(AN: Hey everyone! If you have read up to this point I thank you so much for your support! This is my first story, so I'm glad you're interested in it! My editor and I were able to push this chapter out for you quicker than I expected, so I hope you enjoy! Without further ado, I present to you…)
Pokemon Veral Region Chronicles
Chapter 4: Every Rose has its Thorns
Chrysanthia Town- 2079
"Oh great. It's this kid again." said a female voice, standing behind Farron.
"Andromeda!" Farron exclaimed.
"Listen, I'm not here to pick a fight with you. These two ladies have something I need. As I said before, Team Nova wants to make life easier and provide an ample work source out of Pokemon. Doesn't that sound nice? Our goal is to sell that idea to all of the Veral Region. Pokemon are nothing, but pets that we can control. Why waste our time with physical labor when we can be researching instead? The world growth will double and maybe even triple if we employ Pokemon instead of people. Think of them like… robots. A robotic work-force, almost. Of course we will make money off of this idea! It's perfect!" Andromeda cackled.
"Pokemon have emotions as well. We don't control them. They listen to their trainers because of the loving bond between trainer and Pokemon! Your idea is absurd!" Acacia cried out.
"Bond between trainer and Pokemon? Hah! I don't need a bond when I have this!" Andromeda said as she flashed a device on her arm.
Andromeda proceeded to click a switch on her button that seemed to emit an almost inaudible sound, but Crawdaunt heard it. Crawdaunt's head writhed with pain and then he froze and stared blankly at Farron.
"HAHA! Crawdaunt! Use Aqua Jet and then combo with a Crabhammer on that trainer!" Andromeda commanded as she pointed to Farron.
"WHAT? Pokemon can't attack humans! It's not in their nature!" Acacia pleaded.
"Nature is a joke. Crawdaunt will do anything I command him to do with this device! Stop standing around now! Attack!" Andromeda yelled as she slammed down on another button on her mysterious, Pokemon controlling device.
Crawdaunt shot forward at Farron, but at that exact moment one of Farron's pokeballs cracked open in a flash.
"Samurott!" Farron shouted with excitement "My bond with Samurott outclasses your mechanical tie to Crawdaunt. My Pokemon know when I'm in trouble and what to do in that case. I'm not their general. I'm their friend! Now hit with a Megahorn attack!"
Samurott struck at Crawdaunt with a Megahorn and not only was it super-effective, but a critical hit as well. Crawdaunt stumbled back and fell over.
"Damn you, kid. This isn't the last you've seen of Team Nova. Alright grunts. Move out. We aren't gonna find the Meadow Plate here." Andromeda directed as she made a hasty retreat out of the town.
"Hey. Your Pokemon was incredible. I'm impressed." The girl with the purple hair said as she walked up to Farron.
"Are you kidding me? HE WAS AWESOME! BOTH THE TRAINER AND THE POKEMON! SAMUROTT IS SOOOO MAJESTIC!" The other girl exclaimed as she ran up and kissed Farron on the cheek "My name is Flora!"
"Yo. He's taken! ... but I'm not." Ren winked. Until he sighed at realizing he was ignored.
"Flora? You're the gym leader, then!" Acacia said, remembering her name from the town's entrance sign.
"Yeah we both are. I'm Hyache. Those goons were looking for something called a Meadow Plate that they seemed to think was located here. I'm not sure what the use for such an item is, but they were determined to find it. Maybe they thought that Flora had it, since she's a grass type master. All I know is that it has something to do with grass-type Pokemon." Hyache explained.
"Meadow Plate, huh? I can't seem to find that registered anywhere in my ItemDex. This is supposed to be loaded with information of any possible item that can be discovered in the seven regions!" Acacia said while fumbling with her ItemDex.
"I don't know much about it either! I'm still confused as to why they targeted me!" Flora cried.
"That's the last time I leave my Pokemon at the gym. Anyways, all this drama aside, we will be accepting challenges at the gym tomorrow and I have a feeling that's what you came here for… err, I'm sorry I didn't catch your name…" Hyache said to Farron.
"I'm Farron. This is Acacia. And this is-" Farron was cut off.
"The name's Ren! Ren Gurin! Very nice to meet you! I love your dress! And I especially love what's undern-" Ren took a hit to the head and Acacia dragged him off muttering something about green-haired pervs and whatnot.
Hyache stared at the green-haired, now unconscious trainer, then back at Farron.
"Well… come by the gym tomorrow! We'll be happy to take you on in battle! Have a goodnight!" Hyache said with a smile.
"That's the first time Hyache has smiled in a while." Flora whispered to Farron "I can't wait to battle you tomorrow! Bye bye!"
Chrysanthia Town Pokemon Center
"Three rooms please!" Acacia asked Nurse Joy.
Ren had woken up about an hour after Acacia and Farron carried him to his room. He felt the need to get some fresh air, so he walked outside to watch the stars. Acacia was also awake at this hour and, with a strong curiosity, followed him outside. Her Eevee ran up to Ren and nudged his head. Ren was lying down on the grass, seemingly deep in thought.
"Hey." Acacia said quietly.
"Yo." Ren replied.
"Something on your mind?" Acacia asked.
"Yeah. My sister." Ren told Acacia.
"What about her?" Acacia questioned.
"If you really must know. While I was adventuring in the Johto Region I lost her… we were sailing together in a small, three-person raft around the Whirl Islands. My father was with us as well… this is hard to talk about…" Ren became stiff.
"I'm sorry. You don't have to tell…" Acacia sighed.
"You came out here to learn something about me… I know it. Her and I were teasing each other by trying to tip the boat, until I nearly did… she fell in. My dad and I tried to save her, but the current was too strong… her body was fished out of the water days later…" Ren's eyes began to water "Afterwards I went back to my home in the Hoenn Region, where I was born and raised. I was consumed with guilt at this point. So I left my family… for her. They held no grudge against me and they held no blame. I just left Petalburg without notice. That's when I started my journey…" Ren was almost drenched in tears by now.
"Oh Ren…" Acacia said as she motioned for Ren to lay on her lap.
Some time passed before he fell asleep in her arms and she carried him back to his room. Eevee sparkled in the moonlight as Acacia called her inside. Neither of the two bothered to tell Farron about that night.
"Good morning guys!" Farron said cheerfully "Did ya sleep alright?"
"Uh yeah! I slept fine! Better than ever! Hehe…" Acacia hesitated.
"Yeah… me too!" Ren agreed.
"Alright then! Let's grab some breakfast and head over to the gym!" Farron planned.
The three trainers then approached the gym building. As they stepped inside, the doorman stopped them.
"Hello! Which two of you will be taking the gym challenge? This gym is unlike any other. It's a double-battle style, but you must pick a partner. Three pokemon each!" he explained.
"Well, Ren. I guess it's you and me. You wanted to see my battle style again, but now I'll get to see yours as well!" Farron told Ren.
"Alright let's do it. Will we both win a badge or is it one badge per team?" Ren asked the doorman.
"You will each win a badge!" the doorman smiled "Go right ahead up the escalator."
The three trainers walked up the escalator. The puzzle before reaching the elevator to the gym leader room was a maze of sorts. The maze was threaded with bright colored flowers and large, green leaves. If a dead end was encountered it would be marked with a bundle of barbed twigs, tipped with a purple substance. The trainers along the way were no match for Farron and Ren, so they reached the elevator in no time. At the top of the elevator was a standard, Pokemon stadium field. This one was divided almost, half was a mix of green colors and the other was a mix of purple colors. The center however, showed the traditional pokeball insignia but blended with green and purple. Ren and Farron both stepped up to the field and all of the sudden they noticed a giant rose blooming on the opposite side of where they were standing. The blower petals opened up high in the air and the rose's thorns extended to provide steps for the two gym leaders. They wore similar style dresses as the day before, Flora in a bright green yukata with a large, pink flower fastened in her hair and Hyache in a purplish dress comprised of green and purple leaves. This time, Hyache also wore a flower in her hair, purple in color, and it seemed as if a stone was set in the middle of both hairpieces. Her purple eyes and hair contrasted nicely with Flora's orange hair and blue eyes, which was unexpected.
"Farron! Ren! You made it!" Flora squealed "I, Gym Leader Flora, the Blossoming Rose"
"And I, Gym Leader Hyache, the Toxic Thorn" Hyache started
"ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE!" they both exclaimed simultaneously.
"Come on! Let's go Leavanny!" Flora sent out.
"And I choose you! Arbok!" Hyache shouted
"We've got this Ren! Go for it Magmortar!" Farron said as his fiery Pokemon landed on the battlefield.
"My turn! Go get em' Golduck!" Ren yelled.
Magmortar hit Leavanny hard with a Lava Plume attack, which severely damaged her, but somehow she survived the hit. Golduck was slammed by a Poison Jab attack from Arbok and then a Leaf Storm from Leavanny consecutively. Golduck was barely able to muster up a Psychic attack towards Arbok before falling over and fainting.
"Damn… you did well Golduck" Ren muttered as he recalled Golduck to his pokeball.
The strategy to target a single Pokemon proved effective… except for the fact that Magmortar, a direct counter to Flora's element, hadn't suffered a scratch. Ren sent out his next Pokemon, Swellow, on the next turn. As Leavanny and Arbok were both sitting on a small amount of hit points, Ren commanded Swellow to Fly into the air, not that he needed to for this combo particularly. Nevertheless, Farron's Magmortar set off an Earthquake and caused both Leavanny and Arbok to faint at the same time. Next turn, Flora sent out Ludicolo and Hyache chose Drapion as her next Pokemon.
"Oh no. Ludicolo. Magmortar watch out!" Farron warned, but Magmortar was already targeted at this point.
The enemy Ludicolo shot a Bubblebeam at Magmortar and, unluckly for Farron, it was a critical hit. Magmortar fainted instantly and returned to its pokeball. Swellow swooped down from its Fly attack and nailed Ludicolo with a super-effective attack. Ludicolo was send flying back, but did not faint. Drapion sliced Swellow with a Cross Poison attack that inflicted a poison ailment upon the bird pokemon. Swellow cried in agony and Farron sent out another Pokemon, his strongest by far, Samurott.
"You have this Samurott! Let's win this!" Farron spoke as his Samurott stared at him contently.
"SAMUROTT! This is gonna be a tough fight. Hang in there Ludicolo!" Flora cried at her Pokemon.
On the next turn Swellow struck Ludicolo with an Air Slash, but suffered heavy damage from the poison. Drapion proceeded to target Samurott this time, hitting first with a Poison Jab. Samurott retaliated with a Surf attack that damaged both enemy Pokemon and with a stroke of luck, Swellow dodged it. Ludicolo suffered enough damage to cause him to faint after the large wave crashed over him. Flora was down to her final Pokemon.
Battle Screen:
(The first three Pokemon are Farron's and the last three are Ren's. Similar style for Flora and Hyache.)
Farron/Ren
Magmortar
Samurott
Ampharos
Golduck
Swellow
Blaziken
Flora/Hyache
Leavanny
Ludicolo
Venusaur
Arbok
Drapion
Beedrill
"Most trainers don't make it this far… alright then. I hope you're ready for my final Pokemon!" Flora exclaimed as the stone set in her flower began to glow with her last pokeball "VENUSAUR! GOOOOO!"
Venusaur emerged on the field just in time for Flora to shout "Mega Flower! Blossom!"
Just then, gigantic plants grew around Venusaur while emitting a bright, purplish light. The plants cleared away revealing a much more powerful Pokemon, Mega Venusaur!
"Holy hell! A Mega Venusaur!" Ren announced.
On the next turn, Venusaur turned up the heat with a Sunny Day move, allowing harsh sunlight to fill the battlefield. Swellow struck the enemy Venusaur with a brave bird attack. Although Swellow would have survived with the recoil damage, Ren did not take into account that Swellow was poisoned, so he fainted that same turn. Samurott's determination to take down Drapion was so great, that Farron allowed his Pokemon to let loose a Hydro Cannon attack. For Drapion, this was a devastating hit, but resulted in Samurott being unable to move due to the immense strain from this attack. Before he had fainted, Drapion bit down on Samurott with a Crunch attack, inflicting severe damage upon the water pokemon. All trainers were down to their last Pokemon, except for Farron who still had his Samurott albeit barely. Hyache did not seem to be phased by the loss of her Drapion as she reached for her last pokeball. Oddly enough, the flower she wore in her hair also glowed, just as Flora's had.
"Wow you truly are strong. My first two poison Pokemon were no match for either of you it seemed… but I still have one Pokemon remaining. Prepare yourself. Finish this Beedrill!" Hyache proclaimed as the bug and poison type Pokemon flew onto the field "Mega Flower! Sting!"
A cloud of poisonous gas and small insects swarmed around Beedrill as a purple colored energy enveloped him. As the bugs dissipated, the cocoon of gas let loose a stronger enemy, Mega Beedrill!
"TWO MEGA POKEMON! That's incredible!" Acacia yelled from the sidelines, shocked that two mega Pokemon could be used in battle simultaneously.
"If they can each use a mega Pokemon, that means we can too, Farron." Ren told his partner, while Farron nodded in agreement "In that case, I choose you, Blaziken!"
Blaziken combusted onto the field and Ren raised his hand, revealing a familiar device.
"Mega Glove! ACTIVATE!" Ren exclaimed with vigor as the stone attached to his glove began to glow and Blaziken was centered around a fiery inferno as well as the reoccurring purple energy that sent forth a true fighting machine, Mega Blaziken!
With three mega Pokemon, the battle truly heated up, but to start off the round, Mega Venusaur let loose a blast of solar energy with a Solarbeam attack. Farron was not expecting the massive size of this particular beam and as a result, it caused his already weakened Samurott to faint instantaneously. This was the first time in years that anyone has defeated Farron's Samurott in battle.
"Sam…urott… no way… I underestimated you, Flora…" Farron hung his head.
Mega Beedrill struck Blaziken with an X-Scissor attack, but it was not very effective at all and Mega Blaziken shot back with a massive Blaze Kick that did a large amount of damage to Beedrill. Farron then sent out his final Pokemon after the turn was over.
"Alright Ampharos… you're up!" Farron said as he threw out the electric pokemon "Ok… Mega Glove! Activate!"
Farron's newly received Ampharosite gleamed brightly in the Mega Glove and Ampharos was enveloped by a cloud of electricity, but one of the bolts of lightning looked unusual… it had a face and tail. At that moment a dragon spirit rose up around Ampharos and disappeared as the purple energy fizzled out. Ampharos was now a dragon-type as well.
The few turns decided the winner. Beedrill poisoned Ampharos almost instantly with a Poison Jab attack and Ampharos hit back with a Discharge. Venusaur damaged all three Pokemon with an Earthquake, that was super effective towards both Ampharos and Blaziken. Blaziken used a Flamethrower on Venusaur, which erased a massive amount of his hit points. Venusaur suffered a burn and was fading quickly, but at the same time, Blaziken suffered a lot from that Earthquake. Venusaur let loose a final attack, Frenzy Plant, upon Blaziken. It worked. Blaziken fainted at the same time as Venusaur, who was hit by Ampharos' signal beam.
"I'm out Hyache… it's up to you now." Flora said, ashamed of herself.
"You've got this Farron. I… believe in you." Ren said, putting all his faith in Farron.
Beedrill and Ampharos fought vigorously, until Farron realized that Ampharos had unlocked a new move through mega evolution. The dragon energy erupted around Ampharos as he called out another attack.
"Ampharos! Try this! DRAGON PULSE!" Farron commanded, as Ampharos reared its head back and unleashed a bolt of pure, dragon energy.
"No way! Beedrill look out! Try to nail him with a Venoshock!" Hyache pleaded, but it was too late.
Beedrill had take the full force of Ampharos' Dragon Pulse and fainted instantly. The battle was over.
"Farron! Ren! It's over! You won!" Acacia cheered.
"Impossible… we had this, Flora. They're so strong…." Hyache sighed.
The two gym leaders approached Farron and Ren and handed them each a gym badge that looked like a leaf, but with purplish black edges.
"Hey! You guys were awesome! We present to you the Poison Ivy Badge, symbolizing your defeated of the Blossoming Rose and the Toxic Thorn! You will need this for the next gym and of course for Victory Road! Thanks for showing us a great fight! Stop by and see us sometime!" Flora said as her and Hyache waved as they said goodbye.
That night all three of the trainers rested at the Pokecenter.
"Hey, Farron. That battle was all you, honestly. If you don't mind… I'd like to continue to travel with you. I promise I'll lighten up!" Ren pleaded.
"Ren, of course you can continue to travel with us! You're a great trainer too you know. I don't think I could have won that battle without you!" Farron told Ren sincerely.
"Was that a smile I saw, Ren? It looks nice on you. Keep doing it!" Acacia teased and the two looked happily at each other.
That night, Farron had picked up Guide to the Veral Region: Vol. 2 and noticed that a small news-clipping was attached to it.
"First Trainer Reaches the Pokemon League"
With the Veral Region being open for only about a week, the first trainer reached the Pokemon League, earning all badges up to that point. His name is Jayce and was able to challenge the League and tell us his experience.
Jayce: "I couldn't even defeat the first member of the Elite Four. He's insane. I thought I had him until he sent out his last Pokemon. I know they call him some sort of knight, but if I had a title for him, It'd be 'the One-Shot Bullet Punch'"
"Wow… the One-Shot Bullet Pun-" Farron fell asleep with the book and news article on his lap.
(I kinda like that title, 'One-Shot Bullet Punch'! And looks like Ren opened up to the others! And did you catch Eevee sparkling in the moonlight? Hmmm… she's getting friendly. And why were they searching for a Meadow Plate? What are the plates used for again…? Anyways! More updates coming soon! Oh! If you have any requests to see a certain Pokemon pop up in the story, a certain Pokemon character, or just want to tell me what you think of the story/latest chapter, feel free to PM me! -Fission)