(AN: The update is finally here! This chapter is a bit lighter than the others in terms of content, not much action, but a lot of important information here! Once again, I'd like to thank Rafe_Uzukami for editing and all his great input! Enjoy the next chapter!)
Pokemon Veral Region Chronicles
Chapter 5: Plated Curiosity
Chrysanthia Town- 2079
"Farron! How are you? I barely have any time to talk nowadays with all these trainers knocking on my door. Too much hype for the Veral Region challenge I guess." Elesa said as her face lit up with joy.
"Hey baby. I've been busy here too!" Farron exclaimed as he showed her his Poison Ivy badge "Second gym down!"
"Wow! That badge is so pretty!" Elesa smiled.
"Yeah. It was a tough fight. Grass and Poison type gym leaders" Farron said and continued to explain the battle style.
"You know, I heard that someone already made it to the Pokemon League. He couldn't beat the first Elite Four member. They say it was a one Pokemon sweep. Kept his whole team together until the last Pokemon." Elesa told Farron.
"I was just reading about that. I'm kinda nervous for the Pokemon League now." Farron went on.
Meanwhile, Ren sat up in his room, researching something on his PokeGear.
"Hey, whatcha up to?" Acacia said, walking into his room.
"Yo. I've been searching for information on the Meadow Plate. You know? That item Team Nova attacked Flora for. I honestly can't find much. All sources say it only powers up the attack of Grass type Pokemon. Nothing more. I don't think it's even that powerful from what I've seen online." Ren said, puzzled by the event.
"Hm. I guess I'm kinda curious as well, about the Meadow Plate. You know… I've been thinking about something else also…" Acacia said, her face turning a reddish color.
"And what is tha-" Ren interrupted himself after discovering something "Hold that thought! There's a library in this town! I want to get to the bottom of this… you'll come with me, won't you?"
"Oh… sure! It's near the gym, I think." Acacia said awkwardly, as she and Ren walked downstairs to the first floor of the Pokemon Center.
Farron had just hung up with Elesa and ran into those two while proceeding up the stairs.
"Yo! We're going to the library, coming?" Ren asked.
The three trainers found the library across town. Farron was filled in about the reason for their visit along the way. He too thought it would be a good idea to learn about Team Nova's interest in the Meadow Plate. They approached a librarian about the subject, but it was of no use. Even the librarian, keeper of knowledge, expert on every book in the building, was not familiar with the item. In this case, Ren decided not to give up his search. He spent hours skimming through books, with Farron and Acacia's help of course, until he came across a dusty book about mining.
"Canalave Mining Excursions. Items Under the Earth."
"No way! Look at the list of items that have been discovered underground! Fossils, shards, and PLATES!" Ren exclaimed.
"Let me see that. I'm a fast reader, haha." Acacia skimmed the book, flipping pages vigorously "Here!"
A torn page revealed a picture of a group of ash-covered miners. Four adult men and one boy, about sixteen years old at the time, stood with shovels in their hands holding up a rectangular slab about three inches thick and 7 inches wide.
"Woah! I used to date that kid!" Acacia said, pointing to the boy.
Ren and Farron's faces stared blankly at Acacia, then back at the boy. Farron almost burst out with laughter.
"What's so funny?" Acacia asked, with a serious face.
"Um… you used to date Byron? The steel type gym leader from Canalave City? Isn't he about fifty years old?" Ren said, starting to laugh.
Acacia's face turned bright red as she yelled out "NO! NOT BYRON! I SWEAR HE LOOKS LIKE ROARK IN THAT PICTURE! Roark. I used to date Roark… not his dad. Dear Arceus…"
She then noticed that this picture was taken about forty years in the past, when Byron was a young boy. Ren and Farron were still laughing their asses off, enjoying Acacia's frustrated demeanor. Finally they all came back to read the information within the text.
A most recent discovery underneath the Sinnoh region turned up an elemental plate. On the reverse side of each plate was an odd, mythological description. One depicts a branching off of two beings that shape time and space and another mentions that a shard from the creation of the universe was embedded within the plate. In total, seventeen plates were extracted from the mining grounds, each representing a different Pokemon type. Ties to the legendary Lake Guardians as well as the rulers of time, space, and the void are speculated, but no information on what is called 'the Original One' has been brought forth. It has been reported that the plates will glow within a close radius of the Spear Pillar, but all seventeen plates have not yet been united in one place.
"Interesting. They originate in the Sinnoh region. So it seems they may have a relation to Dialga and Palkia, but those two haven't been seen since the void was cracked open in 2008." Ren pondered.
"I hate this! More questions than answers!" Acacia cried.
"Yeah I wish I could talk to one of those miners… wait." Ren and Farron both turned to look at Acacia.
Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Connecting. "Hey, long time no talk, Acacia! What's up?" a boy wearing a miner's hat, about the same age as Acacia, said through a PC screen.
"Roark! I have a favor to ask you… would you mind spending a day in the Veral Region? For me?" Acacia begged.
"Sure I have time to, but is there any particular reason?" Roark asked, surprised at this out-of-the-blue request.
"I'll explain when you're here, but it's important. Oh and we're at Chrysanthia Town by the way." Acacia said.
"Ok, I'll be there. See ya." Roark replied before signing off.
The next day, Acacia, Farron, and Ren met up with Roark, the Rock type gym leader from Oreburgh City, at a small café on the edge of Chrysanthia Town.
"Hey!" Acacia shouted as she ran up and hugged her ex-boyfriend.
Farron noticed that Ren was a bit red in the face, but didn't bother mentioning it. Roark introduced himself to the other two trainers and he sat down at their table. Acacia got up to fetch some coffee and snacks, while Ren began to ask Roark about the elemental plates.
"We found this book at the library" Ren went on "it said something about your father discovering a stone slab with an inscription engraved into it below Canalave City. Do you happen to know anything more about what the plates symbolize? You probably know more about Sinnoh than the rest of us."
"Yeah, I was with my dad when we found another plate in the Kalos Region. By that time sixteen of them had already been dug up. Various trainers mined them, not us, we only found two of the plates." Roark explained as he lifted one out of his bag, while Farron and Ren gazed in awe "This is one of them. My father gave it to me to power up my rock-type Pokemon. It's called the Stone Plate. It actually doesn't seem to provide much strength towards my Pokemon, but I've heard some trainers say otherwise."
"That's one of the plates? It's very plain looking, but do you mind if I turn it over?" Ren asked.
Roark passed it to Ren and he read the inscription.
"The Original One breathed alone before the universe came"
"That's the inscription we found in the mining book! This must have been the first plate to be discovered then, right?" Farron asked eagerly
"It was. I've done a fair bit of research about the origin of these plates, but with that being said, I never found out who… or what the Original One was." Roark told the two as Acacia sat back down next to him "Aside from what you already know, I can tell you that the Draco, Iron, and Splash Plates all had a similar inscription, speaking of time and space. That's an obvious link to Dialga and Palkia, Pokemon that essentially shaped the world. While neither of them are known to actually create life itself, the Original One must have been their creator, wouldn't you say?"
"Interesting… so, next question is, why would Team Nova want their hands on these plates?" Acacia asked Roark.
"The real question is why WOULDN'T an evil syndicate want their hands on these plates. They're full of mystery and have strong ties to legendary Pokemon, possibly one that can create life itself?" Roark answered "If these end up in the wrong hands, who knows what kind of chaos that could bring. I need to head back to Oreburgh, but I'd like to refer you to someone. His name Elder Genome, a close friend of my father's, albeit he's an older man, so it might take a visual for him to give you an explanation. The man loves to tell stories, especially about legendary Pokemon. Some even say he has encountered more legendary Pokemon than any other trainer amongst the seven regions. Genome lives in Nox Town, a ways off the normal route. If you wish to pursue this then it might take some time and you might need to put your gym battling on hold. Could be worth it, who knows?"
"Thanks for the lead! We'll follow up on it for sure, right Farron? Ren?" Acacia questioned, as the two nodded their heads.
"Oh. I'm leaving this with you. Don't tell my father, haha." Roark said as he handed Farron the Stone Plate "Present this to Elder Genome and he should know I sent you plus, you might find a better use for it than me. Take care you guys. Bye Acacia" Roark smiled and flew away on his Aerodactyl.
Without hesitation, the other three trainers made their way to the PokeCenter, so that they could prepare for the journey to Nox Town. Farron decided not to switch out his party this time, since there shouldn't be any intense battles along the way.
"Hey Eevee! Why don't you hang out on my shoulder!" Acacia called out to the cute Pokemon "I think it's important to bond with her. She's been very friendly lately!"
"Along the way, maybe you should battle a few wild Pokemon with Eevee and Turtwig!" Farron suggested to Acacia.
"I think I will!" Acacia smiled.
The group made their way onto Route 716, a lush, green path with a ton of wild Pokemon.
"Yo. Acacia. Battle that Flabebe over there!" Ren said while pointing to the fairy Pokemon.
"Alright! I'll use Turtwig this time!" Acacia announced as she threw out her Pokemon "Turtwig goooo! Use Razor Leaf, since Flabebe's special defense should be pretty low!"
The Razor Leaf attack did a significant amount of damage, as Acacia predicted. Flabebe tackled Turtwig, which sent the Tiny Leaf Pokemon backwards a bit, but it seemed to do very little damage.
"Alright lets see if you can finish it off with a Tackle!" Acacia tested.
Turtwig slammed the Fairy Pokemon with his full force and the Tackle did, in fact, defeat the Flabebe.
"Yay! Good job Turtwig!" Acacia squealed as she lifted up her Turtwig to pet him. But then she caught sight of a Bidoof off to the side, "Eevee you're up next!"
Acacia sent out her Eevee to fight the Bidoof who became startled at the sudden hostility.
"Eevee use Sand-Attack to blind him!" Acacia commanded as Eevee tossed sand in Bidoof's eyes "Got him!"
Bidoof ran at Eevee with a Tackle, but it missed by a long shot.
"Alright! Bite him! Finish this!" Acacia yelled as Eevee landed the final blow "Nicely done Eevee!"
Eevee started to sparkle a bit after the battle as she nuzzled up to Acacia's leg. Either it's the fact that she's shiny or something else…. Anyways Acacia grew a little battle hungry along the way which resulted in her attacking every Pokemon she saw with Eevee and Turtwig for the next 15 minutes.
"Hey calm down a bit! Give your Pokemon a rest will ya!" Ren said to Acacia.
"Yeah you're getting a little crazy there…" Farron sighed.
"Haha… maybe just… one last… battle… Turtwig use… Razor Leaf" Acacia said, almost falling over from her exhaustion and constant commands towards her Pokemon.
Turtwig was equally exhausted and mustered up one last Razor Leaf before practically collapsing. This move caused yet another Bidoof to faint.
"Good job… ugh." Acacia said quietly.
She walked over to her Turtwig, prepared to return him to his pokeball, but the Turtwig would not return. He just stared at Acacia, eye to eye, as a white light enveloped the turtle-like Pokemon.
"Is it…? No way!" Farron gasped.
"Um Acacia, what level is your Turtwig currently?" Ren speculated.
Meanwhile at Chrysanthia Town Gym
"Flora, you need to hide it. Remember what Wel said? Of course we can trust Farron, but just listen to me, please?" Hyache whispered.
"They'll be back won't they? Farron is strong! He can help us!" Flora pleaded silently.
"I'm sure he will. Everyone predicts he will be the one to make it through the Elite Four. Just do as I say and if not for me, do it for Wel. The man trusts you. Take it as a compliment and hide it!" Hyache demanded.
"Ok. I promise I will. But if they come back… let's be ready." Flora insisted, gripping a pokeball, probably holding Venusaur, very tightly.
Far Away from the Veral Region
"Ah, I found it! Finally! Damn rock…" a red-headed girl said to herself while lifting up a bright orange stone, seemingly forged from pure magma, from the center of a mountain.
(Three cliffhangers? C'mon! Well… it looks like someone found what I was looking for! Hehehehe. Anyways! Don't forget to review, favorite, and follow! Skarmory, take me outta here! -Fission)