Chapter 4: You Picked a Real Bad Time

Ilex Forest... Venusaurtwo thought to himself as he chewed on some berries he had gathered. He had heard of this place sometimes, when Pokémon flying over Mt. Quena would mention it. He had wondered why Pokémon would discuss it the way they did. He hoped to find out sometime while he was here. Though, he had only landed here about ten or so minutes ago and he didn't expect answers to his questions immediately.

After he finished his dinner, Venusaurtwo got up and began to walk over to the lake for a drink. When he got there, he stared at his reflection. If only there were some way I could clear my skin of these stripes... he thought. All of the other clones were born looking completely identical to their originals. He, Blastoisetwo, and Charizardtwo were the only exceptions. He didn't know how they were going to get along with such dead giveaways that something about them was different. The only other Pokémon he could think of who could potentially find themselves in an awkward scenario were Nidoqueentwo and Rhyhorntwo, what with them becoming parents two Nidoqueen babies, which they would definitely get attention for. He also recalled hearing at some point that normal Nidoqueen are also completely incapable of breeding, so there was also that to worry about. Then again, Team Rocket didn't seem to notice, but still.

Venusaurtwo finally drank and began to look for a place to rest. Eventually, after wandering around for about fifteen minutes, he found a nice, large grove. This ought to do, for now at least. He laid down and began to doze off under the moon, feeling it cast its lovely, ivory glow over him like a bed of sleek, shimmering snow over open fields. Feeling a little bit of mental comfort, he smiled a small smile and fell asleep.

He awoke the next morning to a stampede of forest Pokémon yelling and fleeing. Venusaurtwo looked around to try to find the source of the disturbance when he heard some Pokémon yelling about how "they were about to be captured" by these "evil people" who were supposedly coming. Venusaurtwo had already had enough of "evil people," so he figured that he would investigate. His heightened strength that he was given at "birth" would come in handy here.

He soon saw three people, each riding some kind of vehicle that they were balancing on two wheels. They were wearing all grey clothes and wore sunglasses. Around their necks, they wore scarves that blew around behind them, and were as dark as the night sky. They were making quite the unruly ruckus, and they were throwing Poké Balls everywhere, trying to catch the wild Pokémon in the forest. Venusaurtwo decided that it was time to step in. He didn't know what these people were up to, but he didn't like it and he wasn't going to let it continue.

"Haha, these little ones won't be missed too much, they'll do well for him," said one of the people, a man.

"Indeed, and there's a plentiful amount of them," said a woman. "How're the teams in Dark Cave and on Route 41 doing?"

The third person, another woman, replied, "they just radioed in and they're doing fine."

"Excellent," said the first woman. "Looks like we have what we need here from Ilex Forest. Let's get outta here before anyone else comes through her-"

"Saauurrr!!" The three humans heard a loud roar behind them which caused the second woman to loose her balance and fall to the ground. They turned to see a very angry looking Venusaur with its vines out, ready to attack.

"What's this we have here?" The man yelled. "A wild Venusaur! What's with those stripes?"

"We can find out later, once we catch it and bring it back!" Yelled the first woman. "Go, Fearow!" She threw a Poké Ball and a Fearow came out, ready to fight. "Use Drill Peck!" The Fearow obeyed and flew towards Venusaurtwo at great speed.

Big mistake, humans, Venusaurtwo thought as he readied his vines. "Vine Whip!" He threw his vines forwards and wrapped them around Fearow just as it was about to land its attack. He then hurled the Pokémon into a nearby tree and then used Poison Powder to whittle the last of its health down. He then saw a dark blueish Pokémon race towards him and he suddenly felt the cold of ice as he punched in the face. The punch wasn't too painful, but the cold was rather unappreciated. He looked up and saw this new Pokémon get ready to attack again.

"Sneasel! Use Slash!" The second woman commanded as the Poké Ball she had thrown to release the Pokémon fell back into her hand. The Sneasel's claws started to glow, and it rushed towards Venusaurtwo and gave him a slash across the face before he could react. He had to admit, that one actually hurt a decent amount. "It's gonna take a lot more than that beat me, Sneaser, or whatever your name is," he said as he got ready to use Razor Leaf.

"It's Sneasel, and in case you didn't notice, you're at a type disadvantage, Stripey!" She then got ready to throw another Ice Punch, but was taken by surprise when she was hit with a barrage of sharp leaves. She was then wrapped with vines and thrown against another tree.

"Was I supposed to know I was at a disadvantage? I've never seen a Pokémon like you before," he said to himself as he readied himself for the next Pokémon. But, it never came. Venusaurtwo looked towards the man waiting for him to send out his Pokémon. But he only looked towards his cohorts and got ready to leave.

"This Venusaur is too strong, my Swampert doesn't stand a chance. Let's just leave it." He hopped on his vehicle and started it before saying, "We'll come back for it another time when we get stronger Pokémon...I can see that this Venusaur is something else." With that, the other two started their vehicles and zoomed off.

"'Venusaur...' that's a name I'll have to get used to..." he muttered to himself under his breath as he tried to process what had just happened. He began to walk, in no particular direction. He looked around, observing the sunlight shining through to trees as Pokémon began to come out from hiding, looking to see if those humans were gone. Venusaurtwo began to talk to himself, "what did they want? They didn't look like people from Team Rocket. Though, they sure did act rather similar to them..."

"That, they did." A female voice spoke behind him. Venusaurtwo looked around and saw a purple Pokémon with large ears and what appeared to be a gem in her forehead. "But, trust me...they're an even bigger nuisance than Team Rocket could ever hope to be..." she approached Venusaurtwo and tried to not appear hostile. "Hi, I'm Espeon. I promise I'm not here to hurt you, it was them I was after."

"Venusaur," Venusaurtwo greeted back, feeling weird about calling himself that, "and you were after them?"

"Yes, they're a team with some pretty despicable goals and I was chasing them hoping to stop those ones." She looked at Venusaurtwo. "But, you already did my job for me here, it looks like. Thanks."

"No problem," Venusaurtwo responded proudly, "I've had my share of humans with malicious goals, so I wasn't about to let them get away with whatever it was they were doing."

"Yes...but, do you know what they are doing, and why?" Espeon asked him. He shook his head. "I didn't think so, but it's something truly unsavory. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go see if they've gone anywhere else. Good day, Venusaur."

As Espeon was walking away, Venusaurtwo stopped her when he said, "wait, I heard them say that there were some others at some place called 'Dark Cave'. And, also Route 41, I think."

Espeon turned back and looked back at him. "Oh? Well, I'll go check out Dark Cave. Thanks for letting me know." She began to walk away again when she heard footsteps behind her.

"If you don't mind..I'd like to help you." Venusaurtwo didn't want to let any more Pokémon be wronged by humans. "I'm really strong, and I don't want to see any more Pokémon harmed by the human's hand. I want to help protect them. I can help you."

Espeon looked at him for a moment and shook her head. "No," she said, "you don't want to get involved with this. These people are just..." she sighed, then said, "you really don't want to mess with them anymore." She started to walk again. "Just keep an eye out if they come back here. They might, considering how many Pokémon live here."

But Venusaurtwo would not take "no" for an answer. "I insist. Trust me, I've seen what humans are capable of when they really want to use and harm Pokémon. I've seen what humans who only care about using Pokémon for themselves are like. And I'm not going to let it continue." He stared into Espeon's eyes. He wanted to let her know that he was serious.

She eventually sighed again. "Very well, if you truly wish to stop these people, come with me. But, we haven't much time. I'll tell you more about them along the way. Let's go, Venusaur."

He smiled and began to walk behind her. "I'm ready. Thank you, Espeon. And don't worry, I'll do what I can." I, Venusaur, not Venusaurtwo, will do what I can for these Pokémon. This strength will come in real handy, now.