Hello once more you glorious readers! Welcome back to another chapter of the Remnant Region.

Last time we left off, our new trainer little Ruby finally passed her test and is now allowed to travel around, collect badges, and have the privilege to try and compete in the Ozmandis League.

With her good old Yamper and new addition Budew at her side, she's ready to get going. However, her big sis Yang is near Ansel Town picking up a few things, along with something... personal that will be important later on.

But now we come back to Jaune and how he has been doing for the couple of years that he had been with his little buddy Aron. How will he fair out in the great world of Pokémon?

We'll find out now!

Also one last thing, I will be wondering for names for later companions for our heroes, but I think the first couple of Pokémon will be relegated to what I put down.

But enough of my talk, we will see what happens now to our favorite male blonde.

I don't own RWBY or Pokémon, as they belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 4: Testing Your Metal

It was late afternoon in the forests near the Arc ranch as the sun was beginning to set into an early evening sunset. Jaune walked past the fences towards a certain location deep in the woods on the outskirts of the ranch where certain wild mon's roam without worry of capture or of being poached.

He saw Pokémon aplenty around the area, wild Grass types and Bug types lining the forest, with some Flying types going from branch to branch to brace and scout the area.

A couple of minutes later, he makes it to a familiar sight that he's been to time and time again. The clearing had a couple of big rocks that were sturdy and dark brown with dying leaves falling sometimes thanks to the wind.

The area definitely had some usage as some of the rocks had deep furrowing marks, one of a claw marking the sturdy rocks. The trees had the same kind of claw marks on the trunks, along with some what appeared to be bash marks low on the tree that had heavy rings on the side to show some trauma on the withered trees. Those trees were lucky to be standing compared to the numerous amount of tree trunks that had littered the area, splintered wood around that area to show the leftovers of what used to be there.

While this large clearing would seem pointless to some Pokémon and others alike to Jaune and his best friend it was something else, something more important to both of them as the years went by...

This place... this was his and Aron's secret training ground, a place that held his dream of becoming the best trainer that he could ever be with his best friend. All the blood, sweat, and tears that both trainer and Pokémon went through together.

All of the work started somewhere and for both Jaune and his little Aron, it would be the beginning here. Jaune couldn't help but chuckle at all.

When he'd made it as a big-time trainer, the blonde would always remember this place as their origins, where it was all his genius that got both of them to the top.

No... that wasn't right. The youngest Arc had to give all the credit to his little pal as well. The scrappy Aron fought like he was a ten-foot Tyranitar, training like a Machamp on Pokeblock steroids to become a P-1 Grand Pre-Champion.

His little buddy was one heck of a trooper, his determination was rock solid. Whenever Jaune asked his friend if he wanted to become a battler the little guy practically jumped at the chance of wanting to fight others. It made him happy that one of his closest friends wanted to support him as he gave it all when it came to practicing his moves, putting them both on a schedule every time he got off from taking care of the Ranch Pokémon.

All for his dream... The dream of becoming one of the best trainers and Pokémon duo in the Ozmandis League. Jaune felt ambitious about it all but with his spunky armored friend, he had a feeling that they would reach that goal.

Tonight was their first step, the day that they finally stepped out of the shadows and toward a new dawn, the beginning chapter of their new lives.

"Come on out buddy." Holding the Premier Ball in his hand, letting the Steel type out of the ball.

"Ar!" The Iron Armored Pokémon called out happily to Jaune. The blond took a knee and started petting the little guy, the small guy leaning into his affectionate hand as usual when he petted him.

"This is it pal. We're gonna be in our first official Pokémon battle against Jade. We have an uphill battle against her and Petal, and Dad's going to be watching and judging us to see how we match up." Jaune is feeling a tad nervous about it all.

But soon the lad got himself back together, looking proudly at Aron's blue orbs. "So... let's do our best to win this fight!" He said with confidence booming in his voice.

"Arrrooooon!" The steel type let out a cry of competition. Jaune could only laugh at his little friend's enthusiasm.

"But first... let's get some last-minute practice before we go alright bud?" Jaune pointed towards the tree with claw marks. "It's the only way we will get better as a team."

"Aron." The Armor Pokémon responded with a nod.

"Alright Aron, let's start out strong. Use Headbutt!"

The little steel-type did as he commanded. Running full speed towards the tree with its head down and lunging forward.

'BANG'

The tree felt the shockwave of little Aron's attack, the wood cracking from the blow and

tree shook from the force.

"Nice looking Headbutt, now hit that tree again with Metal Claw!"

The Pokémon let out a cry, as his arms turned a metallic color, jumping up and slashing at the offending object.

A glow of silver came as the bark of the dead tree was easily taken off, as two more claw marks joined the bottom of the tree, with Aron jumping back with a glare at the bottom of the wood.

"Good job!" Jaune praised. The blonde then got out some decent-sized rocks that he had gathered up. "Now let's work on your defense, let's start off with Harden." Tossing the rock up and down in his hand.

"Ready buddy?" Aron gave the blond cry to signify he was ready. "Alright! Here it comes!" The blonde called out as the rock in his hand went towards the Steel type, throwing the object as the piece of stone sailed towards his command given, Aron wasted no time as he saw the rock coming at him quickly. The little guy's body gleamed white and stiffened up. This shows that he used the move to increase his defensive power.

When the rock made contact with Aron, the little piece of stone crumbled on impact, and the rock was no match for the Iron Pokémon's strong body.

"Great work! Now let's keep up the Harden, alright Aron. Also, try to dodge them if you can as well." Jaune said as he continued to throw little stones at the little fella, a bit faster this time around.

He smiled as he saw his partner try his best to be speedy, but unfortunately, it was a failing effort. He had to give to his friend the first couple of rocks he dodged out of the way. But as he continued to dodge, the rocks kept hitting his head to show that Aron wasn't fast enough to dodge everything.

But that was ok for him, the blonde did tell him to continue using Harden while he did and with that, his friend barely felt the rocks hurt him at all as they were shattering across his metallic face as continued to use the move.

"Amazing job buddy!" Jaune couldn't help but praise his friend's good work.

"Aron!" He called out happily.

Jaune then looked towards the sun, noticing that they didn't have too much time left until the battle so they needed to work on the last two moves that his friend knew.

"Ok Aron, we need to work on your newest technique that you have learned from all our training." Jaune said as he picked up another rock, "Ready?"

"Ar!"

"Ok!" With that said, Jaune launched the rock at his partner.

"Aron! Use Protect!"

In seconds, Aron slammed his little arms into the ground and cried out. When the rock got close to the little Pokémon, it was quickly stopped and bounced off as a green bubble-like forcefield was in front of Aron's body. After a couple of seconds, the bubble was gone, and the little Pokémon was unharmed.

"Excellent work!" Jaune said, clapping his hands and looking at the rock full of claw marks. "Now, we use our final move." Jaune got a serious look on his face.

"Aron." The little guy nodded its head, looking towards the rock, scratching the ground to get ready.

"We've practiced this move tons of time. It's time to show the fruits of your labor." Jaune pointed towards the rock. "Aron, use Head Smash!"

The loud shout of the Armor Pokémon was heard as it charged with abandon towards the offending large rock in the ground. A blue aura was all around the charging freight train that was Aron. His friend was like a giant blue fireball, on a collision course with the imposing rock that was much larger than his own body.

When Aron hit the object, the impact didn't just split the rock into two.

No...the stone exploded into pieces, the rock was now turned into nothing but a few pebbles here and there, with dust clouds surrounding their little training area.

"'Cough Cough' Aron? Where are you, buddy?" Jaune called out, worried for his friend.

However, his concern was misplaced as he heard his friend call out enthusiastically, "Ar!" He heard his friend call from the dust, and the clouds quickly parted to see Aron. His steel-covered friend gave out a happy smile with some pep in his step, showing Jaune that he had taken no recoil damage or any sign of him being injured.

The same could not be said about the rock Aron attacked.

The previous formation was nothing more than a bunch of pebbles on the ground, completely destroyed thanks to the powerful Rock Type move that his little Aron displayed.

Jaune couldn't help but be proud of his headstrong companion, he'd worked so hard on trying to use that attack after they met, and when they first worked on the powerful move he had some trouble controlling himself.

But after years of training over and over on his technique, form, and repetition of the hard work they both put in, the little guy finally could give off one of the strongest attacks in the Rock Typing family.

"Good to see that you're alright." Jaune said, petting his head and his friend giving a happy cry, "That was one of the best Head Smash attacks you've ever done buddy." Jaune motioned toward the rocks, which Aron quickly trotted over to sniff. After a few seconds, the little guy opened his mouth and started eating the little pebbles as he could taste the little minerals that tasted delicious for his kind.

"Hehe... guess you were hungry after all that huh?" Aron could only nod towards his trainer as he continued to eat the rest of the rocks. Jaune looked up into the sky with a determined look on his face, his smile was one of confidence as he just had a feeling.

"Today is the day." Jaune pointed to the purplish sky. "Today I am going to make my dream come true. Watch out Jade because I'm coming for that win!" Jaune's fingerless glove flexed as he made a fist.

"Today I'm going to become one of the greatest Pokémon trainers of Remnant, best believe that!" He announced out loud.

"Aron!" The little Pokémon hopped up in agreement.

"Alright bud, let's go back to the ranch and get some chow," Jane said to the small Steel Type. "We are gonna need to pull out all stops for this one." With that said he began his walk back home and his friend walking next to him.

He heard from his folks that his oldest sister Jade was making dinner tonight, and from what he heard from his mother his Pokémon Ranger sibling was cooking up her famous Corned Beef Stew that she rarely made during the Fall season.

Jaune couldn't help but salivate just a bit from the thought of Jade's Corned Beef Stew, all of his other sisters and himself couldn't help but agree that Jade's stew was extremely tasty.

Growwwlllll

Suddenly Jaune grabbed his core area as he felt a certain familiar pain that came with an empty stomach. "Ugh... guess my body knows it's time to eat," Jaune asked out loud, only to feel another rumbling coming to his stomach.

"Jeez, guess it's time to stuff my face." His fast walk turned into a jog, seeing his house in the distance after passing all of the grazing field Pokémon next to the reinforced fences. The blonde couldn't help but smile as he saw some of the more active agile Pokémon that the ranch held, A couple of Dodrio and Doduo running around the open grass, with some Tauros and Miltank grazing with each other in peace as they tried to relax in the setting sun.

"What's even better is that since the others aren't here, that means I can get seconds without having to fight them for the stew." He could only chuckle happily at this opportunity. The only sister that was still living at the Ranch at the moment was Jade as his other older siblings were out in the world of Remnant.

Oh well, their loss... more Corned Beef Stew for him!

(The Arc Ranch House, One hour later)

The dining room was definitely more silent today thanks to the lack of the other Arc sisters that weren't there. Though the sound of spoons was active as Jaune ate his sister's delicious stew with gusto."Mmmmh, you've definitely outdone yourself, sweetie." Nicholas complimented, eating a buttered roll after taking a good spoonful of the beefy broth on his tongue. "I know the others will be jealous of missing this dinner, especially Cyan." Laughing at the thought of his little Pokémon archaeologist, he could imagine her little pout already.

The matriarch of the Arc family made a sound of delight as well, "I knew I taught you something about cooking." Juniper pointed out. "After all of that cooking practice, you finally found a signature dish you're able to make."

"Actually." Jade could only chuckle out in embarrassment, scratching her blond hair as she remembered how she got so good at cooking. "My Pokémon Ranger teacher taught me how to cook the Corned Beef Stew properly when I was up in the Solitas Area," Jade explained as she blew on the hot broth before giving her creation a taste. " She bashed it into my head saying I needed to learn to fend for myself when I go on missions solo." The oldest Arc sibling pointed out.

Jaune had heard about the Solitas Area. The northern Island is extremely cold and home to some of the strongest Ice Types in the Remnant Region.

It was also extremely dangerous with how cold it gets out there in the field, you could turn into an ice cube in moments if you were put there for too long. But for the Arc male, he would need to travel to those islands for not only some tough training but maybe another Pokémon partner for his team.

"You're talking about Summer Rose aren't you?" Nicholas asked.

"Yeah, she's one hell of a Pokémon Ranger. Awesome trainer to boot. She showed Petal how to use Leaf Storm!" Jade got more animated as she recalled how her teacher had her Roserade use the move and explained the idea of how to use it. After a couple of practice sessions and a TM Helper to give a basis to Jade's Leafeon, the hard-working eeveelution was able to use the power Grass Type move flawlessly. "I was able to test it out in battle, and the results were all that I hoped for. This haughty trainer had it coming." When Jade was challenged to a trainer match she was able to blow away her opponent's Bibarel in one powerful blow.

In her opinion, she was glad that kid got beaten in one hit, he had a cocky attitude with snark attached to his voice thinking he was the best thing since sliced bread. Jade had no problem in humbling the bratty teen at all she thought she was doing a wonderful service to the Pokémon trainer community by serving some people a slice of humble pie.

"That's wonderful news, honey. Glad to see your competitive streak never left you." The Arc matriarch chuckled.

"What can I say, I've always trained hard with Petal and I'll be damned if someone downplays us or say that she's a weak girl." Jade went to get a chunky bit of beef shoved it in her mouth aggressively and chewed the bit down before swallowing.

"Jade, aren't you supposed to be a positive influence since you have become a Pokémon Ranger now? Aren't you supposed to encourage trainer growth more than kicking them while they are down?" Juniper asked as she was hoping her daughter would tone down a little. Meanwhile, Jaune only looked towards his eldest sister.

And he could tell that she was starting to mad.

Jade Arc's passionate green eyes looked straight into her mother's ocean blue. "I'm not gonna let some two-bit punk talk some smack about how weak she is momma! We've worked too hard to have some random trainer just bad mouth us like that." The oldest daughter of the Arc family told her, slamming her fist on the table, "I don't mind being nice, but the minute you insult my Petal then the gloves are off."

Juniper went to retort, "Yes but Jade you have to remember..."

"But nothing!" Jade interrupted, "If someone insulted Kara like that punk did to my Pokémon, how would you feel?" Referring to the Kangaskhan protector of this ranch, Kara was Juniper's main battler and basically one of her best friends. "Well, I think they'd be full of Tauros crap and let Kara's fists do the talking in the battle," Juniper said with a bloodthirsty smirk. Jaune couldn't help but nod at his sister's simple logic.

If someone was insulting his best friend Aron then he wouldn't hesitate to defend his friend and have him prove those nay-sayers with a battle.

"I rest my case." Jade finished as she went back to eating her food.

Of course, the conversation did end, but Jaune's Dad just had to pick at his own daughter for a bit. "Now have my ears deceived me? Did Peridot suddenly come back home to the ranch and take over my oldest daughter in Ghost Pokémon form?" Nicholas Arc's tall form couldn't help but say with a grin on his face.

"Zip it, Dad!" She shouted pointing at him with a spoon and blushing in shame, causing the man to let out a hearty chuckle at the table. "Don't compare me to Peri, you know I'm not that battle-hungry." Jade surprised her baby brother as she pouted slightly and mumbled out that last part.

Jade Arc and pouting never go together when it comes to his oldest sister.

"Alright alright, I'll stop." Jaune's father stopped chuckling as he heard the faint words 'you better' sound from Jade, who was still pouting up a storm.

Hoping to turn the conversation from silence Juniper looked towards her daughter. "How is Summer by the way? Is she doing alright in Atlas City, it's not getting any warmer up there." Juniper took another sip of hearty stew in front of her.

"Well... she said the patrols in the Glacier Forest, the ones north of Atlas City were getting a bit more dangerous thanks to this wandering troupe of Abomasnow. They've been causing avalanches these past few weeks and it's causing some major blockage on certain paths." Jade said.

"Oh... that sounds very dangerous. Are you sure she's going to be okay? " her mother asked in a worried tone.

But Jade only smiled at her mother, hoping to lower her concern. "Don't worry, Summer's a pro at these types of missions. She wasn't top of the Ranger Class for nothing, not to mention an experienced Pokémon battler." Waving off the previous threat.

"Besides, if I know my teacher she's gonna try and hurry up the mission and try and get back home to Patch Island to give a send-off to her daughter." Jade said, "Heard the girl is about to take her Pokémon journey pretty soon from when I last talked to her on the Xtransciever." Jade scooped up another piece of beef from the spoon.

"What was their daughter's name again?" Juniper asked.

"Ruby Rose just turned sixteen and is about to start her badge challenge journey." The oldest sibling explained. "Little girl is just ecstatic to get started, Summer told me that she was going to try and make it to the Ozmandis League tournament and win it all," Jade said, but in the corner of her eye saw her baby brother stiffen up when she told everyone at the table.

His eyes were shadowed by his blonde hair but it was clear in his facial expression that he didn't share the same enthusiasm.

"That's a tall order considering that Pyrrha Nikos will probably be competing this year in the tournament." Nicholas put in his two cents as he saw the last battle this afternoon and the way the red-haired teen battled. "That girl is a Pokémon Elite Four member in training at this point, seen her crush most trainers in the last two years since her debut as a trainer." The man could admire an amazing battler when he saw one, and Pyrrha this year had what it takes to fight against the Elite Four this year compared to her last two failed attempts in the Champion tournament.

This year however she was in perfect form during the Poke Ball, Great Ball, and now the recently won Ultra Ball tournament cups that basically gave the red-haired trainer from Mistral City a total of six badges worth when winning these tournaments. All she needed now was to win the Master Ball Grand P-1 Cup to be qualified to compete in the Ozmandis League Region Tournament.

"I wouldn't count Ruby out just yet Dad, I've seen her battle and let me tell you she is no slouch." Jade trying to give some praise to the little raven-haired girl. "Same with her Sister Yang, she's going to be competing too," Jade said as she remembered the tough battle she had with Yang, it was pretty intense and to the wire when she used Petal against Yang's mean Fighting Type Pokémon.

"Then I wish both her daughters the best in their travels. If they are anything like their mother then both of them will be wonderful trainers." Nicholas said with a smile on his bearded face.

"Yes, I hope the Arceus blesses them both for a safe journey and wish them luck." Jade's mother added.

"Well, I'll just have to te-" Jade went to finish.

Only to stop talking as she heard the sound of silverware clattering onto one of the bowls. The short-haired sister quickly turned to the source of the noise as silence reigned supreme at the table.

It was her baby brother and his blue eyes were filled with determination giving their dad one of the most intense stares that she had seen Jaune give him.

"Dad."

Nicholas looked at the seriousness in his son, his own blue eyes narrowing at his youngest as he had a feeling he knew what he was going to ask next.

"Yes, son." The Arc patriarch called out, the man had a feeling what this was going to be about.

There was a sudden pause as the stare-down continued, the awkwardness crept in as it felt like there was a battle being watched at the Arc dinner table.

Finally, after the silence started to be extremely tense Jaune was the first to speak up once more.

"I'm going on a Pokémon journey," Jaune said with no hint of hesitation.

The declaration only made Nicholas let out a tired sigh that he had let out plenty of times, somehow the man knew his son would come back to this. He just didn't want to break it to his boy on how he feels about the matter.

"Son... look."

"No. I'm not taking no for an answer like I did the last couple of years Dad." Jaune shook his head as he stood up and looked towards the man, "I'm eighteen years old now, I've matured enough to know better. I have extensive knowledge of how to be a trainer when it comes to taking care of Pokémon and how to strategize and adapt in battle. After taking care of Aron for two years I can safely say that I know how to treat my own friends." Jaune saying that last bit with a little heat.

Which Nicholas didn't miss as he narrowed his eyes at his son with a frown. "Be that as that may Jaune I still don't..."

"In fact, I think I can convince you right here and now that I am ready to go on this journey." That comment left the older Arc man curious.

"I'm listening."

Jaune pointed his finger toward Jade, surprising the eldest Arc sibling. "Me and Jade will have a one-on-one Pokémon battle to decide if I can leave the ranch." Jaune said, "It will be my Aron versus Jade's Leafeon, if I do well enough in the battle that it convinces you that I am ready then I will be leaving in the morning."

"And what I think you can't?"

"Then I will train harder with Aron until you think I am ready to go on a Pokémon journey." Jaune declared.

The room was silent once more as Nicholas thought over for the moment, Jaune then looked towards his mother to her smiling at her baby boy and how he asserted himself. Sure she would be sad to see him go, but June was of the mind of wanting to see her baby boy leave the nest and soar like the most majestic Staraptor, traveling to his heart's content and soaring for his dreams.

Jade agreed with her mother, she wanted her brother to follow the path he wanted to make on his own. Their father needed to respect how Jaune felt about wanting to follow his Pokémon trainer aspirations to the fullest.

But she knew how stubborn their father could be on this specific topic, man could get set in his ways on wanting to let his youngest go out into the dangerous world of Remnant.

Finally after thinking over Nicholas couldn't help but nod his head at his son's proposition. "Alright Jaune. You win, after dinner your mother will be the official of the battle and I will be watching you fight your sister in a Pokémon battle to determine if you can go."

"That's all I am asking for," Jaune responded back as Jaune went to finish his tasty stew.

"If that's settled then you and Jade will be out on the grass battlefield after doing the dishes." With that said Nicholas finished the last bit of stew before gathering his bowl and putting them in the sink in the kitchen.

After a couple of minutes, everyone finished their food and Jaune and Jade worked together to clean the dishes while their Mom and Dad set out the lights to get the field siblings were drying the dishes, trying to finish in a hurry. Jaune's hands were quick to move on to the next piece as he wanted to get this over with and prepare for his battle against his sister.

"Jaune..." Jade suddenly said, putting down her washrag to look at her brother as he still had a frown on his face. "Are you sure this is the right way to go about this? You know Dad can be very demanding when it comes to expectations and I don't want you to take this the wrong way if you don't... beat me in this battle."

Jaune's serious look turned towards his sister's concerned face and he nodded at her question. "Yes. Yes, it is Jade." Jaune responded. "If I can prove that I can handle myself against you, he has to see that I do have what it takes."

"Alright..." Jade could only say.

"Which means you can't hold back against me Jade." The blonde teen said. "No matter what you and Petal have to give it everything you got against us. No kid's gloves. No pulling your punches. I need to prove myself against an excellent trainer and Arceus damn it you are that person." Jaune then put his hand on her sister's shoulder. "Can you do that for me?" The youngest Arc said, with some desperation in his tone.

The blonde eldest sister gave him a reassuring smile, lightly punching his shoulder playfully. "Only if you do the same baby bro. Better be careful what you wish for though, me and Petal will blow you away." Jaune's sister's tone getting competitive.

"Hmph... we'll just see about that." Jaune's own fiery competitive spirit was coming out. At this pivotal moment, Jaune couldn't see his big sister Jade as his loving sibling in this battle today.

But instead, his biggest challenge as a budding trainer.

(A few minutes later)

Both Arc siblings looked across from each other from the painted white field, the grass blowing in the wind as both Jade and Jaune had determined looks on their faces.

'Alright little brother... show me what you got.'

Nicholas was on the right side of his wife, slightly watching his son and observing him all together. The father noticed his son flexing his left hand while his other had the shrunken Premier Ball in his hand, the White Pokeball in a sort of death grip in his son's hand.

'He looks nervous.' Nicholas saw the truth, despite his son trying to put on a confident face it was all over his posture and mannerisms.

Jaune's emotions were a whirlwind right now, despite being confident in his declaration inside the house and telling his father he still felt some jitters because this was his first official Pokémon battle.

And to top it off it was against Jade, his oldest sister that he knows is a great trainer. Sure she wasn't much of a Battle Expert like Peridot or as flashy and innovative as the Coordinator sister Amethyst, but she still was no slouch in the trainer department as she continued to hone her skills despite working with the Pokémon Ranger Core up in Atlas City.

Not only that, but Jaune is at a battle disadvantage. Considering that he had not gotten to experience one trainer battle in the years that he obtained Aron in the Quartz he had fought some of the local wild Pokémon on some of the routes on his off time. Still, they weren't a match for his partner as the multiple Patrat, Spearow, Shinx, and Sentret couldn't get through the defensive power of a Steel-Type like his friend.

However, there were rare encounters sometimes as they had to face some tricky Ground Types like Sandshrew and Phanpy, and even a couple of Poliwags and Ducklett that were near the pond that was near his hometown. The good news was that these little guys didn't use any Water or Ground Type attacks, against Aron. Jaune knew that those mons had major type advantages against his friend in certain areas, he and his friend were probably just lucky.

But despite getting training by battling wild Pokemon near his hometown routes, Jaune knew this was a whole different beast as trainer Pokémon were almost ten times harder to beat compared to just fighting in the wild. Most of the time getting training from a human makes even some weaker known Pokémon and turn them into powerhouses with how much training goes into raising them.

And from what he had seen Jade do with Petal regarding training?

Jaune had his work cut out for him tonight.

Before he could continue to overthink things the sound his mother was heard in the evening night, "This battle will be a one-on-one Pokémon battle and will now commence shortly. Challenger Jaune Arc will be facing off against his opponent Jade Arc. Please select your Pokémon before you begin this fight."

Jade wasted no time, throwing the red Pokeball out on the field, "Alright! Let's go Petal!" The white light quickly followed as the tan-furred eeveelution of Leafeon had the battlefield.

"Leeeaffeeeon!" The Verdant Pokémon let out a cry coming out.

"I choose you buddy!" Jaune called out.

"Ar Aron!" The little Armor Pokémon called out, his blue eyes staring out towards his opponent his usual soft expression morphed into a serious one as the softness quickly hardened into a steely resolve.

"Alright Aron, this is the time to show our skills," Jaune called out to his friend. "You ready?"

"Ar!"

After a couple of seconds, Juniper called out in the evening air.

"Let the battle begin!"

(Battle! Trainer Battle Ruby Sapphire)

Jade wasted no time calling out a command, "Petal use Razor Leaf!"

With that, a flurry of razor-sharp leaves came barreling toward the Steel Type Pokémon.

Jaune quickly responded to the attack that was coming towards them, "Aron use Harden!"

His friend quickly did as commanded, Aron's body shining brightly in the evening air as it stood its ground. The sharp leaves soon struck the Armor Pokémon hard as the little guy took blow after blow of the leaves.

After the assault, Jaune looked a little worried as he saw his friend pant a bit from the blow, Jaune knew that Petal could definitely pack a wallop against the best of opponents so he wanted to check up on him a little. "You ok buddy?"

"Ar!" Aron called out nodding his head back towards his trainer.

'Good, that means that it worked.' It was a good thing that Jaune used Harden now compared to using Protect, Aron took some heavy damage but he increased his defensive power while also tanking that beefy Razor Leaf, so while his friend took damage he didn't take too much to knock him out. "Alright then, use Metal Claw!"

With his command uttered, Aron quickly charged toward the Leafeon, his claws encased in a metallic sheen.

"Petal use Vine Whip and grab that little brat."

Immediately two green vines came from the eeveelution and tried to wrap around the charging Steel Type.

But to Jade's and everyone's surprise, once Jaune's Aron was wrapped up in the green vines, they expected the little guy to stop in his tracks thanks to Petal's strength and power.

However, that was not the case at all. The little steel creature continued his charge, claws still glowing as Aron cried out in a leap of effort towards the shocked hazel brown eyes of the Grass Type.

'SLASH'

Jaune's partner hit Petal right on the money as the Leafeon yelped signifying pain, knocking down the Grass Type on the grassy field, skidding across the ground from the attack. A couple of seconds later Petal found her feet and quickly snarled as she stared down the little pipsqueak that just damaged her.

"What? What just happened?" Jade questioned before she shook off the confusion, they were still in a battle and she needed to focus on the battle and command Petal. "Urk... use Vine Whip again Petal and send him flying!" The Leafeon quickly used the vines again, this time at point-blank range.

"Aron, use Metal Claw again!" Jaune commanded once more.

Like last time the bulky little mon charged toward the Grass type, heading right into the green whips once again, and like last time the whips wrapped around the charging little guy.

But like before he wasn't stopping in the slightest.

'SLASH'

Another cry of pain rang out as Petal was knocked to the grassy ground, this time a little slower to get back up on her four legs.

Jade couldn't help but be a bit baffled by the whole. "How did that not..." She was sure Petal hit Aron straight on with that attack.

So if that was the case then why didn't really do anything...

"It's because of his weight." The voice of her brother rang out to her.

"Huh?" Jade raised her eyebrow in confusion.

"Like I said, it's because of Aron's weight. He's too heavy." Jaune smiled at his older sister.

"What are you talking about?" Jaune's explanation definitely confused Jade, sure she wasn't the biggest Pokémon buff but she still didn't understand why Vine Whip didn't work.

"You tried lifting Aron, a Steel Type Pokémon, that is way heavier than you think he is." Jaune knew about his partner's heavyweight when he studied his friend in the lectures and textbooks he acquired. Aron are mostly in the range of 120 pounds as lightweight or a dwarf of their species and if it's a large one or a giant one it could be almost over 150 pounds, practically almost double the weight if not more so of a light and skinny Leafeon.

"Thus led my friend to give Petal two good licks in," Jaune commented, his head turned towards his father and he saw the smallest of smiles on his face, showing that he had approved of that use of knowledge.

But the befuddlement of Jade didn't last as her lost composure had turned back into the competitive smile she had previously. "Not bad little bro, but you know this is far from over, two lucky hits aren't gonna do Petal in and you know that." With that comment, Jaune's smile turned back into a serious frown as he heard that comment from Jade. "Alright, Petal use Leaf Storm!" Jade yelled out.

That caused Jaune to widen his eyes in alarm as he saw the Leafeon was starting to quickly conjure an impressive amount of leaves in no time at all, in the seconds he saw the wind in the air swirled around Petal as the light green colored tornado that was full of sharp and dangerous leaves, all ready to head towards his friend.

'That's not good.' Jaune's thoughts swirled through him. If that attack landed then he had a feeling Aron was as good as done.

"Let it rip Petal!" Jade called out as she saw the powerful leaf tornado was ready.

"LEEAFFEOON!" Petal launched the horrifying attack toward the metal shrimp as the blue-eyed Pokémon stared at the sight of his doom.

Luckily Jaune quickly acted as he knew that this was one attack that Aron could not dodge, "Aron, use Protect!"

The little Armor Pokémon heard his trainer from the field and without hesitation cried out as the Leaf Storm was quickly upon him. The tall tale sign of the move worked as there was a protective green bubble around the area, as soon as that had popped up on the field the leaves impacted the shield with a vengeance.

But alas, not a single sharp leaf had crashed into the Steel type as the attack ended and Aron was sitting there without a single scratch.

It was all well and good that Aron didn't take a bad hit from that powerful Leaf Storm, but there's a huge problem right now.

The battlefield is a plain, flat grassland area. While that's all well and good for some battlers.

It wasn't good for Jaune considering what he and his partner were up against.

He has no cover on this plain grass field. We need to avoid as much damage as we can at all costs otherwise we are going to be blown away quickly.' His thoughts swirled for a solution as he needed some cover and fast.

His eyes widened as he thought of one move that could assist them with Aron's lack of speed and give him the perfect atmosphere for his friend.

"Aron, use Rock Tomb, and don't stop until I tell you!"

"Aron!" With the order given the Iron Armor started summoning rocks from the sky, the large rocks started falling in Petal's direction.

"Dodge those rocks Petal!" Jade called out.

The Leafeon jumped side to side to avoid the large boulders as they kept hitting the ground, the big rocks missing the elusive Grass Type.

"Gonna have to try and do better than that Jaune," Jade called out.

But Jaune didn't rise to his sister's goading. "Keep it up Aron, you're doing great!" Jaune called out, confusing his sister as Aron kept calling the large rocks and hitting the ground. The large pieces of stone stand like pillars in the ground.

But it didn't matter as Petal continued to dodge the large stones like they were the slowest projectile ever.

"What is our son doing?" Juniper whispered as she saw her youngest's strange little battle strategy. It was very unorthodox to just use the same move over and over like that.

Plus, it could wear down the Pokémon from the continuous usage of one specific move.

The only one who could see what their son's plan was Nicholas, the man was familiar with this battle tactic as it had been used before in prior battles when he was a younger trainer.

Again, Jaune's father had to give him another point about creativity in the use of Rock Tomb.

Jade felt stumped once more, she didn't understand why her brother just kept spamming Rock Tomb. His move hasn't hit Petal once and he just kept using it like it's working.

"Hmph...well if he wants to make this easier for me he should have asked." She whispered.

"Alright, Aron stop!" With that command, the rocks were no longer falling from the sky. This meant that Jade's Leafeon could stop running away from the sturdy rocks that were getting thrown around.

Well, that was fine by her, she and Petal were getting tired of just dodging. "Don't know why you kept attacking like that, but it doesn't matter if you can't hit us," Jade said. "Petal use Razor Leaf!"

Soon enough more sharp leafy projectiles were on their way toward Aron, and with how fast they were coming he doubted that Aron had the speed to dodge the attack.

Good thing that the blonde was thinking ahead to counteract that glaring problem.

"Alright, Aron use the rocks for cover!" Jaune ordered.

"What?" Jade couldn't help but question.

Aron quickly ran over towards one of the larger rocks on the field, leading the Razor Leaf attack to strike the boulder and causing the sharp leaves to miss the opponent completely, the only sign of the move's power was the grass-type attack slicing off the top of the rock that the Iron Pokémon hid behind.

While slightly surprised by the maneuver that her brother pulled, Jade was not too surprised as she had seen this before during Pokémon battles.

Jaune's trick this time was to use this new environment around him that he created. Since the old one was just a plain grassland that was open he wanted to change the field into something more comfortable for Aron; to hold some type of advantage against her in this fight.

All of these rocks around her Leafeon brought different variables that she'd have to worry about now since the battlefield wasn't as open any more. Throwing out Razor Leaves and Leaf Storms willy-nilly was out of the question as she could be just wasting time and Petal's energy while Aron used the strong stone as cover or some kind of unorthodox attack that could come from anywhere.

To think a move like Rock Tomb would throw her for a loop. Using a mostly offensive move and instead of trying to attack her, Jaune's Aron ended up changing the battlefield around them. Instead of an open grass field that was free reign, most of the arena was now full of large and small rocks that the smaller Pokémon could use, taking ranged moves out of the equation and forcing Jade's hand to have Petal come in to fight close quarters.

Her brother was definitely clever that's for sure, beginning trainers would never understand this level of play when it came to tactics and could trip up a novice. Jade couldn't help but smile at Jaune, showing how proud she was of him tonight.

However Jade wasn't going to back down, if his brother wanted Petal to come and fight down and dirty then that's what she would do. "Nice work Jaune, but if you think that Aron can hide from Petal in those little rocks then you are sorely mistaken." Jade pointed her finger and smirked. "Petal! Use Vine Whip to jump!"

With that said the Grass Type eeveelution's vines hit the ground and suddenly Petal was airborne, able to see everything above the stones. In doing so, her brown eyes scanned and saw the gleaming silver shining in the air as she located Aron ducking down near one of the more jagged rocks.

Jaune's calm-looking demeanor now shifted to concern as his friend was located easily. "Aron, Petal can see you!" Jaune called out.

"Can't hide from us now! Petal, Vine Whip yourself towards our little friend." Jade called out.

"Leaf!" Her vines quickly wrapped around one of the pillar-like rocks and launched herself while she was in mid-flight straight toward Aron like a fuzzy brown missile.

"Now use Razor Leaf!"

While launching towards the slower Pokémon, Petal whipped her head to launch another barrage of leaves. The attack was heading right towards the Steel Type with no way to defend in time.

"Quick Aron, use Harden to soften the blow!" Jaune ordered. It was true that he did have Protect in his pocket for Aron to use, but he wanted to have him save that usage for more drastic measures.

The Armor Pokémon shined once more as his body stiffened up and raised its defense to another level. But that did nothing to stop the painful grass-type attack from slamming into him.

"Don't stop Petal, use Vine Whip and wrap it around that little troublemaker's body."

"Leeeaf!" Suddenly the lightning-fast vines were all over Aron's body, constricting him like an Arbok using Wrap.

"Arrrrr!" The steel type was starting to feel more pain from the squeeze as it cried in pain.

"Aron!" Jaune couldn't help but yell out, "Try and get out of the bind!" The blonde hoped his friend could listen and try and get out of the hold.

The little guy wiggled left and right but was still feeling the pressure of the vines.

"Time for something real special, now Petal use Leech Seed."

Soon the bulb of a little seed came from the top of her head and fired straight toward the wrapped-up Aron. The little brown seed quickly latched on and in seconds little mini vines latched on to Jaune's friend, rapidly spreading and latching onto his body.

In just but a few moments Aron started to feel total agony as he felt the shocking sensation of having his energy siphoned out of him from the red colored vines, the life energy slowly being given to his sister's Leafeon.

"Aaaaarrooon!" Jaune could only look on in horror at how the tables had turned, listening to his friend's cries of pain as his energy was being slowly drained away. His strategy was going downhill, and it was going down fast.

With Aron trapped in Petal's vines and his energy drained thanks to that cursed seed, this felt like a losing battle at the moment.

His father saw the hesitation in his son's eyes, his built-up confidence wavering once more as his back was against the wall.

What will you do now son?' Nicholas questioned in his thoughts seeing his son in a bind with fighting his oldest.

In his mind, this was a bind that he might not be able to get himself out of with what kind of moves his Pokémon partner has.

'Come on! There's got to be something to counter this with!' Nothing was coming up in Jaune's head. Aron couldn't use Headbutt, Head Smash, or any Metal Claw attacks as they all needed to have physical contact with the opponent. Rock Tomb was out of the question as it would most likely hurt his friend if he used it so close to Petal and so was Harden not going to help him with this situation and neither was Protect, so what other plays did he have left?

'Wait... maybe, just maybe...' He knew one move that could distract Pokémon and lower their guard, perhaps it could work here for him.

"It's worth a shot," Jaune said softly.

"Giving up Jauney?" Jade couldn't help the little snark that she gave her brother. She knew her brother would be a bit bummed that he had been bested, but he did say to go all out on him. "There's no shame in throwing in the towel, think about Aron's condition."

Though... she did feel bad for what she had to tell him after the battle, Jade hopes he takes it well and their father dubs him worthy of going on a journey.

"Not yet sis, we aren't finished yet. Aron use Growl as much as you can on Petal!"

The little Pokémon opened up its little mouth while it was in pain and started making some loud noise, Aron's blue eyes squinted in pain toward the Leafeon holding him captive in his vine prison and turned that shout towards his opponent.

"Arrrrrrrrrrr!" The soundwave came in waves as the attack slammed into Petal, letting out a cry in pain as her ears were assaulted.

Growl's endless soundwave continued as Aron continued to shout. More and more pain came to Petal, the noise was so annoying and painful to her ears that she loosened her hold on her opponent after such exposure.

The Steel Type felt the vine slack as it struggled more and more. After a couple more jerking the little Pokémon managed to bust free from his makeshift vine confinement.

"Oh shit!" Jade exclaimed.

"Now Aron, Headbutt!" The attack was almost instant as Aron was already close to the shaken Leafeon. But now things were gonna get a whole lot more rocky for Petal.

'WHAM!'

The grass type in question cried out as Aron's metal face smashed into Petal's, impacting her dead on target and making the Pokémon's body smash right into one of the boulders.

"Petal use Vine Whip to escape!"

However, try as she might, her loyal partner wasn't listening to a word she commanded as the Leafeon shivered in fright.

"What? Petal? Snap out of it!" Jade shouted, but her Leafeon continued to shiver and not listen to her. "What is going on girl?!"

'Seems Petal flinched because of that Headbutt attack.' Nicholas thought. He guessed his son's Aron got a lucky break here with that last attack. 'Now's your chance son, use this to your advantage.'

"Now Aron, Headbutt again!" Jaune yelled out.

"Ar-on!" Without missing a beat Aron slammed straight into center mass, driving the still-stunned Leafeon straight into the stone. The little Steel-type used his strength to drive Petal directly into the boulder, smashing Jade's partner straight through the stone in a painful-looking attack as Petal continued to shout out from the strike that plowed her through a rock.

After literally going through the boulder, Petal was flung as her body was tossed like a ragdoll from Aron. The poor Leafeon brown eyes winced as it was now slowly starting to get up from that double Headbutt from Jaune's tough Steel Type. Jade's Pokémon looked pretty banged up as the Pokémon had scratches and scuffs on her body and face from those powered-up moves from those Metal Claws and Headbutts.

Aron finally came out from the dust of the attack looking at his opponent with a razor-sharp focus.

However, that look of seriousness was replaced with pain as his body felt the stinging pain of the Leech Seed draining more energy and giving it to Petal. The Leafeon's body glowed a bit from receiving some energy took in Aron's condition to see his friend panting, the shiny steel now having scuffs and scratches here and there from the Razor Leaf attacks he had taken throughout the fight. They bounced off him thanks to Harden sure, but the damage was still taken.

Not to mention that pesky Leech Seed is still on him, it's probably why he has been tired right now. Giving his all in an all-out assault against Petal and getting some good damage on the Leafeon; Petal looked worse for wear from what Jaune saw, with bruises and scratches all over her creamy brown from, wincing a bit from how damaged she was.

Jaune knew they had the advantage, but the problem was that his sister didn't seem worried in the slightest.

In fact, Jade was actually...smiling at the current situation, "You're a great battler Jaune. You have been showing some of your talent as you trust your partner's skills. I can see you've trained very hard for this moment, but..."

"This battle is far from over for us." Jade announced, "In fact, I think it's time we end this Petal, what do you say?"

"Leaf!"

The Leafeon standing strong after all the punishing attacks she took." Got that right! Use Vine Whip to smack the cockiness out of that ironed shorty!"

With that said, in seconds, Petal had her thin vines smacking Aron's iron face in seconds, the little guy feeling the pain as it stumbled on its feet from that lightining fast whip crack.

"Now while he's hurt use Leaf Storm."

Once more the leaves quickly made a tornado to strike the dazed Steel Type.

"Quick! Use Protect Aron!" Jaune hoped that his friend could use the move on time.

By Arceus's blessing, the little guy saw the attack coming and the protective dome covered the field once more, negating the attack.

However that didn't stop the red vines of Leech Seed taking a little bit more energy.

While Jaune didn't feel good about that pesky little he could let go of the breath he held after dodging that Leaf Storm bullet, "Sorry Jade, but you're not hitting us with that one." The blonde teen smiled, "What else you got?"

Though Jade only started chuckling, almost sounding like an evil villain from how it sounded.

"What's so funny?" Jaune couldn't help but ask with annoyance.

"You are little bro. Do you really think that Leaf Storm was the only move Petal learned from my mentor?" Jade shook her head as she looked at her naive little brother.

"Uh... yeah I guess so...Why?"

"Well.. you're about to learn the hard way." Jade giving Jaune bad vibes from the way she looked.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Jaune said. Noticing the downright malicious smirk his oldest sister had plastered on her face.

"Petal use Solar Beam!"

Jaune's face paled when he heard the words uttered from his sister's lips, looking toward her Leafeon, he only saw trouble.

The Verdant Pokémon's leafy green head start glowing a light yellow color and getting brighter by the second as energy continued to gather to that focal point, showing that his sister was not joking around and that Petal had one of the strongest Grass Type moves in her arsenal.

Yeah... that was definitely bad news.

Jaune couldn't help but kick himself in the pants. If he had just kept his cool and had Aron duck in between the rocks against Petal's last attack, he wouldn't have worried about Solar Beam as Aron had Protect to shield himself.

However with how his Pokémon's condition was, plus the potentially having the move fail because of over-usage, this left Jaune in a dilemma as he didn't know what to do with this powerful attack about to blow his friend away.

Despite the Rock Tomb cover, Jaune knew it could block weaker attacks like Vine Whip and Razor Leaf.

But Solar Beam?! Jaune had seen videos of the technique on battle rerun footage when he studied trainer battles and just knew, that the rocks would be obliterated by Solar Beam. Especially with how Jade trained her Leafeon and all the long hours she put into her conditioning.

So ducking for cover was not an option.

He couldn't just let Aron tank the damage, there way Aron was coming out of that standing. None of his partner's moves had enough range to knock her sister's Leafeon for a loop and break her concentration of the attack.

"I'd think of something fast Jauney, Petal is almost done charging here, and let me tell you, you don't want to be in front of a Petal-powered Solar Beam." Jade pointed out as her partner's leaf continued to glow a brilliant white.

'I'm running out of time.' Jaune was out of smart options. He knew that their was at least one move that could go toe to toe with Solar Beam in terms of power.

But it was a risky play and if not timed right will probably lose him the match.

'Alright Jaune you've tried to smart play for this entire match, now its time for some drastic measures.'

And by drastic he meant absolute stupidity in his case.

"Aron, charge full steam ahead at Petal!"

"Arrrrooooonnnnn!" The steel type started sprinting toward the glowing grass type.

"What is my baby doing?" Juniper asked incredulously, this was definitely looking like he was giving up.

"Hmm..." His father could only narrow his eyes on Jaune's risky move.

But Jade only shook her head at this foolish attempt to stop Petal. "You brought this on yourself, little bro, Petal get ready to fire!"

"Leaf Leaf!" A ball of pure solar energy formed on her head, showing the move was ready.

'This is it...' He thought.

"Aron." Jaune yelled out, "Use Head Smash!"

Deep azure energy surrounded the charging Steel-type, as he made a beeline towards the shining Petal.

Jade was seeing the little Steel Type coming, her blood was feeling the excitement as her brother wanted an all-or-nothing attack.

Well... She'll indulge him here.

"Go Aron! You can do it, buddy!" Jaune cheered.

"ARROONN!" The Iron Armor Pokémon is almost about to crash straight into Leafeon.

"Alright Petal, fire the Solar Beam!"

"LEEAFEONNN!" The roar of effort from Petal came out as the beam of energy and light blasted right at the blue missile coming toward her.

Both energies collided in a show of light as Aron's charging form was slightly pushed back by the enormous wave of the sunny beam. But Jaune's partner was a trooper, the blue aura-covered Steel Type continued to cut through the Solar Beam.

"COME ON PETAL! PUT MORE POWER INTO IT!" Jade shouted as the wind and area around them were about to blow the girl away as the strength of both moves swirled into a growing bomb of power.

The Leafeon heard her trainer despite the sound and put more gusto into the beam as the yellowish-white beam continued on from Petal.

"GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU GOT ARON!"

Like someone pouring gasoline on an infant fire, the aura around Aron exploded out in effort, and with a final cry the Steel Type crashed straight into the stationary Leafeon.

'BOOOOM!'

The resulting collision was destructive as a bright domed-sized explosion happened in the middle of the struggle. Dust, rock, and grass were kicked up from the two powerful moves smacking into each other in a show of strength.

Both Jaune and Jade had to cover their eyes as a storm of field debris whipped into their eyes, arms covering themselves from the explosive aftermath.

"Aron? Are you alright?"

"Petal? You good girl?"

Both trainers call out to their respective battlers in the dust cloud, hoping for a response of some kind.

After a couple of seconds, the light shines on the decent-sized crater that the two made thanks to their respective moves.

In the middle of the field, Jaune was able to make out his friend Aron. He was still up and ready to go.

However... another look at his friend had him concerned.

The little Pokémon was panting hard, his once silver-colored armor scuffed and scratched thanks to the Solar Beam he had taken.

When Jaune was able to see Jade's Leafeon the boy started to smile as he saw that Petal looked like she was in rough shape as well, her body full of cuts and scratches, and the front of her face had a pretty big red bruise from the Head Smash hit. He had to guess that was where the lasting damage probably happened during the collision.

The teen's smile then turned back into a frown as the result of the head-to-head really didn't go in his favor. Jaune couldn't help but notice that Petal wasn't even breathing too hard like she could keep going, meanwhile, his partner was gassed at the moment.

Both Leafeon and Aron stared each other down, both on shaky legs.

But before Aron could move any further, the red vines activated and sucked more energy from the Steel-type.

And that was the final straw for the Iron Armor Pokémon...

Jaune saw his friend hit the ground with a dull thud, his previous hopes dashed as his eyes had swirls in them, and groaned out in defeat, showing his fainted status.

Juniper seeing this, raised her hand to signal the end of the match. "Aron is unable to battle the winner is Leafeon, this match goes to the challenger Jade Arc."

With that announcement, Jaune couldn't help but feel bummed. He lost the match, despite his friend giving everything he had, all the planning and strategies he tried against Jade and her Leafeon he still couldn't win the match.

Don't get him wrong he knew that his chances of victory were slim to none, but it didn't mean that he was just going to take this lying down and call it quits. That's not what a good Pokémon trainer does, a good trainer takes odds into their own hands no matter the disadvantage whether it be Pokémon type, battle experience, or taking on a fully evolved form.

You still needed to fight and find ways to win, and unfortunately, tonight just wasn't his night.

The teen hoped that his father saw enough of his skills to see he was ready. Jaune knew that Aron had battled his heart out despite the lack of trainer battles, he couldn't be prouder of his little buddy as he did everything he could to take down Petal.

He went to his downed Aron to check up on him, "Hey buddy."

"Ar?" The steel type gazed up at his trainer only to look down in shame as he was bummed that he didn't win it for him. "Ar Ar Aron."

"Look, Aron, you did great." He rubbed his tough metal head reassuringly, "I couldn't ask for any better from you pal, you battled like fully grown Aggron." Jaune took out his Premier Ball and pointed toward his friend, "Take a good rest buddy you earned it." The red beam hits the Steel Type.

Petal walked over to her trainer, only for Jade to pet her Leafeon saying how much of a good job she did. Jaune noticed the two loving on each other, despite losing to Petal and Jade the lad couldn't help the smile that crossed his face looking at the pair. He knew that his oldest sister was an amazing trainer despite not being a competitive battler anymore, and with their teamwork together against his own, no wonder the girl made it to the Quarterfinals of the Ozmandis League Tournament when she first went on her Pokémon journey.

"Son."

Jaune turned his head to see his old man go up to him, his face a little stern but warm at the same time.

"Yes, Dad?"

"I think it's time to give my verdict of how you did in the battle and whether or not you can go on your Pokémon journey," Nicolas said, which got Jaune to nod for him to continue.

"Your performance with you and your Aron was pretty good, you gave firm commands to your Pokémon partner and he listened to your commands to the letter, showing that you have an understanding with each other." Nicholas said, "The way you used your Aron's move set to change the field of battle was impressive, and the strategies that you have shown tonight on the field were almost impeccable especially with your opponent having a much higher experience Pokémon." His father couldn't help but praise and compliment him.

Jaune started to feel giddy, he never felt this kind of positivity from his father when it came to him and his partner.

The lad just might have a chance to pursue his dreams of being a legendary trainer in the league.

"However."

The word that came out was almost like a bucket of ice water on his entire body as he could feel his throat tighten.

I'm afraid despite your advances... I still cannot allow you to go on your journey, I'm sorry son."

A few seconds passed when the truth was revealed to the blonde.

Despite the effort his friend put in, despite all of the tactics and maturity he showed on the field...

It still wasn't enough for his father.

"Why..."

"What do you me-"

"WHY!" Jaune shouted with tears in his eyes, his emotions running as he brought attention to both his sister and mother to the heated conversation. "I've shown I could do this Dad! I know I have matured enough to raise my partner, Aron, I've treated him with respect and love like a trainer would..." Jaune trailed off.

"So...So why..." Jaune couldn't help to grit his teeth and clench his arm, his other shaking with his friend's Premier Ball in his hand.

"Why can't you see that I am ready to be a trainer?! That I want to pursue a dream that I want to strive for?! Huh!" Jaune struggled to continue, "Answer me that Dad!"

The man sighed as he looked his son dead in the eye. "Because Jaune... you still need more time to grow as a man."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Son... Remnant is a highly dangerous land, it looks beautiful and has all the colorful places a trainer like yourself can explore to your heart's content and with all the Pokémon that you could make friends with and bond with as a trainer." Nick explained. "Other trainers like to paint that naive picture to rookies and inexperienced trainers that try to start on their own," Nicolas said.

After a little pause, Jaune couldn't help but notice that his father had switched from his seriousness to a grim tone.

"But... it can also chew you up and spit you out son, having its own terrible death traps in certain caves, bad storms thanks to dangerous Pokémon like Gyarados, hell even some of them can kill you and devour you like you were a tasty snack!"

"So... did the battle even matter to you at all? Did it not mean anything this whole time if you were going to say no anyway?" Jaune questioned.

"No Jaune, it gave me an assessment of what you would do in a battle as a trainer." Nicholas said, "And while I said before that you are an excellent trainer who can make a plan on the fly, you still need to work on thinking outside the box, there were a couple of issues that I observed during the battle."

Jaune's father stuck out his fingers. "One: You need to have a long-range option for your Aron. I noticed you have to wait for your opponent to attack, while that can be good for some conflicts... most of the time more experienced trainers will exploit that weakness you and your partner have."

"Number two." Nick continued, "When you started backing yourself into a corner, your plans became more risky. Causing you to make stupid mistakes and other plans you could have made to continue the fight with Aron."

"And number three..." Jaune heard the tired sigh as his father felt a little uncomfortable saying this last one.

"Your sister... was taking it easy on you."

Those words dropped like a Voltorb Explosion on his head, cerulean-colored eyes wide in disbelief. "W-What? No... No that's not true." Jaune is straight in denial. "You're lying, Jade would never do that to me."

"That's the truth, son..." Nicholas admitted, "She didn't tell you about this because she wanted to play it fair, but Jade had taught Petal Dig and kept it in her arsenal. She could have had her use it at any time during the fight, but she didn't for some reason." The adult male said.

"But...she promised, Jade said..." Jaune knew he should trust Jade's word, that he should trust his oldest sister after all of the supportive words and encouragement that she had given him throughout the years he had been cooped up at the ranch. That she was one of the reasons that he had the motivation to continue training for this moment.

Jaune knew that he shouldn't doubt her at all, he felt that his father might be trying to trick him and second-guess his dreams.

But the youngest of the Arcs couldn't help that whisper of doubt in his ear, many of his other sisters doubted his skills and potential to be an amazing trainer. He remembered Amy and Peri's put-downs, the backhanded comments as he recalled some of the teasing that made him feel down on himself.

His sisters Cyan and Saphron broke his heart as he remembered them not wanting to support him, true that the bookworm and the 'mother hen' of the siblings weren't like the tomboy Peri and the snooty Amy, but the hurt was all the same as they just didn't feel as support of him going on a journey and becoming a trainer.

And now one of his biggest supporters was in question.

Questions he wanted answers to right now.

Jaune quickly walked toward his sister, seeing her pet Petal, and gave her congratulations on a hard-fought battle. "I'll be sure to make you some poffin treats later on girl," Jade said with a smile to her banged-up Pokémon. "How do Pecha and Bluk Berry poffins sound?"

"Leeeaaafff!" The eeveelution couldn't contain her joy as she cheered and started doing little hops up and down from excitement. Those kinds of sweet-flavored treats were Leafeon's favorite snack.

Jade chuckled at her partner's enthusiasm, "Alright alright Petal, Bluk, and Pecha flavor poffins it is." Jade pulled out her Poke ball and pointed it at her friend. "For now get some rest." With that, she returned her friend and looked toward her brother, but noticed something alarming about him.

While she expected him to be a little depressed about his loss, Jade was more concerned now because of his less-than-pleased look on his mug right now.

"Hey Jaune, that was a great battle you ga-"

"Is it true?" The blonde boy interrupted his sister.

"Is what true?" Jade questioned.

"Dad said... you took it easy on me." Jaune said, "Please don't tell me that what he said was the truth sis, please don't tell me you went back on your word." Jaune pleaded to his sister he could really trust her.

But after a few awkward seconds Jade turned away from her angered sibling. Her own blue eyes not looking at his were starting to tear up.

It seems that really summed it up for Jaune, his father was right.

"I...I thought we had an understanding sis, I thought you supported me and my goal?!" Jaune started to shout.

"What?! What are you saying Jaune? I fully support you in wanting to become a successful Pokémon trainer." His sister getting a bit heated herself.

"If you really felt that way then you and Petal should have gone all out," Jaune growled out, surprising his sister as his frustration was starting to boil over. "So why did you lie to my face, Jade."

The bob-cut sister only let out an exhausting sigh trying to think of a way to explain this to her brother without spoiling any secret, especially with their father around listening to the conversation.

Though as much as she wanted to clear the air with her brother about this, she didn't want to break her mother's word on this matter.

"Look, there's a reason why we didn't Jaune, and it's for your benefit as a trainer." Jade argued, "I-It's a personal matter with me and Petal and something with the ranch, and that's all you need to know right now."

Jaune only scoffed at the sister he thought he could trust, "Oh really? It's about the ranch?" The youngest scoffed, "What could be so damn important to the ranch, that you need to keep me out of the loop!?" He couldn't help but yell out.

"It's about your position, and how I intend to have you as the head of this establishment, son."

The voice of his father cut through the air like a Slash attack.

'What...'

"Me and some of your sisters thought that once you had grown up, you would be able to take on the family business since you enjoy being with Pokémon so much." Nicholas continued.

But Jaune only shook his head in denial, his eyes looked towards his mother briefly before turning toward his sister. The betrayal he felt from his biggest supporter was breaking his heart. He thought that Jade understood what he wanted, that she knew he didn't want to be planted and rooted to the ranch.

"Wait, Jaune listen..." Jade went to reach out to her younger brother.

"No!" Jaune shouted, absolutely done with what this bombshell had done to him. "I...I think I need to be alone for a bit." Jaune turned around and jogged back to the house with silent tears lining down his face. His mother looked at her baby boy with sorrow for how much pain he looked to be in.

"Jaune wait!" She went to chase after him but was stopped by her mother. "Mom please, move I need to tell him that it's not true, that I volunte-"

"Honey... I think Jaune needs to clear his head for a bit." Juniper walked up to her daughter and put her hand on her shoulder to stop Jade from pursuing any further. "Your brother is...going through a lot of negative thoughts thanks to a certain... someone." June couldn't help the stink eye aimed at her Nicholas wasn't too bothered, he knew that he would get hell from his lovely wife for this harsh decision.

However, in his mind... this was the best decision for everyone. Jaune was the next man up for in line as the caretaker of the ranch, he had shown his talent to become an amazing caretaker of Pokémon and Nick needed someone to fill that role.

He knew his son was the most capable candidate and no amount of silly dreaming was going to bypass the family legacy of the Arc caretakers.

The Arc family had a word to follow, and by Arceus his youngest son would follow tradition.

Jaune quickly slammed the door to his room and lay down on his bed. All to think to himself about all the years he had been held back from achieving his goal thanks to his family's constant meddling.

Amy and Peri, his father, and now Jade had joined to deny him what he was working so hard to strive for.

This felt like the final straw that broke the Camerupt's back.

'I-I can't stay here anymore...' Jaune looked toward the ceiling of his room as his unshed tears stayed in his eyes.

His feelings of betrayal from his sister weighed heavily on his mind, but they were quickly replaced with a desperate determination.

'It's time to leave whether they like it or not.'

ANNND SCENE!

So Jaune got into his first trainer battle ever and was given his first loss thanks to Jade's skills and thanks to Petal Power! Plus, we have seen throughout the years that he had not just sat on his butt and just bitch and moan as his little buddy Aron is a bit of a menace. But just not enough for Jade's Leafeon.

But to be honest, I do not regret giving Jaune this loss as this will always teach the blonde: There will always be someone better than you. No matter what.

Now don't worry, Jaune's not going to take a string of L's on his journey and be a punching bag, this battle had him struggle against an opponent that was literally equivalent to fifteen levels higher and Aron still kept coming.

However...there is a little tension with the Arc siblings, but there will be an explanation with Jade and Jaune next chapter as to why she did what she did in the Pokémon battle.

As for Nicholas, I'm not trying to write him as public enemy #1, I see him as the more concerned parent. One that wants to see his son safe and sound as the Pokémon world is not a nice place for really any humans.

I mean sure it's pretty wild and can be neat to observe when traveling from place to place, but sometimes that shit can be scary on different levels. Especially when you are roughing it out on their turf.

And well old Nicky is just your typical concerned parent who is trying to force his ideals of tradition onto his son nonetheless, but does care about his son in the protective sense and uses this excuse to keep him safe.

Of course in these beginning chapters that could be further from the case. But he does care in his own way.

As for the fight, how did you enjoy the battle? I like to keep things tactical and not just cookie-cutter and plain commands here and there and 'poof' the battle is finished like in the games all the time.

Nah, fuck that noise! I want to make certain battles dynamic and expressive and high stakes sometimes like in the anime. Tried to put that tactical spin and utilize different ways to make moves work and effective than just an old Plain Jane attack. Also didn't want Aron going down too fast, so we had to pull out some kinds of tricks and strategy.

And sure Aron lost the battle, but I did want to give the little guy some powerful moves indicative of the level he is at currently in this junction. Also, I just want my readers here to know that each Pokémon will have only six moves max in this story.

I didn't want to make it four and I thought five wasn't really enough, I thought six moves was the sweet spot for all the Pokémon in this story.

Finally, don't worry I will put a description of Aron's ability, move set, and nature in the next chapter if you guys are curious about that kind of stuff.

So how did you like the chapter? Like it? Love it? Hate it? You let me know in the comment section of the story.

Want to get to me and talk about stuff, just PM me, and I will try to answer any question as soon as I am able. Whether it's about this story or one of my other ones, I will try to answer as best as I can when it comes to the stories I have.

Well, with all that said and done, I will see you all in the next chapter of the story, this is Irongiant9000 and I'll catch you on the flip side! Have a good day everyone!

Next Chapter: Chapter 5: On The Road