While they waited, Tropius invited Rose to take a walk through the flower meadow, away from the rumors the Beedril spoke.
"Ttropius tell me, why did you defend me?" she asked him, "Aren't you afraid of human invaders?"
"It's not that," he replied, "But, as Mrs. Roselia told me, you once saved your daughter Budew, didn't you?"
"Yes, I fought alongside my other friends against the Beedril in the Nectar Meadow. Budew had only gone there for some honey, he was an innocent soul"
"And that shows the purity of yours and your companions. That is to say, you didn't know the danger you were facing (after all, it was a grass type vs. bug type), and yet, you took the risk to save a life. That's thinking about others before yourself."
Rose remembered Xerneas' words again:
"...the shadow of egocentrism begins to grow in you…"
"Xerneas told us that we are not like before…" she said to Tropius' disbelief, "I have thought a lot about fashion parades, photographs and so on after returning to the human world. I have grown up and I had forgotten many things"
"You really don't remember something? something special?"
"Well, when I was planting that seed, I remembered a special teaching from my grandmother. From when I was a child"
"So, it is not too late for you to recover your purity. Even if a soul is filled with darkness, as long as a tiny light continues to shine, it is possible to recover it"
"Who taught you that?"
Tropius stopped.
"I never had the opportunity to meet my parents, but the Flabébé, Floette and other fairy types took care of me until I learned to fly," saying this, he shook his four leaves from his back, "They taught me that beauty is not in the outside, but inside."
"Wow…" she responded. Part of her was glad that she had shared that piece of wisdom, she felt bad about Tropius's parents.
The Pokemon extended his vine to her.
"Do you want me to take you on an aerial ride?" she asked.
"No, it's not necessary, it would be too heavy," she responded.
"Don't worry, I can handle enough. Or, has no one taken you out before?"
"In my Chikorita form, I ride Latios and a Lapras. Of my friends, only two fly, I have never experienced like this one"
"You could do it now."
But, before Rose could make a decision, screams began to be heard and, the next second, a quite powerful ultrasonic noise. The two Pokémon, upon hearing that, immediately returned to the meadow garden.
Upon arriving, they found a horrible scene: several Pokémon (the vast majority Beyleef and Meganium) were lying knocked down on the ground, while the beautiful fields were quite burned and some flowers, although they had sprouted, had withered due to the negativity that was felt. Other Pokémon were fleeing the disaster.
Meanwhile, the culprit was in the air: similar to that of a gargoyle, with huge wings that were more aerodynamic in appearance, and with large ears similar to those of bats. Rose had already seen him once, he was very similar to the Noivern that Rex had faced and defeated, but this one had a whitish body: it was a Noivern Hybrid.
"How dare you cause such disgrace at a peace ceremony?!" shouted Tropius, rising into the air, to meet the enemy.
"Peace is always ephemeral, silly Pokemon," the Noivern responded, "If you don't control everything with an iron fist, there will always be war... and I understand war well... Sonic Boom!"
From its enormous ears, an explosion of sound shot out with extreme power and, although Tropius tried to protect itself with a defensive Light Screen, it shattered like fine glass and the Pokémon was shocked by the attack.
"Tropius!" Rose shouted, "Vine Whip!"
Rose caught Tropius with her vines, and lowered him to the ground. Seeing the damage, the girl calculated that it would be 3 or more times stronger than the Noivern of the past, this of course because he was actually a human undergoing experimentation and linked to Pokemon DNA. However, she had stayed on the bench that time... not this time.
"Razor Leaves!" she attacked.
But the scales of the Noivern Hybrid were much harder than any other normal one. This, added to the fact that he was not only a flying type, but also a dragon, made the battle impossible for Rose.
"I will not give up!" Rose shouted, "Energy ball!"
This didn't work either: the Hybrid grabbed it in its jaws and swallowed it like food. Rose looked cornered. From one moment to the next, the Noivern flew extremely quickly and grabbed her neck, choking her. She tried to counterattack with her vines to free herself, but he broke them with her claws.
"Why are you doing this?" Rose asked in her captivity, "They are innocent and have done nothing to you."
"You don't understand, do you?" The Hybrid responded, "I am willing for our leader to reestablish the ancient order of our government in all worlds, starting with this one."
"So that he continues to commit atrocities and injustices?"
"Sonic Boom!"
The evil enemy had been annoyed by Rose's questions, so he attacked her even though she had no defense against her.
"Your term of justice is based on peace and morality, like this pathetic field of flowers, but this can change…"
Saying so, he set fire to more of the fields with Dragon Breath.
"Maybe this field will burn, but from the ashes, another may arise one day," the cursed continued, "Just like our proposed justice: it will look horrible in the eyes of others, but in the future, it will be an act of beauty and purity"
"You guys are crazy! Your government of purity is nothing more than a mask of lies to cover the horribleness of their hearts!"
These words made the Hybrid angry, which began to scratch its prey with its claws. Rose couldn't do anything to defend herself against her. After having enough, he threw the injured Meganium into the destroyed field. Rose, still, tried to stand up. While she did so she found something curious: she had fallen next to her bud, but this was still a bud that had yet to bloom.
"Now die to advance our purification!" Noivern shouted, "Dragon Pulse!"
Rose didn't have enough strength to move and she almost received the blow. But at the last second, Tropius stepped in and took the attack squarely, then collapsed next to Rose's flower.
"Rose…" he managed to whisper before passing out.
"Tropius…" Rose said, crying because she thought that he was dead. Then she, with tears in her eyes, directed her gaze towards the enemy, "You only like to make others suffer... and I am not going to allow you to continue doing this..."
While the Hybrid smiled at the suffering of his enemy, the tear of the chosen girl ran towards to her bud. At the same time, Rose's medallion began to glow. Finally, when the tear touched the bud, the flower opened its petals and a miraculous glow emerged from them, thus revealing the key.
Instantly, it fused with the plant symbol on Rose's chest, and both entered the Pokephone. In this whole process, the miraculous power had radiated a small area around her, thus causing the partial restoration of the meadow. The girl, she knew that she had gotten what she had come for.
"Time to Mega Evolve!" she shouted, holding the device up to her.
The glow of the Pokephone merged with that of the emblem and shone on Rose, thus allowing a new change.
"Meganium mega evolves into… Mega Meganium!"
Rose's change was magnificent and evident, her stamens had lengthened and six petals protruded from her back, like the leaves of Tropius, which gave her (obviously) the same ability to fly. Looking at her new form, Rose felt amazed, but unconsciously her body had adapted and lifted off the ground.
"Can I fly?" she wondered, looking more closely at her petal wings.
"Maybe…" the Hybrid said, "Let's see what you've got… Sonic Boom!"
Again, the enemy launched its powerful sound wave, with which Rose responded using her previous move, Light Screen, only this time, she surrounded herself with a field of light energy that protected her from that attack, it was so resistant. like an iron wall.
"My turn…" she declared, "Spring dew!"
Her petals turned a deep pink color and, from her petals, a ball of energy of the same color shot out. Thinking that this would be useless because it was a dragon/flying type, the Hybrid did not move a muscle, which would be a serious mistake: upon impact, this energy burned like lava and was overcome in a single second.
"How...?" he asked, looking at the burns on his body.
"Because that attack is not only plant type, but also fairy type," Rose explained, "Furthermore, your soul is so stained with impure acts that it cannot resist the positive energy of my attacks."
"Even so… I will kill you!" he yelled enraged, launching himself to attack with a Shadow Claw.
But, with her newfound ability to fly, Rose easily dodged the Hybrid's attack and subsequent ones. She had seen Luke and Rex fly so many times that she was beginning to understand the concept, she just needed to try it. Fed up with all the mockery that the girl made of him, the enemy pointed to the meadow.
"If I can't destroy you, I will at least destroy this useless place," he shouted, "Dragon Pulse!"
Rose quickly descended to the ground, next to Tropius. She couldn't allow him to destroy that beautiful place. Then she, using the power of nature, perceived with her stamens all the vital energy of the meadow and its inhabitants, which made it glow slightly emerald green.
"Mega Energy Ball!" she attacked her, launching an Energy Ball out of her mouth.
But it wasn't just any attack: she grew bigger and bigger every millisecond since he had been expelled. When she collided with the enemy's attack, this positive energy ended up engulfing the negative and growing to the size of an asteroid. The Noivern couldn't believe what had happened and all she could see before it disappeared was the large sphere full of purity.
As soon as the enemy was erased from existence, the energy exploded, releasing a glow that covered the meadow. It was like a miraculous rain that washed away the ashes, covered the earth with grass, resurrected the plants and made new ones sprout. Likewise, he healed the wounded and filled them with energy. Rose approached Tropius.
"Ttropius, are you okay?" she asked him.
He opened his eyes and responded, "I told you I was tough, right?"
Rose laughed happily and helped him up.
(Later...)
"And the winner of the most beautiful flower ceremony is... Rose!" Tropius declared, handing a bouquet of flowers to Rose (she had already reverted to his Ultra form).
Several of those present shouted for joy, including the Beedril, who corrected their thinking and believed that if they defeated the invaders, their nectar meadow would also be resurrected.
(A few minutes later...)
As everyone continued with the spring ceremony, Rose said goodbye to Roselia and Budew again.
"See you later, Miss Rose," little Budew said goodbye.
"We will always trust the chosen children," Roselia added.
"Thank you very much…" Rose replied, "We will do everything for you, so that you can return to your peaceful lives once and for all."
"No doubt they will," Tropius commented, approaching Rose, "Thank you for restoring peace here."
"Thank you for teaching me the meaning of inner beauty, I will always be grateful"
Tropius took Rose's vines again in his own and, like a gentleman, kissed it as if it were her hand.
"I hope that one day we will meet again," he told her, "The meadow is always open for the flower that brings life."
Rose blushed at that. When they had said goodbye, she returned the way she had come, bound to meet her friends.