Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
BGM: Briar's Theme (Pokemon Scarlet/Violet: The Teal Mask)
"Oh, how wonderful. You must be the substitute students that Alessandra and Cian have sent on their behalf!"
"I can't believe they got away with that…" Hiyoko mumbled.
"I don't feel qualified to be a student…" Jinx rubbed her head.
"I wonder if they have classes for ghosts." Erza wondered to herself.
"And what are your names?" Briar asked, completely oblivious to the Gravios in the room as some students warily looked at the giant beast. Jacq, meanwhile, was already doing some sketches on the monster.
"Jaune Arc."
"Nora Valkyrie~! This is my little bud, Magnhild!"
"Tinka!"
"Pyrrha Nikos." Pyrrha said quietly.
"Lie Ren, but everyone calls me Ren."
"Hiyoko Saionji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer."
"Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Photographer. This is my buddy, Basalt."
Basalt let out a friendly small roar, enough to startle some Fletchling that decided to perch on the beast.
"Jinx!"
"Erza Scarlet."
"A pleasure to meet you all!"
"Hmm… I wonder what the inside of this beast looks like." Jacq mused, taking a closer look as Basalt turned to Jacq and gave him a friendly lick. "Haha!" He laughed. "...Hmm, the saliva tastes a bit salty…" He wrote it down.
"Oh? It seems none of you possess a Tera Orb." Briar mused. "I suppose not everyone wants to Terastalize in Paldea's rich culture."
"It's kinda hard to Terastalize when Nemona takes 'em all…" Jacq scratched his head in exasperation. "What am I gonna do with that young lady?" He chuckled.
"Oh? I thought Paldea had infinite resources with Tera Orbs."
"Don't get me wrong, we do! More is being made as we speak… but the problem is…"
Some time ago…
"One for you~! One for you~! One for you~! One for you~!"
"Mail call!" A mailman called out.
"One for you! Battle me!" Nemona smiled.
"Uuuuh…" The mailman sweatdropped.
"Here you go, little fellas…" An old lady handed some bread crumbs to some Fletchling.
"One for you, ma'am!"
"Oh goodness me! How am I supposed to feed these dear Fletchling with this…?"
End flashback…
"I don't even know how she manages to get through those locks we set up…" Jacq scratched his head.
"How about using some Pokemon guards?"
"That's the thing… She gets past those Machamp and Conkelldur. Don't get me started on how she somehow gets past Golurk!"
"How interesting!" Briar smiled. "She is definitely a bright student if she gets passed even the strongest of Pokemon~"
"Smart and a blood knight… the girl's a handful." Jacq chuckled in exasperation.
Earlier, in the vault…
"Gengar…? Gen Gen!" Gengar smirked as he rose up from the shadows and pulled Nemona out.
"Thank you~!" Nemona smiled, gathering up some Tera Orbs and sinking back underground with Gengar, then they pull up near a cafe. "Here ya go!" She smiled, handing Gengar a Rare Candy.
"Gar!" Gengar smiled, both of them waving as they walked off.
The next morning…
"Kleeeff!" Klefki unlocked the vault.
"Hmhmhm…" Clavell opened it up after thanking the Klefki and saw it was empty again. "HUH?! HOW DOES SHE DO IT?!" He yelled, as the guard Pokemon were also equally confused.
Back in the present…
"Probably sneaks around with a Ghost type." Hiyoko said.
"I hope it's not a Gengar. Those things are creepy…" Jacq shuddered.
Briar smiled. "Definitely a handful. Reminds me of a few of my students back at Blueberry… oh, where are my manners? I neglected to introduce myself, I am Briar. A pleasure to meet you all. If you must know, I help run the curriculum over there in the Unova region, and I believe it is our turn to run the joint trip and supervise everyone."
Briar then chuckled. "Although, by the looks of it, you seem you are more than capable of supervising yourselves. Not to mention you don't seem to be wearing school uniforms… though, I suppose it doesn't matter, as I had heard the director lifted that policy just this morning. All because of a fashion show that I missed… such a shame too. I heard it was really fun too."
A little one sided as well… Ren thought.
"Anywho, miss Valkyrie is right. We're heading to Kitakami… a land known for its picturesque fields and rice paddies."
"Picturesque, you say…" Mahiru mused. I bet I can get a lot of great photos over there.
"It has a rustic feel to it, but there's an air of mystery to go about it. In fact, the Terastal phenomenon found here can also be found in Kitakami! I personally am doing some digging into this matter myself…"
She turned to Jacq. "Though, I would also appreciate if I could take a look into the Great Crater of Paldea…"
"Ah, there's… not much I can do without getting permission from the Pokemon League and Clavell… I'd rather not get another earful from Clavell and…" He shuddered. "Rika…"
"Oh, I'm very much aware. I've already put in the proper applications~! I trust I'll get a favorable response soon?"
"Ah… um…" Jacq scratched his head before turning to the group. "Well… I can update your Pokedex app on your phones if you'd like."
"We don't have any Pokedex app." Jaune said.
"You don't? Well, no harm then! I can easily put it into 'em." He smiled as JNPR handed their scrolls to him. "Oh, this is some unique technology. Is this the newest Applin model? The iApplin Fifteen Pro XL? I heard they were really expensive… a whopping fifteen hundred Pokedollars."
He let out a sigh. "I can't keep up with phone technology…" He said as he tapped away. "Goodness me, the technology is outrageously futuristic!"
"Hmm… I wonder if I could get my hands on this technology…" Briar mused as she curiously looked at them.
"Aaaaand you're good to go!" Jacq smiled, handing the four back their scrolls.
"Should we tell him?" Pyrrha whispered.
"Nah, let's just roll with it." Nora responded back.
"Anybody else?" Jacq asked as the others shook their heads. "Fair enough! You kids have fun!" He walked off.
"Now, before we take off… have any of you heard of the Scarlet and Violet Book? Or as I call it, the ScarVio book?"
"What's that?" Jinx asked.
"I'm so glad you asked! You see, the author of that book, Heath, was an ancestor of mine."
"Ooooh! Was he from Hisui by any chance?" Nora asked.
"Hmm… I unfortunately don't know. His place of birth is unknown… for all I know, it could have been ancient Kalos." Briar shrugged.
She then pulled out a book. "Anyway, I have his original manuscript!"
End BGM
She opened the book. "Unfortunately, there are copies that are made illegible because there are several pages marked in black ink. I feel sorry for the one who has a copy of that book…"
Meanwhile…
"I swear, some kid probably pulled a prank…" Zinnia grumbled, reading said book. "Rrrrgh… I'll decipher it somehow!"
Back with them…
"While separated from the research team in the crater's depths, I found a strange… entity. Whether it was a Pokemon, or even alive at all, I know not. It bore a shell with layers of overlapping hexagons, and gleamed brighter still than gemstone. Viewed as a whole, it resembled a mysterious, brilliant disk. I have tentatively named this creature Terapagos. I suspect that its very body is made up of the key material that causes Pokemon to shine brightly and crystalize."
Briar showed them the book.
"The Pokemon depicted on these pages is called Terapagos. It's a Pokemon that Heath allegedly encountered when he was exploring further into the depths of Area Zero… not that the general public believed him."
She then closed it and put it away.
"It's my dream to find Terapagos and prove that Heath's records were all true. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to receive permission to go in there…"
"Why not just sneak in?" Jinx pointed out.
"Hmm… there's an idea, but I'm not one for causing mischief." Briar admitted. "Still, I'll put that dream to the side for now."
"Hey Miss Briar! We're ready!" A voice said as they turned to see three random students approaching them, but they also gave Basalt the side eye and slowly backed away from the beast.
"Oh good! You're all here. Now let's head over to the airport and we'll be on our way to Kitakami!"
Once at the airport…
"Uuuuuh…" A few workers looked at the massive luggage cart that Erza left behind.
"I swear, Naranuva students pack heavier and heavier items every year."
"Forget that…" He glanced over to see Basalt managing to get inside the plane, which was enough to make the plane lift up and have its tail slam down onto the pavement, causing them to sweatdrop.
"If that plane manages to lift off, I'm gonna eat my own shoe." One of them said as they loaded up Erza's luggage.
A truck soon drove over to the plane, where several Killowattrel flew over and wrapped some rope on the front tire of the plane, as they all flew forward to get the front wheel back on the tarmac.
"I think we're a bit back heavy…" Hiyoko said, glancing at the Gravios that was sitting next to Mahiru.
Pyrrha sat down by a window, looking outside as Jaune and Erza sat next to her.
"Prepare for takeoff… if we can!"
The engines roared to life as the plane started to move slowly.
"Pilot to Air Traffic Control, we have Code Groudon in our plane."
"Copy that. We're sending reinforcements!"
Suddenly, a gigantic slingshot rose up on the runway as several Machamp and Hariyama pushed the plane into the slingshot as the Killowattrel held onto the large rubber band, while nearby, an Alakazam was Mega Evolved and used its psychic powers to keep everything steady.
"Driflooooooon!"
Several Drifloon and Drifblim went flying over and went underneath the plane, latching themselves underneath, while at the end of the runaway, a ramp rose from the ground.
"Commencing Operation Slingshot in five… four… three… two…"
A loud megaphone blared as all the Pokemon released the plane as it was slingshot through the runway, launching off of the ramp as the Drifloon family continued to give it some lift until the wind pushed them all away as the plane successfully flew off.
"...We had THAT operation?"
"Apparently! Soooo… how would you like your shoe cooked?"
"Uuuugh…"
Later…
"Air Traffic Control to Pilot, you're coming in really hot!"
"Code Groudon! I repeat! Code Groudon!"
"Copy that! Commence Operation Safety Net!"
A cannon rose up from the ground as a Ditto hopped in and was shot out of the cannon once the plane was about to land. "Dittooooooo!" Ditto cried before transforming into a gigantic brick wall as the plane slammed into it, causing the wall to be absurdly stretched out to Ditto's absolute limit… but the plane stopped, and then it fell back and landed on its tail again, right as Ditto turned back to normal.
"Ditto!"
Nora looked up from a fashion magazine that she was reading. "Oh, are we there already?"
"Seems like it, yes." Pyrrha nodded.
"Zzz… wha…? We there yet?" Hiyoko yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"We are indeed!" Briar smiled as everyone nonchalantly stood up and walked off, all the while the other students were shaking and were white knuckled in their seats before sliding off of their seats, passing out from the sheer terror.
At that moment, a bus arrived right as Erza collected her luggage. "Ah, perfect timing." She said as they walked over to it.
"Up up up! Hold up a moment. I do not allow beasts of that size in my bus." The bus driver said.
"How about on the bus?" Mahiru pointed out.
"Well, as long as it doesn't hurt anything, I suppose it wouldn't hurt…" The driver mused.
"REQUIP!" Erza yelled, immediately donning a body builder attire, which was just her in a sports bra and boxing shorts, alongside some dumbbells in her hands. She then lifted up the giant beast with the help of Nora as they put Basalt on top of the bus… which caused the roof to immediately cave in and caused the students to screech and made the bus's frame slam into the ground.
The bus driver's eye twitched as everyone else walked in nonchalantly, even Briar was completely unfazed by the huge lump inside of the bus.
"So, let's head over to Mossui~!" Briar smiled.
"If we can…" The driver groaned, mumbling a "they don't pay me enough for this" as they drove off…
Scraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaape!
…While also dragging the frame through the ground and sending sparks flying everywhere, not that it fazed anyone except for the poor Paldean students that were chosen for Kitakami.
Fifteen unusually long minutes later…
BGM: Kitakami Region (Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Teal Mask)
"And here's our stop." The driver said as everyone hopped off as the Paldean students eagerly got off and kissed the ground as Basalt hopped off with a loud thud, scaring the Yanma and Poochyena nearby.
"Thanks for the ride!" Nora waved.
The bus driver shifted gears on the bus as he tried to back up… only to completely fall apart as the frame came completely undone.
"Rrrrrgh… THAT MOTHER HUMPING SON OF A-"
"Now then~!" Briar smiled at the group, completely ignoring all the swear words that the bus driver was screaming and kicking the bus in sheer anger, pointing his finger accusingly at the Gravios.
'Welcome to Kitakami! I'm sure it's been a unique trip, but it's certainly a memorable one!" Briar said. "I've actually never been to Kitakami myself, but it's certainly beautiful! So with that, we should head over to the Community Center for-"
"Uuuugh, all of that traumatic stuff with this monster is making my stomach turn… I don't feel so well…" A student groaned.
"Oooh, this might be an issue." Briar mused. "Ah, Team JNPR, I have a request! Could you make your way to the community center and let the caretaker know we've arrived? And perhaps have their medical team check on the well being on one of our students?"
"Sure." Jaune nodded.
"Excellent!"
The group walked off.
"Yeesh, was it really that frightening?" Jinx wondered.
"Well, if you haven't flown with a Gravios, I'm sure it'd be an interesting experience." Hiyoko said. "...Wait, that reminds me, can't this big guy fly?"
Mahiru shook her head. "Considering the species is so heavy, Gravios can only fly in a very limited range."
"Ah… so Basalt wouldn't get us anywhere… fair enough!"
Mahiru whipped out her camera, taking pictures of Wooper sunbathing in the rice fields while a few Yanma hovered over them.
End BGM
As they approached Mossui Town, a young boy spotted them. "O-oh! Sis! There's a few of them now!"
"Hmm?" The girl turned around, seeing the group. "Wow, that's a lot of stude-... shoot, that's a big beast!" She stared at Basalt, letting out a low whistle before snapping out of it and ran toward the group.
BGM: Carmine's Theme (Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Teal Mask)
"Hello helloooo! You must be the students from Paldea, right?"
"Actually, we're not students from Paldea. We're just here on vacation." Jaune said. "...But uh, this one student in Paldea called us "transfer students" in her stead."
"Oh really? Whoever that student was, she's missing out… the coward."
"Coward?" Jaune raised an eyebrow.
"Never mind… but I'm not going to allow some outsiders wander around this town. If you can beat me in battle, maybe I can let you wander around."
"Sis, you just want to battle them anyway…"
"Shush, Kieran!" The girl sharply said before turning to them. "I'm Carmine… so who's ready to get their ass kicked?"
"Sis… I don't think kicking their-"
"I said shush, Kiki!"
"Aw man…" Kieran slumped, which was enough for Hiyoko and Jinx to give him a sympathetic look.
"Oh whatever, I'm going to pick who to fight in your party." Carmine pointed her finger at the group. "Eenie meeny miney-"
She pointed at Pyrrha, but paused. She looked into Pyrrha's eyes.
Why does that girl look like she's been through the wringer? She looks like she's hurting… no, putting her on the spot is a no go. I'll ask her what her story is later.
She slowly moved her finger to Ren instead.
"Moe."
"You want… me to fight you?"
"Yes. You got a name, tall, green and handsome?" Carmine asked, before blushing a bit. "Ooops, I didn't mean to say that last part aloud."
"Hey! He's MY man!" Nora glared.
Agh, I should've known that he was too cute to be true… Carmine thought.
"My name is Ren."
"Well, Ren… get into position before I'm gonna give you the ol' Kitakami welcome!"
"Very well."
End BGM
BGM: Battle! Carmine (Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Teal Mask)
Carmine slowed her breathing, closing her eyes before opening them determinedly, her pupils changing briefly.
"Let's go, sweetie!" She called out her first Pokemon, which was a Mightyena.
The Sassy, The Snarky and the Ugly - Carmine
"Racer, let's go!" Ren called out.
"Goooor!"
"An Accelgor? You don't see those very often!" Kieran said.
"Hmph, like I should be impressed by that." Carmine smirked. "Mightyena, Howl!"
"Agility!"
"Gooooor!" Accelgor shifted positions rapidly while Mightyena howled.
"Fire Fang!"
"Dodge that and use Bug Buzz!"
Mightyena's mouth lit ablaze as she lunged and chomped down on Accelgor, but in the blink of an eye, Racer disappeared. "Rawr…?" Mightyena wondered as Racer appeared above them.
"So fast…!" Carmine exclaimed in surprise.
"I've heard how fast Accelgor can be, but seeing it up close is something else!"
"Quiet, Kiki!" Carmine said. "Dodge that Bug Buzz! Quick!"
Mightyena jumped back from the Accelgor, only for it to appear by its side and produced soundwaves on it. "Raawr…!"
"Ooooh! Use Crunch!"
"Water Shuriken!"
Mighyena chomped down on the Accelgor, but Racer disappeared as Water Shurikens hit the Mightyena on her side, which was enough to finish off the Pokemon.
"Hmph." Carmine recalled the Mightyena. "Not bad…" She pulled out a second Pokeball and threw it into the air, calling out Ninetales. "Burn it with a Flamethrower!"
"U-Turn!"
"U-Turn…?" Carmine blinked as Accelgor effortlessly dodged the Flamethrower and smacked right into the Ninetales before heading back into his Pokeball, where Ren tossed another Pokeball into the air.
"Rami!" He called out, as his Intelleon appeared.
"An Intelleon?! This guy's so cool!" Kieran said.
"So he's got a secret agent… that… has water powers…." Carmine hid a grimace. "Big deal! We can boil this thing with a Will O Wisp!"
"Snipe Shot!"
"Intel…" Rami pointed his finger directly at the Will O Wisp being thrown at him. "...Leon!" He fired a shot, shooting through the dark purple fireball that canceled out and struck Ninetales in the face.
"Tales…!"
"Hang in there! Disable that damnable Snipe Shot!"
Ninetales' eyes glowed red, as a massive X slammed down on the Intelleon's head. "Intel…!" He grunted. It didn't damage him, but it was enough to give him a small migraine.
"Alright, Extrasensory!"
"Niiiiiine!" Ninetales howled as an aura of energy struck Intelleon.
"Telle…" Rami winced.
"Now we whittled you down. Flamethrower!"
"Hydro Pump!"
"...Shit." Carmine whispered as Rami pushed through the Flamethrower and struck the Ninetales, knocking the Pokemon down in an instant.
Carmine recalled the Ninetales. "Alright… let's see if you can handle this!" She smirked, pulling out her last Pokeball and tossing it up in the air. "You're up, Sinistcha!"
"Siniiii!"
"Whoa, that's a new one." Nora said, pulling out her scroll and scanning the Pokemon.
"Sinistcha, the Matcha Pokemon and the final evolved form of Poltchageist. Unremarkable form-"
"UNREMARKABLE?! That lousy…!"
"-It pretends to be tea, trying to fool people into drinking it so it can drain their life-force. Its ruse is generally unsuccessful. It prefers cool, dark places, such as the back of a shelf or the space beneath a home's floorboards. It wanders in search of prey after sunset."
Carmine started seething. "That damned Pokedex called MY beautiful Pokemon Unremarkable?! I'll show that insufferable-"
"Sis, I think it was referring to the whole counterfeit thing!"
"...Oh. Right. I knew that."
"Oooh, it says here that Sinistcha is Grass/Ghost!" Nora said.
"That thing's a Grass type? Huh, coulda fooled me." Hiyoko said.
"I can see it being a Ghost though." Jinx said with Mahiru nodding.
"That's all I needed to know." Ren said.
"Oh Sinistcha, be a dear and use Stun Spore on it!"
"Acrobatics!"
"Huh?! Scratch that! Dodge! DODGE!" Carmine yelled right as Sinistcha blew powder into Rami's face, which he front flipped over and then acrobatically flipped before somersalting into the Sinistcha.
"Cha….!"
"Giga Drain!"
Immediately, Ren recalled his Intelleon and brought Racer back out, where only a small chunk of Racer's health was taken away.
"...Of course." Carmine groaned. "Shadow Ball!"
"Dodge it and use Bug Buzz!"
Racer dodged the Shadow Ball and then unleashed Bug Buzz, which was enough to knock out the Sinistcha.
"Siiiiiin…" Sinistcha groaned.
End BGM
"You gotta be kidding me…" Carmine sighed, recalling Sinistcha.
BGM: Mossui Town (Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Teal Mask)
"Fiiiiine, I guess you guys pass… but barely. I guess you guys can stroll through Mossui Town, but maybe if you guys can become my underlings and-"
"Hey! What's all the ruckus out here!"
"Tch… here comes trouble." Carmine shook her head. "Come on, Kiki."
She ran off.
"H-Hey! Sis! Wait up!" Kieran turned to the others. "So sorry about her! She's just socially awkward!"
"KIKI!"
"Yipe!" Kieran took off after her.
"Socially awkward?" Hiyoko raised an eyebrow. "I don't buy it."
"Definitely an eccentric one…" Erza said.
"I hope she didn't give you guys too much trouble." The man said.
"I don't think she was any trouble." Ren said.
"I dunno, she was kinda looking at you all googly eyed…" Nora had her arms folded. "I got my eye on her."
"I am the caretaker. I assume that you're the students from Paldea?"
"Not exactly "Paldean students", but more… "substitute students"." Jaune explained.
"Oh? That's peculiar… I thought for sure we would have had those Alessandra and Cian folk, but I'm sure they've had their reasons. A shame that they couldn't make it though." The man said. "Anyway. I'm the caretaker of this place. A pleasure to meet you. I'll be looking after your group… though, it looks like you can look after yourselves." He chuckled.
"Oh! Speaking of which, there's a student that's not feeling so well back at the bus stop." Jaune said.
"Oh, that's not good. We'll take good care of them no problem. For now, you all just relax in the community center." He said as he looked at Basalt. "Same goes for the big fella!" He smiled as he walked off.
"Well, I guess we got some time to relax." Jaune said, smiling at Pyrrha. "After all, what's wrong with a little vacation, right?"
"Hmm… you're right." Pyrrha hummed as they walked into the community center.
A blue haired woman walked by with a Hisuian Growlithe. "Hmm?" She turned her head to see the group as Erza was helping Mahiru and Hiyoko push Basalt through the doors, where she spotted the camera wrapped around Mahiru's neck.
"Growl?"
"A fellow photographer…?" She wondered before smiling. "I wonder if she could help me out…"
*looks at Nintendo* Uh... Nintendo... what are you up to with that creepy as heck Emio thing you posted this morning?
Ibuki: Nan-chan!
Huh? Oh! Hey! The first chapter of Teal Mask is here!
Deadpool: I wonder if that plane is still functional after all that...
It'd definitely be a miracle.