His arrival removes Genesect from the list of available Legendaries, just so you all know.
Now, it's time for the first warden to make their appearance! (-o-)
Clara followed Ray and the others, surprised at how fast new trainers had joined their group. She had a high suspicion that it was not a coincidence, but she did not like what that meant.
Time was warping slightly around her again, causing everything to move a bit faster, but it was better than it usually was. Especially since she now had an explanation for why it was happening.
Still, if she ever saw Celebi again, they were going to have to talk.
Soon, they arrived at the edge of town. There was a dirt road flanked with torches ahead of them, as well as banners featuring a stylized Trevenant. It was done in an art style Clara was not familiar with. She'd have to study it at some point; this region's history seemed to be quite fascinating.
Time slowed back to normal as they headed up the path, which led deep into the forest. Around them, bird Pokemon chattered amongst themselves, while a few bug Pokemon could be seen crawling around. Clara even spotted a Deerling hiding away in the trees, and smiled.
Eventually, they arrived at a cracked stone altar, a thick grove of trees behind it.
Ray said, "The warden should be around here somewhere. Possibly he's still on his way back from dealing with that attack in town, but it shouldn't be too long."
Sure enough, an old man riding a Sawsbuck arrived at the altar, and smiled at the sight of them.
"So these are the brave trainers who took down that Pokemon attack?", he said, "I'm glad to meet you. My name is Warden Verdien."
He dismounted and walked up to the group. He had a bald head but a long white goatee, which he had smoothed to a neat point. He wore a clean white tunic with green accents, with the Trevenant image on his shoulders. He unslung a tall wooden staff, which he used to keep his balance as he walked up to the trainers.
"Normally, I'd battle each of you one by one, which would take all day, but this is a unique case. Judging from what I've seen, the Legendborn are at last among us once more, which means a different approach is called for.", Verdien said.
He stopped next to the altar. "Long, long ago, the first Legendborn each went to a different place to train. There, the first Noble Pokemon came to being, as the gods looked upon their partners and rose them to levels equal to their trainers. Every group of Legendborn that came after would each train at a different one of these areas, in honor of the ones who came before. I believe that this tradition should be maintained, which means I will only be challenging one of you."
"Aw, man!", complained Rex, "Does this mean I'll only get to battle one warden and their Noble?"
Verdien nodded. "Yes. It will not require you to battle all eighteen of us to prove that you are Legendborn, only one. But do not fret; many hard battles await you, if the Darkness has truly awakened once more. Now, I shall see which of you are to be my challenger."
He closed his eyes, and a soft wind blew through the area. He then smiled, and pointed at Clara.
"I challenge you!", he declared.
Clara froze. "Wait, me!? But I don't like professional battling!"
Verdien replied, "Yes, but this battle is important. When the Legendborn train at these sacred locations, it brings out some of their inner power. This battle is meant to help you start your path against the Darkness. Here, I'll go first."
He readied the first of his six Pokeballs, and sent out a plant-like creature with a massive red-and-white flower on top of its head.
"Alright, who do I get to battle!?", cheered the Vileplume, "I'm pumped up for this!"
Clara shrugged. "I suppose I've got no choice...Anani, I choose you!"
Emerging from her Pokeball was the Xatu. "Ohhh...I knew this was coming. This area is going to stink for ages after this..."
The Vileplume replied, "Oh yeah? Fine then, take a deep whiff of this!"
She sprayed out a cloud of toxic dust, but Anani simply flapped her wings and sent a strong gust of wind whipping through the area, clearing away the dust and blasting her opponent into a tree.
"Oof! You'll pay for that!", the Vileplume shouted. She launched forth a cloud of yellow powder, which Anani also blew away.
"Now comes the ouchy part.", Anani muttered.
Vileplume screeched angrily, and shot off a barrage of Sludge Bombs. Anani dodged most of them, but one managed to score a hit and she squawked in pain.
Anani whipped the wind up, and with a vicious counterstrike formed the air into sharp blades, which lashed across Vileplume and caused her to cry out and fall over. Anani blasted her with a psychic attack, and the Vileplume fainted.
"Are you sure you're not a battler?", asked Verdien, impressed, "Granted, you had a type advantage and a Pokemon that could see the future, but that was still pretty impressive!"
"I said I don't like it.", replied Clara, "But some people won't let you do anything else but battle if they see you have a few Pokeballs, not to mention the wild Pokemon in the remote places archeologists explore. So I've trained them the best I could."
"I see. Well, then, time for my next Pokemon! Go, Tropius!", replied Verdien, sending out a dinosaurian creature with four huge leaf-like wings on its back and bananas hanging off of its neck.
"Can your two little wings keep up with mine?", Tropius shouted, flapping his wings and flying into the air.
"Don't need to.", Anani replied, summoning a Light Screen around herself. Then she started focusing, and increasing her stats steadily.
Tropius roared, and a swirling tornado of leaves formed beneath him. He launched it into Anani's shield, weakening it. Tropius proceeded to bombard it with gusts of wind, until at last it shattered.
But as the Tropius dived in for an attack, Anani summoned a hurricane of Air Slashes, knocking it out instantly.
"Stat boosts are underrated.", Anani said simply.
"Two of my Pokemon down to your none!", exclaimed Verdien, "Impressive! But you won't claim victory so easily! Shiftry, I choose you!"
Anani muttered, "Welp, time for me to faint."
A large wooden Pokemon with a pointy nose, long white hair, and razor-sharp leaves for hands appeared. "Rahhh!", it roared, "Get a load of this, fortune teller!"
It fired off a Dark Pulse, which rammed into Anani and knocked her out instantly.
"Anani! Don't worry, I'll win this for you!", Clara cried.
She returned the Xatu and swapped in her Armaldo.
"Agile Style!", Cambria shouted, and darted in with some quick X-Scissor attacks. The Shiftry yelled angrily and leaped back, bleeding chlorophyll from various cuts, while the trainers stared at the Armaldo.
"Oh right, modern day. Fighting styles aren't really a thing anymore.", Cambria muttered.
Shiftry yelled, "I'll blow you halfway across the region!" Flapping his leaves, he summoned a Hurricane that slammed into Cambria and nearly knocked him off his feet.
"Oof, your kind has only evolved to be meaner these last few years.", Cambria grumbled.
He then darted forward, and with another few X-Scissors, managed to take out the Shiftry.
"Wow, I haven't had this much trouble against a challenger for years!", exclaimed Verdien, "Your Pokemon do have lots of advantages against mine, but this really is impressive! Oh well, let's go Lilligant!"
He sent out another Pokemon, which appeared to be a ballerina flower. With a little twirl, it quickly leaped at Cambria and kicked him in the face, quite hard.
Cambria stumbled back. "Whoa! Alright, this could be tough."
"I thought those Pokemon were extinct!", exclaimed Clara, "That's a Hisiuan Lilligant!"
Verdien replied, "There are a lot of Pokemon here the rest of the world considers extinct. All Petilils here evolve into this form."
Lilligant said, "Battle time, right?"
She charged towards Cambria and started barraging him with a flurry of blows, refusing to relent even as he stumbled back.
"Cambria! You've got to break past that!", Clara cried.
"Trying to.", the Armaldo grumbled. He blocked the next kick with one of his claws, then infused the other one with metallic energy and lashed forwards with it. The Lilligant elegantly twirled out of the way, giving Cambria room to strike with another attack, this one a Cross Poison.
"Ah! That's no way to treat a lady!", the Lilligant shouted indignantly.
"Sorry about that, but we're kind of in the middle of - yikes!", Cambria replied.
The Lilligant had chosen that moment to lunge and lash out with a Leaf Blade, causing Cambria to stumble and nearly lose consciousness. But he managed to strike with another X-Scissor and take her down.
"Two Pokemon left for me!", Verdien declared, "But can you defeat them with your remaining Pokemon? That Armaldo is almost done for, and your last Pokemon might not be able to fight mine. But we're taking this to the end! Go, Leavanny!"
He sent out a tall bug, wrapped up in leaves and smiling slightly.
"Time to put you to bed.", she said, and struck with a Razor Leaf.
Cambria fainted, and was returned to his Pokeball.
Clara reached for Nimbi's Pokeball, but found she didn't need to as the Altaria had popped out on her own.
"Grrr, I'll finish this! No one knocks out my friends and makes jokes like that without punishment!", Nimbi yelled, and slammed into the bug Pokemon hard enough to knock her out.
Verdien rose an eyebrow. "Well, that's an interesting technique. But now it's time for my final Pokemon, and this one will be the hardest yet."
He grinned, and sent out a Sceptile.
"So this is our newest challenger? Let's see how she fares against me.", the Sceptile said, smiling sinisterly.
Verdien slipped out something from around his neck. "Let's end this here and now! Time to Mega Evolve!"
The Key Stone around Verdien's neck began to glow, and the Sceptile was surrounded in swirling energy. When it cleared up, the Sceptile was much larger and had many colorful fruits along its back.
"Ahahaha, I love this form!", declared the Sceptile, "Altaria, huh? Let's see if you can withstand this!"
The Sceptile fired a pulse of purple energy at Nimbi, blasting her back and causing her to cry out in pain.
Clara was nervous. She hadn't expected Mega Evolution to be a thing here. However, Nimbi had some moves capable of defeating Dragon-types like this one. Now if she could survive long enough to use them...
Nimbi lit up with pink energy, and fired it off as a flash of light. But the Mega Sceptile disappeared, leaving only a pile of twigs to get blasted by the Dazzling Gleam.
He reappeared behind Nimbi, but she managed to fly up into the air before the following Dragon Pulse hit.
"Be careful, Nimbi!", Clara cried, "We've got this, if we're clever about it!"
Verdien said, "Sceptile, keep an eye out for when she lands. We have an advantage here, and we need to use it."
"Of course.", replied Sceptile.
Nimbi came rocketing down just a few minutes later, slamming into Sceptile and knocking him to the side. But she had also made herself vulnerable, allowing the enemy Pokemon to strike with another Dragon Pulse and launching her to Clara's feet, right at the brink of fainting.
"Nimbi!", Clara cried.
Verdien asked, "Do you wish to forfeit?"
Clara looked at her Pokemon, who squawked, "I'm not giving in so easily! Just...need...to get back up."
But Clara knew she'd need more strength than Nimbi had left in order to beat Sceptile. And that's when it happened.
There was a soft mental click, and suddenly Clara felt a connection form between her and Nimbi. There was an immediate wave of pain, followed by fatigue, yet there was still some fierce determination and anger. Clara hardly thought about it - she simply willed some of her strength to flow into Nimbi.
The Altaria flapped her wings and floated back into the air, grinning. "I don't know what you did, but I like it! Eat some of this, fruit lizard!"
She fired off another Dazzling Gleam, and the Sceptile was so surprised by her second wind that he did not dodge.
It was a critical hit.
"Agh...I...failed.", moaned the Sceptile, before he fell to his knees and fainted. Verdien returned him, and for a moment, all was silent.
Then Verdien broke into applause.
"Well done, well done!", he declared, "You have successfully beaten me, the Warden of the Forest Elder! You have earned the right to challenge the Noble Pokemon of this forest. Allow yourself a moment to heal your Pokemon, and then you may pass into the arena." (-o-)
AN: I promise we'll stop doing battles soon! This chapter took me a while to write, mainly because I was focused on other things (mainly writing Camp Pokemon and losing dramatically to Cynthia like, five times before I beat her with a Dialga, excess XP grinding, and a Quick Claw), but managed to complete it.
Reviews are appreciated as always, and I'll see you all next time! Now I need to find some way to celebrate my victory over the toughest champion of all champions...