge, making use of Leona and Firebird's Flame Charge to boost their speed and avoid every attack and Emburn's Mach Punch and Counter attacks to land a hit first and dealt back any damage that he took, which was especially useful after he survived from Gogoat's Bulldoze.

Jaune was next. Against Jumpluff, he used Arc, whose speed and strength outranked the Cottonweed Pokemon. Because of Weepinbell's Poison Powder, though, he was beaten. Recalling how Steel-type Pokemon are unaffected by Poison-type moves, Jaune called out Excalibur against him, defeating the Grass/Poison-type with an Aerial Ace. When Ramos' Gogoat came into play, Jaune had Skid out to battle him, out of the latter's request. The battle was kind of close, but in the end, Skid lost and Excalibur got Jaune his win.

Up next was Blake, who started things off with Tina, whose human appearance confused Ramos and Eliza. After a bit of explaining about the cat faunus' fear for dog-like Pokemon, or dogs in general, the two understood her situation and continued on with the battle. Tina managed to finish her battle against Jumpluff in a tie, leading her trainer to face Weepinbell with Spear, much to Jackson's dismay, until Leafeon knocked him out. The Beedrill's swift and powerful moves managed to give Blake the win and weakened Gogoat before he was taken out by the Mount Pokemon. And so, the Huntress had finished the gym battle off with Screecher, whose super sensitive hearing allowed him to predict the Grass Knot attack, making the battle practically one-sided.

Ruby went after Blake. She started the battle off with Crescythe, who like Screecher was able to predict and avoid the Grass Knot move with ease. However, once she was up against Weepinbell, she fell for a Poison Powder trap and was defeated. After her, Ruby had Scout battle the Flycatcher Pokemon. The moment he was out, Nate's Aipom cheered loudly for the Linoone. She even went as far as to 'borrow' Nora's pom poms to cheer for him. After defeating Weepinbell, Ruby called back Scout, to the Long Tail Pokemon's disappointment, who then became happy since Ruby didn't call him back in his Pokeball, the speedy Huntress had Reaper battle Ramos' Gogoat, which ended in the former's win. After Ruby obtained her gym badge, Aipom gave Linoone a little peck on the cheek, to congratulate him, much to the Linoone's embarrassment.

Last but not least, Nora's battle. She had started off with Pitfall, whose Dragon Breath attack made it hard for Jumpluff to land a hit on him while trying to avoid it. After defeating him with a Rock Slide, Nora called him back to have Pigpen face Weepinbell. Despite being poisoned at the start, the Fire/Fighting-type Pokemon defeated him with a Flame Charge and Rollout combo. Of course, that made it harder for him to continue against Gogoat, who took Pigpen down with a single Bulldoze. After calling back the defeated starter of Unova, Nora had Pitfall back on the field. At first she had planned on giving Gogoat a little surprise with Dig, but due to the effect of Bulldoze, the plan backfired, something she learned the hard way. Before being defeated completely, the Vibrava managed to deal some damage with a Dragon Breath attack. This left Nora with either Blue or Tortoise, in which she chose the latter to end the battle. Despite the massive type disadvantage, thanks to Shell Smash, Tortoise managed to avoid massive damage from Gogoat's Grass Knot. Sure, Bulldoze was also a threat, but nothing like a little Aqua Jet to be away from the shockwaves.

And now, the group had four badges, meaning they were one badge away from being on the same level as Vanessa, as well as one step closer to possibly saving her. After all this travel, they only found one clue. Time will tell if they will find another clue to Vanessa or if they will ever find her at all.