RIGHTEOUS VENOM

Pokemon Fan Fiction
By: Scy Storm
ssbs.furrynet.com

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is my entry for the AGNPH monthly theme regarding insects and serpentine-shaped Pokemon! I had a lot of fun with this one, and decided to do something PMD2-themed and action-packed like one of my favorite stories I've written, Operation Snowpoint. Even added a little romance into the proceedings as well. There may be a bonus chapter to follow. ;)

INEVITABLE DISCLAIMER: No sex in this fic, but there is a damn decent amount of mild violence. It also helps to have a little familiarity with PMD2, but it's not necessary.

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"Item fetching, item fetching... That's pretty much all I'm seeing."

It's a relatively quiet early afternoon in Wigglytuff's Guild, a few pokemon hustling their way back up the ladder to the entrance level, while a lone Scyther eyes the job board, his team waiting nearby with a mild air of annoyance. "Can't the kecleon brothers start stocking some of this garbage already?" asks the Seviper.

"Their stock seems to lean heavily toward apples and seeds," replies a Ariados, a Joltik taking residence on her back.

"I trip over those damn things every day," the snake notes.

"Trip? With what legs?"

"Just shut up, you two," the scyther blurts out in annoyance as he walks away from the job board.

The two go quiet and stare at their annoyed leader, the joltik perking up a little atop his bigger ride. "So are we going to go fetch seeds or somethin'? I'm wasn't paying attention..."

"No, we're going to not do a damn thing, it looks like," the scyther replies.

"Oh come on, Orison! I want some action, even if it means fetching a kid a gummi or two," the snake snaps out, his voice punctuated with an agitated hiss.

The scyther blinks a few times, and then just sighs. It's been a little too long and he knows it. He just feels like these kinds of tasks are below he and his team by this point. "Alright, Rithe. Perhaps we can check the-"

"Oh my gosh! He's back!" a voice sounds out, somewhat hushed, cutting off the scyther.

Orison twitches a little, noticing Sunflora and Bidoof of the guild standing nearby, eyes fixated on the outlaw board across the room. The mantis' team turns to see a rather imposing figure standing before the board. It's a Blaziken, arms crossed across his chest, a serious look in his eyes as he scans them across the many pages on the board. A large pack is strapped across his chest and hanging next to one hip, made of well-made & possibly fireproof material. "Uh, who is that? He looks scary!" the joltik asks, without a hint of fright.

"That's Wildfire! At least, that's the name he gives, yup yup." Bidoof states.

"He's a very famous solo explorer who doesn't come around here very much. We saw him meeting with the Guildmaster earlier!" Sunflora adds.

"I heard he got Guildmaster Rank all by himself, yup yup." Bidoof says.

"You really believe that tripe?" the ariados asks.

Orison stares at the blaziken for a moment before grunting. "Well, with a guy like him scanning the outlaw board, no need for us to bother with it. Come on, team."

The scyther doesn't bother waiting for a reply and goes straight for the ladder. Rithe quickly follows, their ariados partner sighing in annoyance before following. The scyther is able to make it down the road in front of the guild before his team catches up. "Stop already!" the large spider calls out.

Orison stops and turns to his team, grumbling a little. "Sorry, Virula. I'm just annoyed."

"I think we all are, don't worry," she replies.

"I'm not!" the joltik on her back exclaims, playing with the two legs on her back a little.

Virula twitches those legs in annoyance, as Rithe stares at the angered scyther for a moment, before he slithers up close to him. "I'm sorry about my outburst, Orison. I'm up for doing whatever, even if it's nothing," he says.

Orison looks down at his friend, blinking a little at how the snake is basically leaning against him. "Er, well it's alright. Don't worry about it."

Rithe smiles a little, then notices the scyther's awkward look, the snake pulling away from him, a blush hiding in the black scales of his cheeks. Virula notices the proceedings, quietly chuckling to herself. "S-So what do we do now then?" Rithe asks.

The scyther shrugs a little bit. "I guess we can just go back to the den and try the board tomorrow," he answers.

His companions nod a little, save for the joltik, who is just humming to himself. Then, almost as soon as the group turns to walk into the wilderness, they hear some commotion coming from the nearby foliage. The team perks their heads up and stares. "What is that?" the joltik asks.

"It sounds like someone is... running?" Virula notes.

A moment later, a figure comes stumbling into view, falling to the ground in front of the explorers. The group quickly recognizes it as a Leavanny, who appears to be injured. Orison takes a few steps forward. "A-Are you alright?" he asks.

The leavanny raises herself up to her knees, panting and looking around the immediate area on the path behind the team, which strikes the ariados as odd. "Th-The path? I'm not followed, am I?" the frightened girl says, as she looks behind her.

"I don't hear anyone. You're okay. What happened?" Rithe asks as he slithers up nearby.

The panting leavanny raises back up to her feet. "M-My sewaddles, we were in Apple Woods collecting apples, and t-then we were attacked..." she stammers out.

"Calm down. Who attacked you?" Orison asks.

"I... I don't know, they just came so fast, and... Oh god, my sewaddles, they're kidnapped!" the leavanny says, panic coursing through her words as her body starts shaking.

Orison and Rithe gasp, while Virula continues to be suspect. "This just happened? They couldn't have gotten far," Rithe notes.

"Don't worry, miss, we'll take them out for you!" Orison states.

The leavanny appears to visibly brighten up. "Y-You will? Oh, goodness... Who are you wonderful dears?"

"I'm Orison, with my fellow explorers Rithe, Virula, and Voltaic-"

"I'm Voltaic!" the joltik suddenly interrupts, hopping upward a little.

"... and together, we're Team Righteous Venom!" the scyther continues.

"Team Righteous Venom?" the leavanny notes.

"It's a work in progress," Rithe says.

"I suggested Team No Hands, but it's just not as heroic-sounding," Virula says, sarcastically.

"R-Regardless! We'll get your family back, pronto!" Orison states matter-of-factly.

The leavanny beams and steps forward, hugging herself up against the mantis. "Oh, my hero!"

Orison's cheeks grow bright red from this, his snake companion staring at the hug with jealousy in his eyes. The mantis is left speechless for a moment before the leavanny pulls off, shaking his head a few times and coming together. "R-Right, go to the guild for help, we'll be back soon... Come on team!"

The mantis takes off running past her, Rithe following quickly. Virula gives a curious & somewhat untrustworthy glance toward the leavanny before scuttling off after her partners. The leavanny turns and watches them disappear into the wilderness, a smirk raising over one side of her face. "Good luck, explorers..." she says quietly.



Deep into the Apple Woods, the team of heroes slows themselves down to catch their breath, Virula scuttling up to her faster companions. "I realize you're in a hurry, but try not to leave me in the dust, guys," she says annoyingly.

"I shoulda jumped on one of them, I bet I would have got a lot of static!" Voltaic exclaims.

The two larger males breathe a little bit and move at a slower but hustled pace so Virula can keep up, and also to conserve their energy for what they assume will be a battle against the kidnappers. "Sorry, Virula. Let's just hustle and keep our eyes open," Orison states.

The group makes their way through the bright woods, hardly seeing any signs of life, let alone nefarious criminals with a kidnapping victim. Rithe quietly finds it odd that nothing is even peeking out of the trees. After a moment, Virula voices her concern. "I don't like this," she says.

"What do you mean?" Rithe asks.

"That leavanny. I got a weird vibe from her," Virula explains.

"Weird vibe? She was a victim of an attack, and we have to help her out," Orison states.

Rithe looks over at him, hissing in annoyance. "Don't just toss aside her observance, Orison, her perceptions have helped us before," he exclaims.

"Observance based on what?"

"Why does it matter?!" Rithe snaps at him.

Orison glances at him angrily. "What matters is finding out who did this!"

"What's got you so fog-headed, Orison? Is it because she hugged you like that?"

The scyther erks a little, feeling his cheeks warming up a bit, quickly letting out a bit of a growl at the snake to try and cover for it. "N-No! I'm just eager to help!"

Behind the two, Voltaic shivers a little bit atop the spider girl. "Why are they fighting?" he asks with a worried voice.

Virula lets out an annoyed sigh. "Hey, guys!" she yells, her yell falling on deaf ears.

"Yeah right, a damsel in distress throws herself at 'her hero' and here we are marching into danger," Rithe exclaims.

The scyther growls out again. "What do you care, Rithe?!"

"I care about YOU, Orison, and I'm not going to let you ignore the rest of your team!"

Orison blinks a few times, trying to say something in reply, but instead he finds himself staring at the snake weirdly for his choice of words. Rithe stares back confusedly, before realizing what he just said, feeling his face going nuclear. "Er, I mean-" he stammers.

"Guys, STOP!" Virula yells.

The two stop dead in their tracks and turn to the spider, who is looking around the area. "Something is coming," she states.

The males start looking around themselves, noticing they've walked into a bit of a clearing in the apple trees, possibly some kind of main harvest spot. The team stands quietly, before hearing the sounds of many buzzing wings coming their way. Orison growls as the noise gets louder. "Beedrill!"

As if on cue, several beedrill pop out of the trees in the clearing, buzzing in the air around the team and staring them down. The tree stand close to each other, primed for battle, Virula waiting for the inevitable swarm... which doesn't come. None of the bees are attacking. "They're just floating there," Voltaic notes.

"Is... something wrong with their eyes?" Virula states, noticing how the beedrill's eyes have an odd glowing purple color, as opposed to the normal red shade.

"Are they the kidnappers?" Orison wonders out loud.

"I'm afraid there are no kidnappers," says an unknown, sinister voice.

The team turn to look at the opposite side of the clearing, only a few yards away. Emerging from the trees comes a Serperior, slithering into view before raising his upper body up high, staring straight ahead at the group with malicious intent. Rithe hisses out loudly at the slightly larger snake. "Who the hell are you?!" he spits out venomously.

The serperior does not answer, instead smiling wickedly. Then, more figures emerge from the trees, flanking either side of the large grass snake. To his left strolls out an imposing Empoleon, and to his right flutters out a Vespiquen. The hero team glances back and forth at each new foe, both of whom can be heard making soft, malicious chuckles. "Who are you? What is the meaning of... of..." Orison yells out, his voice trailing off as one more figure emerges.

The team stares in shock as none other than the leavanny from earlier struts out of the trees, grinning wickedly as she leans herself against the serperior's side. "Oh, hello again, my hero. Surprised to see me?" she states, in a sultry, yet evil tone of voice.

Orison is struck speechless, Rithe continuing to hiss as Virula pierces the ground with two of her legs. "It was a trap!" she yells.

The serperior lets out a deep chuckle before speaking, his voice very distinct despite dripping with malice. "You stand in the face of royalty. Team Royalty, to be precise. I already know all of you, so please excuse my lack of manners. I am known as king Regnant, and Regena is my queen."

The leavanny bows and twitches her antennae. "Our trusted associates, Beryl and Zarina, also make your acquaintance," she states.

The empoleon & vespiquen also make short bows. "Please excuse our deception, but we bring you here to the woods for a very special reason," Beryl states.

"It's not often that we find a worthy team, but we've been observing you for quite a while, dears," Zarina continues.

Orison's team stands quietly and teeming with anger, as the serperior lets out another deep chuckle. "We have brought you here so you may be... recruited. You are quite skilled, and would make quite valuable members of Team Royalty."

Rithe hisses loudly, as Orison can be seen focusing and trembling a little bit, a fact that is not lost on his companions. Voltaic huffs loudly and sparks a little bit on Virula's back. "Yeah right! I'm not accepting that invite!" he yells.

Loud laughs sound out from the four royals. "Perhaps you misunderstand me, little one. I am not giving you a choice," he says, his eyes gleaming with evil intent.

"Trigue!" the leavanny suddenly yells.

Upon her yell, a Hypno teleports into the middle of the clearing, raising his amulet up in front of him, which causes all of the beedrill in the area to close in around the group of heroes. "Th-They're hypnotized!" Voltaic says.

"I'm afraid we're attracting a little too much attention lately. We need some new associates to operate for us, starting with the nearby Treasure Town. You can either surrender to the process peacefully, or our psychic associate can break your minds as you lay wounded from your injuries," Regnant states.

"I greatly recommend the former," Beryl adds.

After a moment of silence, the beedrill edging ever closer, Orison gives a quick nod to his teammates. "I'm afraid we'll have to politely decline," Rithe says.

Rithe & Virula suddenly leap away, sliding underneath the swarm of beedrill, as Orison lets out a loud screech, swiping his scythes out as a charged razor wind billows out around him. The jets of air slash across the beedrill as they're simultaneously blown away, some striking the trees around the clearing, while others tumble across the ground. The group of royals lose all their smiles, and before they can react, the hypno in the middle of the clearing gets latched onto by Virula, sinking her fangs into his neck. He yells out in pain, concentrating for a moment and letting out a psychic pulse around his body, which Virula just manages to avoid. The hypno opens his eyes again, only to see the seviper in front of him, letting out a loud hiss as a toxic spray shoots out of his throat, covering the panicking psychic-type. Virula & Rithe quickly leap back toward their leader, as the hypno stumbles backward, eventually collapsing near his own leader, badly poisoned by the attacks of the two pokemon. Regnant looks down at the tapir, then back up at the heroes, rage pooling in his gaze. "Very well then. Prepare to be destroyed," he says, anger evident in his voice.

His three partners begin to move forward, eying their enemies, a wicked grin coming over Regena's face. Orison growls a little bit to the approaching warriors, knowing they may be overmatched. Then, a thought comes over him. He looks over at Virula, or specifically, the little spider on her back. "Voltaic. Go back to Treasure Town," he states.

Voltaic blinks and looks up at his leader. "What? Why?"

"These guys are too much for you. I need you to hurry back to the guild and find help, okay? We'll try to hold them off as best we can," the mantis explains.

"But..." Voltaic stammers out.

"Just do it, cute one. I'll cover your escape," Virula says.

Voltaic looks down at her for a moment, before nodding once. He hops off her back, turning to the path behind them and sparking up a little before skittering as fast as he can. Zarina notices him fleeing. "Oh no you don't!" she yells.

The vespiquen buzzes surprisingly fast, going right over the heroes, only to run right into a spider web quickly shot between the two trees by Virula. Zarina pulls herself off of it and turns to the spider. "You'll pay for your insolence," she angrily says.

Orison and Rithe position themselves with the ariados as the three villains stand around them. Beryl takes the moment to let out a loud chuckle. "You're overmatched," he notes.

"We'll see about that," Orison states.

Virula suddenly leaps up to the air above her two comrades, shooting a spider web into the empoleon's face, causing the large water-type to stumble back and try to free himself of it. Orison & Rithe turn their heads at the other two, both shooting a toxic spray, only to have the two bugfems dodge to the side and swoop in. Zarina raises her lower body upward, a group of drones coming out of her honeycomb body and dive bombing the males. Rithe swipes his sword tail at the drones, while Orison finds himself slammed into a nearby tree by the leavanny. The mantis growls and swipes one scythe at her, which she acrobatically backflips away from, landing gracefully to her feet and grinning at him. "Why so violent, dear? Aren't you going to rescue my sewaddles?" she taunts.

The scyther growls once, before his muzzle curls into a smirk. "Soon I'll have you crying to someone else for rescue, you witch," he taunts back.

This seems to actually strike a nerve, the leavanny losing her grin and swiping forward at him with surprising speed. She quickly discovers the scyther's own speed, zipping to her side and striking her away with one of his own slashes. The leavanny tumbles backward and gets to her feet, just to time to clash her sharp leaf arms with his scythes, trying to push him away from her. Orison proves to be much stronger though, beginning to press her backward toward the ground. The mantis is forced to pull back suddenly as a torrent of razor leaves comes from the leavanny, pushing him up against one of the nearby trees. Regena takes advantage as a green energy swirls around her, taking the form of two swords briefly, before she swings her leaf blade forward, only to find a slash in the bark of the tree. She quickly turns around, spotting the mantis behind her, his own swords dance swirling around him. She emits a heinous chuckle and brushes her blade hands together. "You're more fun than I thought, buggy. Let's keep it up," she says.

A few yards away, Zarina lands on her back as the weight of Virula brings her down, the ariados letting out a venomous hiss as the vespiquen grasps onto her front legs, trying to push the spider off of her while leaning her head out of the way of the venomous fangs. Virula struggles to knock the vespiquen's arms away with her other two legs, but the bee is proving to be surprisingly strong. Soon enough, Zarina is able to swing her large lower body's weight to the side, causing the spider to tumble onto her back. The vespiquen catches her bearings as Virula leaps back right-side up using the legs on her back. Zarina buzzes upward and angles her bottom toward the spider, intent on sending out her drones. It's exactly what Virula wanted, as she flips around once and fires her spider web over the honeycomb, blocking the exits for the vespiquen's personal drones. Zarina gasps, and surges with anger. "You'll pay for that!" she yells out.

Virula doesn't bother answering, instead enveloping herself in shadow and zipping quickly under the vespiquen. Zarina levitates higher off the ground, the spider's leaping attack just barely managing to miss. Virula lands, only to find herself under the brunt of a signal beam, coming from the jewel-like crest on the bee queen's head. Virula cries out in pain and fights against it, feeling her feet dragging through the grass a little, before the beam ends, the spider finding herself shoved against a tree by the vespiquen's hand. She latches her four legs around the bee's arm, hissing venomously and fighting back against the queen's surprising strength. "I've always liked crushing spiders," Zarina states evilly.

Rithe slithers as fast as he can, seeing Virula pinned to the tree, but a blast of water goes across his pathway before he can reach her, forcing the snake to roll back out of reflex. The empoleon suddenly jets in front of him, blocking his path to his ally, laughing down at the snake as Rithe assumes battle position. "It's pointless, serpent. I am immune to your attacks," he taunts.

Rithe coils himself up, his body glowing with energy as he tightens his focus. "Not all of them. Don't expect me to yield to the likes of you!" the snake replies.

Beryl just laughs again and jets with great speed toward the snake. Rithe springs into the air, spinning as his tail blade strikes the back of the empoleon's hard head, surrounded in a dark energy. The penguin grunts out in annoyance, but still barely seems phased, slashing his large arms at the snake as he falls back to earth. Rithe is able to curl his body just enough to dodge the swipe, landing and swiping another dark slash at the penguins midsection. Beryl recoils briefly, then is able to clash one of the slashes with his own swipe, knocking the snake slightly off-balance. The empoleon goes for a makeshift grapple with his flippers, only to get a toxic spray in his face. It doesn't affect him, but it does make him lose sight of the snake for just a moment as he wipes it off. He glances around him briefly, before feeling the snake land on him from above, Rithe wrapping his lower body around the penguin's neck firmly. Beryl grunts and finds his steady steel-type defense failing him due to the very tight coil of the snake on a sensitive area. Rithe growls as he squeezes as hard as he can, intent on putting the penguin to sleep and knocking him out of the fight. Instead, a whirlpool of water begins rushing around the water-type, Rithe struggling to keep up his hold, but he gets his head knocked around too much by the buffeting of the whirling current. He falls off the penguin and lands to the ground, squirming about to get himself righted, only to cry out in pain as one of the empoleon's mighty flippers slams down on him. "I don't take too kindly to someone choking the life out of me, serpent," Beryl states coldly.

Orison lands to his stomach hard, as Regena lands atop his back, sliding her leaf blade across his back teasingly and cackling a little. The scyther is definitely speedy, but he underestimated just how experienced the leavanny is, lending her to be almost as fast as him, and also adept at reading his attacks. He lifts his head off the ground and looks in front of him, seeing Rithe pinned by the penguin, and Virula trying to avoid a swarm of drones from the vespiquen, the drones having been able to work the webbing off of their host queen. The mantis clenches his teeth and growls. The royals managed to pull them apart into 1-on-1 fights, and the scyther knows they won't get the upper hand this way. Time to get creative. He hears another cackle from the leavanny as she raises her blade up. "Let's see how you like this one, bug boy," she states.

The scyther grunts and suddenly extends his wings, buzzing them hard and loudly, causing the leavanny to recoil backward to avoid the buffeting sonic wave. This gives Orison the spot he needs, leaping to his feet and speeding forward toward his friends. He screeches out, shocking the vespiquen from the noise, just before she's splashed by a toxic spray. She recoils, her drones dispersing in a panic. Orison immediately speeds to the empoleon next, hitting him in the back as hard as he can with all his body weight, knocking the rather large penguin off-balance. Rithe is able to slither away from the flipper before the heavy water-type falls on him. The scyther stops near the middle of the clearing, as Rithe and Virula slink up to his side, the penguin getting up awkwardly. "Why you...!"

The empoleon approaches the group, along with the vespiquen & leavanny, the two royal ladies looking quite annoyed. Orison glances to both of his partners, who catch his glance and nod, no words needing to be exchanged, the three reading their toxic attacks. All three royals charge, the seviper aiming his toxic spray at the vespiquen, who flutters slightly upward to avoid it. The leavanny abruptly recoils backward to avoid the spray from Virula, while Beryl takes the mantis' spray head on, showing his immunity. Rithe acts quickly, Orison leaping to the side as a sweeping strike of the snake's large tail nails the empoleon's legs mid-run. The off-balance empoleon is then struck by Orison's body weight, sending him crashing into the leavanny. Zarina swoops in, Virula firing some webbing at her, which the bee queen dodges to the side, only for her flight path to go out of whack. She nearly tumbles to the ground, groaning as the toxic spray the scyther got her with is taking effect. "Now!" Orison yells.

He and Virula leap forward, both connecting back-to-back with x-scissor attacks, causing the vespiquen to cry out and hit the ground. Rithe's body then comes down, slamming Zarina's upper body into the ground. The snake quickly wraps himself around her, stabbing his tail into the ground for leverage, then shifting his weight to literally throw the poisoned bee at her allies. Beryl stands up awkwardly, Regena getting up from under him and seeing what's coming, just managing to tumble out of the way as the queen bee slams into the penguin, leaving him to drop to the ground, stunned. The leavanny manages to get back to her feet, just in time for the speedy scyther to slash her back down to the ground. He's quickly flanked by his snake & spider allies, their fangs dripping with venom. "Let's see how you like this, queeny," Orison taunts.

"ENOUGH!" sounds out a loud voice.

The three heroes raise their heads, just in time to leap out of the way of a giant green tail swinging across where they just were. The team regroups, staring down a rather angry serperior slithering in front of the leavanny protectively. "I've seen quite enough of this," he says, his voice at its most vile-sounding yet.

"I forgot about him," Rithe admits.

"I underestimated you three. Allow me to rectify my mistake, personally," the large snake states.



"Help, help, someone!"

The little electric bug skitters tiredly into the treasure town pathway, at the spot where he and his group met the leavanny. He stops to catch his breath, looking to the right and seeing the guild in the distance. After a moment, his fur cackles with energy as he scuttles his way toward the guild, stopping at the guard post. "Help meeee!" he screeches out.

"W-Whoa! A joltik screaming for help!" says the guard Diglett down below.

Voltaic stays put, panting over the guard station opening, and after a moment the guild gates open to reveal a few members of the guild, flanked by Chatot. "Squawk! Voltaic, what's going on? Didn't your team leave here a while ago?" Chatot inquires.

"Why are you back and making such a RACKET?" Loudred yells.

"My team, my friends, they're in trouble! I need help... oof, I used all my energy..." Voltaic says, trying to generate some static, but finding himself unable.

"I-In trouble?" Chatot asks.

"We went to help this leavanny, and it was a trap, and there was this big scary snake, and.. oof..." Voltaic manages to sputter out.

Chatot suddenly squawks loudly and flaps. "What did you say?!"

"I heard that!" states a voice from inside the guild.

The guild members turn to see Wildfire, the blaziken explorer come walking out of the entrance, showing up for the commotion. The joltik looks up at him as he approaches. "A leavanny? A big green snake, serperior perhaps?" The blaziken asks him.

"Y-Yeah. I guess." Voltaic says.

The blaziken clenches his fists. "That's them! Chatot, you know what to do! I have to hurry!"

Chatot squawks and nods several times. "Yes, yes! Go now!" he replies, before flapping his wings and flying off elsewhere.

Wildfire reaches down and picks up the tired electric bug. "Where are they?" he asks.

"A-Apple Woods. Not far!"

The blaziken nods, putting the electric spider on his back. "Then maybe I still have time. Here, absorb some static off of me as I run there."

"You got it!"

Wasting no more time, the blaziken takes off running as fast as he can, down the road and into the wilderness.



"We're not afraid of you! As a team, we can beat anything!" Orison yells.

"Then show me your mettle!" Regnant replies.

The scyther zips toward the snake, as his two partners fire their toxic sprays. The serperior swiftly coils his body in such a way to dodge the toxic blasts, then shifting his body once more to dodge the scyther's slash. The shocked mantis is barely able to recover from his slash before part of the serperior's long body closes around him, causing him to cry out in pain. Virula leaps to the air and shoots her webbing toward the royal's face, as Rithe springs off the ground for a physical attack. Regnant simply moves his head to the side, dodging the webbing, and then bringing it back hard to headbutt the seviper out of the air, sending the somewhat smaller snake tumbling away. His body lets go of the scyther, swinging his tail swiftly, catching Virula as she lands from her jump, wrapping it around her. The ariados screeches in pain, squirming in the grasp and attempting to bite him anywhere she can, but can't reach with her fangs. A wicked grin spreads across the serperior's face as he swings his tail to the side, slamming the spider into a nearby tree. Virula screams out in pain, falling to the ground unconscious as the tail lets her go. "V-Virula! You bastard!" Orison stutters out.

Regnant brings his tail back around to smash the scyther off of his feet, Orison yelling in pain as he lands on the ground hard. Rithe rights himself back up, coiling into a battle position and staring down the larger snake. The serperior shifts his attention that way, continuing to grin maliciously as he slowly, almost teasingly slithers his way toward the seviper. "You're all weakened thanks to my associates. Not that it would have mattered either way. Why do you still fight me?" he says.

"I'll... never surrender!" Rithe yells back.

"I beg to differ," Regnant responds simply.

The serperior throws his head back briefly, before thrusting it forward, a storm of energy and leaves blasting out of his mouth. Rithe cries out and feels himself buffeted and blasted backward by the incredibly strong attack, eventually pinned up against a tree for a few moments, collapsing forward when the attack ends. The serperior lets off a wicked laugh, before abruptly crying out in pain. He turns his head around, seeing one of Orison's scythes sinking into his flesh, a green glow dissipating from the panting mantis. An almost demonic growl sounds out of the snake as he flicks his body upward, sending the scyther flying. Orison tries to get to his feet, but his fatigue has sapped away his speed. Instead, he feels the serperior's tail wrap around his neck, letting out a choking noise as he's lifted into the air, blood running down the snake's body from the slash wound. A ways behind the serperior, Orison can see the other members of Team Royalty coming to, Zarina still obviously poisoned and trying to resist it. Regnant leans his head in closer to the mantis, staring into the scyther's face with a look of pure malice. "That was the last straw, bug. If you will not surrender, then I will choke the very life out of you," the snake states, quietly and deliberately.

Rithe fights himself back up off the ground, tears falling from his eyes, gazing forward and seeing Orison being hung up by the serperior, the mantis futilely trying to squirm out of the grip. Rage fills the seviper at this sight, a burst of adrenaline flowing through him and bringing a quick burst of energy back to his muscles. Mustering all the speed he can, he jets across the clearing, coiling up and springing off the ground. "Leave him ALONE!!" he screams.

Regnant gasps at that sudden yell, before screaming incredibly loudly as the two giant fangs of the seviper sink deep into his neck. Orison sees it, feeling the serperior's tail let go of his neck, the mantis falling limp to the ground. The serperior screams again in incredible anger as he swings his upper body with all the force he can, the seviper's burst of strength wearing off as he goes flying right to the empoleon, landing with a tumble near his feet. The serperior turns and looks in that direction, seething with rage as blood runs down his neck. "Beryl! Gut that accursed snake and hang his intestines from the trees!" he screams.

The empoleon chuckles heartily. "With pleasure..." he replies.

Orison tries to get up, only to immediately fall back on his chest, tears falling down his eyes. "Rithe, no..." he stammers out weakly.

Beryl raises one of his flippers to attack the defenseless snake, and suddenly a yellow blur comes sailing across the battlefield, nailing the empoleon square in the face. It's Voltaic, the spider catching his bearings and clutching the empoleon as he sparks with static. "Surprise!" he yells out.

The electric spider screeches out as he unleashes a huge blast of electric energy, Beryl screaming out in agony as his entire body is enveloped, Regena & Zarina having to back away from the discharge. The serperior stares in disbelief as the empoleon drops unconscious, the joltik flopping on the ground after using up all his energy. "What is this?!" The serperior yells.

He turns his attention to the woods, as Wildfire the blaziken comes running in with great speed, after having thrown the joltik to save the seviper. Regena & Zarina see him coming and panic. "Oh no!!" Zarina yells.

The vespiquen manages to buzz away in time, as a flaming roundhouse smashes the leavanny, sending her flying, unconscious before she hits the ground. The serperior looks on with an actual look of fright. "N-No! It can't be!" he cries out.

Wildfire says nothing, just staring down the serperior for a moment, before his eyes turn to see the vespiquen flying in the air. The poisoned bee acts out of desperation, summoning the drones out of her honeycomb. "You can't... have me!" she screams.

With the drones buzzing toward him, the blaziken rears his head back, and then screeches as a blast of flame shoots out of his beak. The drones disperse immediately, the blast immediately nailing the screaming vespiquen out of the air to join her unconscious allies. He turns his attention back to Regnant once more, the serperior seething with anger and fear. "There's no way the joltik could have found you!" he surmises.

"You underestimate me. I trailed your group all the way to Treasure Town, and then the trail went cold. Lucky for me, you were trying to 'recruit' some allies. Looks like that backfired," the blaziken explains.

Orison raises his head weakly, his own allies coming to and watching the confrontation from their own spots. The serperior tries to slither backward as the blaziken walks toward him, the angry snake feeling his strength rapidly fail as the poison from the seviper's bite infects him. "You'll never catch us, bird. We'll always get away..." he states.

"Well thanks to these young heroes, it looks like I have quite the advantage... Let's see if you can make good on what you just said, hm?" Wildfire states.

With a burst of speed, the blaziken zips toward the serperior. Regnant panics and dodges downward as the blaziken leaps over him. The snake then spins around as fast as he can, which isn't fast enough as a blaze kick strikes him clear in the jaw. Weakened severely by the attacks from the scyther & seviper, the large grass snake drops to the ground hard, his body going limp. Wildfire lowers his foot down and smirks. "Guess that's that," he says.

The serperior looks up at him angrily, but then slowly curls his muzzle into a grin, his anger giving way to laughter. Wildfire looks at him in confusion. He then backs away swiftly as the serperior's body is surrounded in a purple glow. The blaziken looks up to see the other three unconscious allies also surrounded in the glow, and then turns around, seeing the culprit: Trigue, the hypno! The psychic, still suffering the effects of poison, holds his amulet out, glowing just like the others as he laughs weakly at the bird. "B-Better luck next time, chicken!" he manages to say.

Wildfire just stands perfectly still, the hypno continuing to laugh, before he's suddenly blasted by a bolt of thunder, causing him to drop the teleport spell. The serperior's eyes widen. "W-What?!" he cries.

The blaziken gives a laugh of his own. "I asked a little birdy for a favor," he says, as officer Magnezone and several pairs of Magnemite swoop down on the clearing.

Orison & Rithe smile widely as the law swoops in, Magnezone hovering near the blaziken. "ZZZT! Officer Magnezone here to assist, sir explorer! ZZZT!"

"I appreciate it, officer. Round them up, I have some heroes that could use some help," Wildfire replies, one of his hands manipulating the bag he's had strapped across his chest the whole time.

The blaziken walks to Orison first, pulling a potion out of his bag and spraying it over the injured scyther. The mantis can feel his strength returning rapidly, picking himself off the ground and to his knees. "Th-Thank you so much, Wildfire..." he says.

"No, thank you." The blaziken replies, getting up to go for the rest of Orison's teammates.

The scyther lets out a hefty sigh, almost in disbelief that the battle is over, after feeling for a moment there that he was going to get killed. He looks to his side to see a pair of magnemite generating a magnetic forcefield around the serperior, to easily carry him away to justice, while other pairs of magnemite doing the same to other members of Team Royalty. The mantis smiles happily, about to get to his feet, when suddenly a rejuvenated seviper leaps on him, causing him to lose his balance and drop to his back. "R-Rithe!" Orison stammers out.

The seviper coils once around the bug and slides his cheek against the scyther's face. "I'm so glad you're okay, Orison..." he says.

The mantis can feel himself blushing, managing a soft chuckle. "It's all because of you, Rithe. If you didn't bite him like that..." he notes.

"I don't even want to think about it," Rithe replies, pulling his head back and smiling down at the mantis.

Orison smiles back at him, and then erfs a little, feeling quite awkward all of a sudden. "So, uh, what is all this?"

The snake blushes unseen against his dark skin. "I... I wasn't lying when I said I cared about you earlier. Seeing you almost die like that, well... I thought it was over. Since we both got out alive, I decided I'm not hiding my feelings for you anymore," he explains.

The two males blush very brightly, quiet for a moment, Rithe starting to get a little worried. "W-Well, Rithe-" Orison utters, only to be interrupted.

"L-Listen, if it's too weird then we can just forget it, okay? Heheh... It's alright, and you know, no problem!" he stammers out, obviously embarrassed.

Orison blinks a few times, before flashing his friend a warm smile. "It's not THAT weird..."

The snake blinks in surprise, staring back into the mantis' eyes as an ecstatic smile spreads across his face. "R-Really?"

"When you two are done being mushy, I'd like to leave this damn place," an annoyed female voice chimes in with.

The two males look to the side to see Virula, with her ever-present joltik rider, tapping one of her legs on the ground. Rithe uncoils himself as Orison stands up, embarrassed. "Yeah yeah, fine by me," he says.

Orison & Rithe watch as Team Royalty is carried off by the officers, Voltaic perking his head up in confusion as he looks at the two of them. "What was that all about?" he asks Virula.

"Oh, that was just a little personal moment between the two. Don't worry about it," she replies.

"I don't get it..."

She chuckles a little. "Maybe when you're older and evolve, I'll let you know. Personally..."

"Oh. Well cool!" he replies, oblivious to the hidden message in her words.

The group then notices Wildfire walking up to them after discussing some details with Magnezone. The blaziken smiles at them warmly before speaking. "You were very brave to fight this group in the face of what they attempted. Your skills & quick thinking to send Voltaic back provided enough of a distraction for me to make it here and finally bring this group down. I thank you all very much, Team Righteous Venom."

The group smiles brightly, Orison nodding at the world class explorer before them. "Y-You're welcome, sir," he replies.

"Now come on, let's head back to town," the blaziken says.

"Once we get back, can we work on changing that damn name?" Virula asks.

"Sure thing, Virula..." Orison replies in an annoyed voice, as the the group leaves the fateful clearing behind.

=======================================================================

THE END

Pokemon and Cities/Locations all © Nintendo & Game Freak

~ Scy