Ruby sat under one of the autumn trees in Forever Fall. She hugged her legs and rested her head on her knees. She was physically and emotionally exhausted from the battle after catching Donphan, one of her newest Pokemon to join her team.

"Why didn't he listen to me?" Ruby mumbled to herself. "I get why he protected me, but he didn't need to go that far."

She couldn't stop thinking about it. Ruby never had any trouble getting her Pokémon to listen, not when he was a Bulbasaur or an Ivysaur. Did Pokémon grow to not like their trainers as they evolve? Or was Venusaur just angry that Donphan tried to hurt her?

"I don't know." Ruby sighed, then mumbled to herself. "I hope Blake's okay."

She and the Cat Faunus split up after Donphan ran away, likely because something spooked it. Well, something spooked her; the Donphan was confirmed to be a female. Ruby did a little search to see the difference in that her new Donphan had shorter tusks compared to a male. She also confirmed that the rest of her Pokémon, save for Zorua, are boys thanks to the Pokédex.

Zorua was still in his Pokéball. Ruby thought about letting him out since the battle with Donphan was over, but she decided to wait. Until she and Blake reunited and got out of here, it wasn't safe for him to be out.

So as Ruby waited for Blake to find her, she fiddled with her Pokédex some. It was a little behind in terms of technology, but it was an amazing device that held records of all the different types of Pokémon she ran into. A complete encyclopedia of all things Pokémon.

There were even a few tabs she didn't recognize, like the Map tab. For some reason it didn't work right and the map was all fuzzy. Maybe it was a bad connection.

Then there was her Team tab, which showed her the status of her Pokémon team. Things like their current health, their level, their stats, and other neat things. Venusaur was registered as level 34 and his health was in the yellow, while Zorua and Swallow were both in the green. But Donphan's health was dangerously in the red, so she'll need to take her to Cynthia to heal it.

Then there was the Badges tab, and it was strange to Ruby. When she clicked on it, it displayed up to eight different rows, each a different color, of eight empty slots that seem to fit some kind of shape.

"Pokédex, what are badges?" Ruby asked the device.

"Badges are items that serve as proof of a Pokémon Trainer's victory in a battle against a Gym Leader. Each badge is unique to the type of Pokémon each Gym Leader uses. Trainers need to collect a certain number of Gym Badges in order to qualify for a region's Pokémon League."

"What are Gym Leaders?"

"A Gym Leader is the highest-ranking member of a Pokémon Gym. Their main job is to test Trainers and their Pokémon to determine if they are strong and resourceful enough to take the Pokémon League challenge. If a Trainer manages to defeat a Gym Leader, they earn that Gym Leader's Badge."

"What's the Pokémon League?" That was a question Ruby had been thinking about. Cynthia mentioned it maybe once or twice, she honestly couldn't remember. She did know that Cynthia was a Pokémon League Champion, whatever that entailed.

"The Pokémon League is a group that organizes Pokémon competitions for registered Pokémon Trainers. It serves as an umbrella that oversees the regional Leagues all over the world. As of now, there are a total of 8 Regional Pokémon Leagues throughout the world. Each league has five trainers: the Elite Four and the Champion. Trainers who defeat the Champion are named the new Pokémon Champion."

All of this sounded too weird for Ruby. Eight different leagues and she hadn't heard of a single one. Perhaps no one's ever heard of them. No Gyms, no mention of Gym Badges, and especially no Pokémon League.

Not a single instance.

And yet, there was definite proof that it all existed. Zorua and the rest of her Pokémon, they all came from different regions. Zorua was from Unova, Venusaur from Kanto, Swallow from Hoenn, and Donphan from Johto. But these regions didn't appear on any of the world maps of Remnant.

"It doesn't make sense." Ruby mumbles, holding her chin in thought.

"What doesn't make sense?"

"Eeep!" Ruby jumped to her feet and dropped her Pokédex on the ground. She looked up and saw Blake had returned.

Ruby pouted her lips. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry." Blake said, "Did you catch Donphan?"

Ruby nodded and held up Donphan's Pokéball. Blake watched as Ruby eyed it with a weird conflicted look.

"Ruby? Are you okay?" She asks.

Ruby sighed and put the ball down beside her. "Not really. I'm not hurt, but... something sudden happened."

"What is it?" Blake sat down beside Ruby, wanting to hear what happened. Ruby brought out Venusaur's Pokéball out and picked up Donphan's Pokéball as well. The Silver-eyed girl looked at them both before she spoke.

"After Donphan ran off and I chased her, that Donphan's a girl by the way, I had Ivysaur battle her. It was a tough fight, and then Donphan tried to blast me. Ivysaur took the full brunt of it and saved me. I got angry and then I fought against it."

Blake remembered Cynthia telling them that engaging Pokémon in physical combat was very dangerous. She remembered back when Weiss fought against Salamence and nearly getting killed by it as a result. And then the incident when Weiss sparred against Rhyhorn, which resulted in Weiss getting pinned down and leaving the arena. It was a little different because now they understand how dangerous Pokémon are, but Rhyhorn and the others from Team Rocket were all rehabilitated. Mostly.

And then there was Cynthia warning Blake about the dangers of using Palkia. Blake brushed that memory away, not wanting to be depressed as Ruby continued to speak.

"So I fought Donphan, but then Ivysaur evolved and became Venusaur. He picked up the fight with Donphan and..." Ruby looked at Venusaur's Pokéball. "He went too far and stopped listening to me. It scared me."

Blake's eyes widen and her cat ears pressed flatly to her head. Her Pokémon stopped listening to her mid-battle?

"Has this ever happened before?"

Ruby wordlessly shakes her head. She pockets both Pokéballs before resting her head against her knees. The girl seemed to be done talking and stands up from her spot.

"I just wanna go back now. It's getting la-."

"Well, I knew this would happen." A familiar voice cuts in.

Ruby and Blake stand up, looking around to see where that voice came from. The unknown individual known as Mr. Sleuth had once again shown up, stepping out of the woods, their body covered head-to-toe without giving a hint of their identity.

Blake gets into a fighting stance, ready to draw Gambol Shroud if he so much as moved an inch. She shouts, "Who are you?!"

"Mr. Sleuth?" Ruby asks, relaxing somewhat. She didn't expect to run into him so soon.

"Ruby, you meet them before?" Blake asks in surprise. But the surprises didn't end there. Right behind them was Weiss Schnee looking her usual grumpy Ice Queen self, if not moreso than usual. Her hair was matted with sweat and dust and her clothes were ruined and dirty. But most of all, she looked tired and had the same look of exhaustion as Ruby does.

"Weiss!" Ruby ran over to Weiss in a cloud of rose petals, her hands on her partner's shoulders. "Are you okay? You look, well...um, like-"

"A mess?" Weiss offered, curtly taking Ruby's hands off her. "If so, you'd be correct. More correct than your doltish mind could possibly imagine."

"Hey! Nice things, Weiss!" Ruby admonished with a pout. Her face returns to normal when she asks, "How did you run into Mr. Sleuth?"

"I literally ran into him." Weiss commented dryly. Loathed as she was to admit, at least to herself, she had ended up getting lost after catching that Metang. She aimlessly wandered the forest, killing any Grimm that tried to sneak up on her thanks to Keo and the rest of her team.

Except one.

"I was going to say you look like you've had it rough today." Ruby chuckled, shrugging nervously.

"You try preventing yourself from being killed by a wild Pokémon, have your Pokémon evolve, and then stop listening to you during a battle! Then you will begin to grasp on how "rough" I had it!" Weiss raised her voice at Ruby as she began her tirade. But before she can get any further, Ruby cut her off.

"Wait? Your Pokémon stopped listening to you, too?"

Weiss paused. "Yes, actually. Roland evolved into Empoleon and he just ignored my orders."

"The same thing happened to me, but with Venusaur!" Ruby revealed.

As the White Rose duo conversed about their shared problem, Blake kept her eyes on Mr. Sleuth without letting her guard down. She couldn't smell anything that gave the unknown person away as good or bad. Actually, their scent was so well-hidden it might as well be non-existent. How did Ruby get involved with this enigmatic person?

As Blake wondered who or what Mr. Sleuth is, they started to speak.

"It's not as uncommon as you think." He reveals to them, gaining their attention. "Your Pokémon have reached to their highest form possible, and that means they've gained enough battle experience and training by working with you. However, it seems you yourselves haven't reach that same level of experience."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asks. Having learned from him the longest, she knew he had the answers they need.

"Your Pokémons' skill level has exceeded your own, and therefore they don't respect you enough to obey orders. They'll think about what's better for themselves and not for what's better for the both of you. THAT'S why they refused to obey your commands."

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all stared at them before Ruby pulled out Venusaur's Pokéball. She tossed it and the giant Seed Pokémon emerged. Weiss and Blake all took a step back from how massive the Pokémon grew when it was just an Ivysaur. He had to bigger than a car now, maybe even a truck.

"Is it true, Venusaur?" Ruby asks in a small voice. "Do you...not respect me anymore?"

Venusaur looked at Ruby's innocent eyes, before looking away with a guilt-ridden look. This all but confirmed Mr. Sleuth's words to be true, and that both Venusaur and Empoleon have lost a measurable amount of respect for their trainers.

Ruby deflates at this, her frown growing more despondent.

"So you mean me and Weiss aren't good trainers, then..."

"Excuse me?!" Weiss raised an offended eyebrow at the tall cloaked individual. "I may be new to this whole Pokémon thing, but I am FAR from atrocious or unbecoming of a proper Trainer."

"And what exactly do you KNOW about being a proper Trainer, Weiss?" Mr. Sleuth shot back at her, his tone unflinching and direct. "You said so yourself that you're new to this whole thing, and yet you believe you have it all figured out."

As he spoke, Mr. Sleuth pulled out three Pokéballs from their belt and tossed them up in the air. All three popped out of them to reveal three Pokemon currently on him. One of them was Mr. Sleuth's Scyther, the Mantis Pokémon. But there are two Ruby has never seen before.

The first one had a very similar appearance to a human. Its skin is a light brown color. It appears to be wearing a purple, skirt-like attire and bright red boxing gloves. Its feet are also a purple color, giving it the appearance that he is wearing shoes. Its enlarged shoulders appear as large shoulder pads. The very top of its head is separated into five sections, and its face has visible eyes and a mouth but no nose.

The second is a large, jellyfish Pokémon. It has a clear, light blue body that has two large, red orbs on either side and smaller orb in the center. Its eyes are visible in its round lower body, which is black. Extending from its lower body are two blue, beak-like appendages and numerous grayish tentacles.

"What is this?!" Blake demanded, unsheathing Gambol Shroud. Weiss did the same and pulled out Myrtenaster. These Pokémon do NOT look friendly, especially when their eyes were so intense and menacing.

The only one who didn't draw their weapon was Ruby. She knew what this was, but that didn't mean she liked it anymore than her friends did.

"You want us to battle you?"

"Correct." Mr. Sleuth nods, "But this will be different than any of your other battles you had so far. This will be your first ever Triple Battle."

"What's a Triple Battle?" Ruby asks, earning a look from Weiss and Blake. This wasn't a good time to ask questions. Although, the idea that there are different types of battles was interesting.

"As the name suggests, Triple Battles are a type of battle where each Trainer sends out three Pokémon at once." Mr. Sleuth explains, "However, since there are three of you, you will use one Pokémon: your starter Pokémon." He points at Ruby's Venusaur, "That means your Venusaur, Weiss' Empoleon, and whatever Pokémon your other friend has."

Blake's ears twitched as he pointed at her next. She stared at him warily before muttering, "Felix. He's a Torracat."

"Alright." He says, "I'd recommend putting the weapons away. You'll make my Pokémon nervous."

Scyther held up his wickedly long scythe claw up, the light gleaming off it's sharp surface. The red orbs on the jellyfish's head glowed once and the boxer Pokémon gave a few rapid test punches. These things were serious and looked seriously strong.

Weiss & Blake reluctantly sheathe their weapons and instead pulled out their Pokédexes to scan the boxing and jellyfish Pokémon.

"Hitmonchan, the Punching Pokémon. Hitmonchan specializes in punching attacks, and can move faster than the naked eye. When Hitmonchan twists its arm while throwing a punch, the blow will pulverize even concrete."

"Tentacruel, the Jellyfish Pokémon, and the evolved form of Tentacool. Tentacruel uses its 80 tentacles to capture prey and holds it until weakened from poison. Tentacruel has large red orbs on its head that glow before lashing the vicinity with a harsh ultrasonic blast. It is known as "The Gangster of the Sea.""

According to the Pokédex, they were all at level 50. They were much stronger than their own Pokémon, which were only above level 30. How could they possibly win with these odds?

"What's your game, Sleuth?" Blake asked, her tone suspicious. "Why battle us? What would this prove?"

Mr. Sleuth was silent, as if pondering the question. No doubt they were skeptical of him, especially when he had a major advantage over them. Still, there was a purpose in this.

"I'll be blunt," He speaks after a bit, "The only way your Pokémon will respect you again is by beating Gym. There are no Pokémon Gyms here, so I'll be the one to battle you." Mr. Sleuth tells them.

"And what would that prove?" Weiss asks, still skeptical. She was the one she ran into at the CCT Tower in Vale City.

"Whether or not you're as accomplished as you think you are." He replies, not missing a beat. "I'll even make it worth your time since my Pokémon are nearly twice as strong as yours. If you can beat at least one of them, I'll give all three of you a prize. Nothing happens if you lose, but you'll definitely want to win."

All three girls looked at each other. Was he for real? Did he seriously underestimate them because they weren't as strong as him? Or...was he the real deal, like Cynthia?

"What do we get if we win?" Ruby asked hesitantly. She only trained with him a few times, but she never got a chance to battle him. Not seriously anyway.

"You're catching Pokémon, right?" Mr. Sleuth asks. All three of the girls nodded. "Well, if you can beat at least one of my Pokémon, I'll give all three of you one Pokémon as a reward for beating me if you beat me."

That was...definitely a prize worth winning. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake exchanged glances, weighing the risks. The mysterious Mr. Sleuth seemed confident, yet his motives remained shrouded in mystery.

"Why are you even doing this to begin with?" Blake asks, not dropping her suspicions of him. Ruby was innocent and naive, so she can't trust her judgement about this person. Weiss was also suspicious, but Blake had more experience dealing with people like him. Or her, if they were just a really tall female and just so happen to use "Mr." to throw them off.

"I have my reasons." Is all they said, brushing her suspicions off. "Now, are you ready to battle or what?"

All three girls stood there, staring at him. Weiss and Blake turn to look at Ruby, who nodded and brought out Venusaur's ball.

"Alright, we accept your challenge." Ruby says, determination in her silver eyes. Weiss and Blake look at each other before sheathing their weapons. Then they took out their respective Pokéballs out.

All three girls tossed their Pokéballs up in the air before they pop open. Their starter Pokémon appeared on the battlefield.

"Saur!" "Pol!" "Mrawwr!" Ruby's Venusaur and Weiss' Empoleon stood tall, overshadowing Blake's Torracat. The two fully evolved Pokémon look at each other, recognizing each other from their previous evolutions. Then they look to the three Pokémon Mr. Sleuth had out on the field and knew this was a battle.

"This will be a three on three battle with no time limit. Once your Pokémon is knocked out, you're out of the battle. There will be no switching out Pokémon." Once Mr. Sleuth finishes laying down the rules for this Triple Battle, he brings a hand out to the girls. "You all get the first turn."

"Alright, let's do this!" Ruby says.

"Venusaur, use Petal Blizzard on Hitmonchan!" Ruby calls out, starting the battle off with her first attack.

"Saaaaur!" Multiple pink petals circle around Venusaur's body, eventually growing into a tornado of pink petals that Venusaur directs at Hitmonchan. Mr. Sleuth didn't seem worried at all and was quite to respond.

"Scyther, protect Hitmonchan with X-Scissor!" He instructed.

"Scy!" Scyther crosses its scythes and they start to glow light purple. It then flies toward the opponent and slices them in an 'X'-like fashion.

The X-Scissor attack cuts cleanly through the Petal Blizzard attack like a hot knife through butter. The attack continues to move forward until it hits Venusaur directly over his wide head, making the Seed Pokemon grunt in pain and be pushed back.

"Venusaur!" Ruby cries out. She was shocked that her attack had been overpowered so badly.

Venusaur digs his feet into the ground, slowing his momentum until the attack dissipates. Once it did, Venusaur was slightly disoriented.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asks, worried for her Pokemon. The attack wasn't super effective, but it was still pretty strong.

"Saur!" Without looking back, Venusaur shakes it off and gets back in the battle. He seems determined to continue despite the initial setback. Ruby can't help worrying, but she trusted her Pokémon.

Blake and Weiss exchange a quick look, having studied Mr. Sleuth's Pokémon. The weak link in his team was Scyther, a Bug-type. Weiss and Blake's Pokémon stood a better chance against it than the others, since Roland knew a Flying-type move and Felix was a Fire-type. But they had to be careful with Tentacruel and Hitmonchan. They knew moves that could definitely deal massive damage to their Pokémon.

Blake takes the opportunity to issue her command. "Felix, use Incinerate on Scyther!"

"Mrawr!" Torracat lets out a powerful burst of flames from its mouth at Scyther. He was wide open for attacking. The intense flames rush toward the Mantise Pokémon.

Mr. Sleuth doesn't appear to be too concerned, though. "Tentacruel, counter with Sludge Bomb!"

"Tentacruel!" Tentacruel reacts quickly to the command, releasing a blob of toxic sludge from its tentacles to intercept the Fire Cat Pokémon's attack. The two attacks collide mid-air, creating a spectacular explosion of fire and sludge.

As the smoke begins to clear, both Scyther and Tentacruel are seen still standing, unharmed, and ready for their next commands from Mr. Sleuth.

Weiss, seeing the situation, decides to take her turn. "Empoleon, use Drill Peak on Hitmonchan!"

Weiss expected her Pokémon to listen to her command. Flying-type moves were super effective against Fighting-types, something she expected her Pokémon to understand. Even a dolt like Ruby, bless her heart, could understand that.

Instead, the exact opposite happened.

Disobeying Weiss, Roland instead went after Scyther and used Aqua Jet. Now, had he used Drill Peck on Scyther that would have been forgivable. But no, he didn't even give Weiss that bit of satisfaction.

Water surrounds the Emperor Pokémon's body and it pushed off the ground. He rocketed toward Scyther, catching the Mantis Pokémon off guard.

"Scy?!" Scyther let out a surprised cry as Roland charges into it, causing significant damage.

"Alright, great job!" Ruby cheered, happy they were able to land a hit. Aqua Jet allowed the user to move first, ignoring how fast the other Pokémon was.

Blake was also glad they managed to deal some damage. Whether it was intentional or not, it at least gave them a slim headstart.

But Weiss was fuming. The Heiress clenched her fists, frustrated that her Pokémon disobeyed her again.

"Roland, that was not the command I gave you!" She shouted.

"Pol." Roland turned away from Weiss. Ruby and Blake look at Weiss, who's face was growing red.

"It seems your Pokémon has a mind of its own. That can be both an advantage and a liability in battles." Mr. Sleuth says, "Like so: Hitmonchan, use Thunder Punch on Empoleon!"

Weiss snapped out of her frustration as soon as Mr. Sleuth made his move. Hitmonchan's gloved fists crackled with electrical energy as it charged Roland with a Thunder Punch. Weiss quickly refocused on the ongoing battle.

"Roland, dodge and use Brine!" she commanded, desperate to avoid the attack. But Roland just stood his ground, not interested in listening to Weiss. The punch landed, causing a surge of electricity to course through the Emperor Pokémon's body.

"Polllll!" The Water and Steel-type Pokémon cried, the Electric attack doing super effective damage to him.

"Roland!" Weiss cried out as she watched her Pokémon get knocked down by the Punching Pokémon.

"Polll..." Roland grunted, slowly getting back up on his feet. His body was trembling in pain from the electric attack.

Blake quickly made her next move. "Felix, use Bite on Tentacruel!"

"Rawr!" Felix breaks into a dash as he runs right for Tentacruel. The Fire Cat Pokémon leaps into the air and his teeth glow a white aura. The Jellyfish Pokémon looks up as Felix prepares to bite down hard on Tentacruel.

"Tentacruel, use Acid Armor!" Mr. Sleuth calls out.

"Cruuuel," Tentacruel's body glows purple and grows flat on the ground. Felix bites down on Tentacruel's head, but it barely did any damage. The Jellyfish Pokémon didn't even flinch. Felix jumped back, frustrated by the outcome.

"It didn't work?!" Blake exclaimed in disbelief. Her Pokémon's Bite attack, while not that strong, should have done some damage.

"Acid Armor not only protects it from the Bite attack, but also increases its Defense and Special Defense significantly." Mr. Sleuth explains to the Cat Faunus.

"Now, Scyther, use Double Team." Mr Sleuth gave his next command to the Mantis Pokémon.

Scyther, already in motion, creates multiple illusory copies of itself that surround the battlefield, making it challenging for any of Team RWBY's Pokémon to pinpoint the real target.

"There are so many of them!" Weiss says, surprised.

"Don't panic! Only one of them is real!" Ruby tells them. She was familiar with this move, and knew the other Scyther were just afterimages. Still, they can all attack at once.

"Now Scyther, use Air Slash on Venusaur!" Mr. Sleuth orders.

Scyther and its copies suddenly dash towards Venusaur with incredible speed. Their scythes glow light blue, and they start firing multiple light-blue, glowing energy blades at their opponent. The Seed Pokémon is caught off guard by the swarm attacking him. The Scyther duplicates' blindingly fast attacks make it difficult for Venusaur to defend, causing them to attack from all sides.

"Saur!" Venusaur gets hit by one Air Slash attack from a copy. Then another, and another. The swarm overwhelms Venusaur, who tried desperately to avoid them but was simply too slow.

"Oh no! Venusaur!" Ruby watched in anguish as her Pokémon was repeatedly struck by Scyther's slashes.

Blake and Weiss could only watch in shock as well. They aren't doing too well against Mr. Sleuth's. They needed to come up with a strategy to turn the tide of this battle.

But how?

"It seems your Pokémon aren't the only ones struggling." Mr. Sleuth interrupted her thoughts. "Remember, their disobedience is a reflection of your own inexperience as trainers. That goes for you Ruby and Weiss." They point at the White Rose duo. "If you can't understand the hearts and feelings of your teammates, you have no hope of getting stronger."

Mr. Sleuth's words stung Ruby like a wasp. Weiss looked indignantly at them.

"Excuse me?!" Weiss huffed, disgust in her tone. "I may be new to this whole Pokémon thing, but I am NOT incompetent!"

The silver-eyed girl blocked out Weiss' rant. As the Team Leader, she can't let herself get distracted. Nor can she let her own doubts cloud her judgment. However, something Mr. Sleuth said stuck with her. Understand the heart and feelings of her teammates. Did they mean Blake and Weiss? Or...

Ruby's eyes turn to her Venusaur. He's still being swarmed by the Scyther clones. His eyes were closed shut while tanking their attacks.

Ruby closed her own eyes, and the scene around her turns black. She opened them, seeing it was just her and Venusaur, who still felt out of reach.

"Venusaur...I'm sorry." She spoke to her Pokémon, prompting it to turn around. His stare was neutral.

"You didn't mean to disobey when Donphan attacked me." Ruby says. "You were only trying to protect me. But you lost control of yourself, and you scared me."

Venusaur continued to stare, his expression unchanged. Ruby resumed.

"I was scared because...I didn't want you to do anything reckless because of me. Like Zorua did against Mewtwo."

Ruby shivered at the memory of facing such a malevolent Pokémon.

"You took that Hyper Beam for me, and I can't thank you enough. But, I can't let my friends keep throwing themselves in danger for my sake."

Ruby walked over to the Seed Pokémon. Once she closes the distance, she puts a hand on his big forehead. She feels bumpy his blue-green skin was against her palm.

"I'm sorry you got hurt because of me. From now on, I'll work much harder to be the very best Trainer and Friend to you."

She promised, closing her eyes again. A tear begins falling from her eye, but a thick vine catches it. Ruby opened her eyes to see Venusaur staring back at her.

"Venusaur." He rumbled deeply, his wide mouth turning into a grin. Ruby smiles and hugs Venusaur's face, who closed his eyes.

"Thank you, Venusaur." She says, "Now, let's win this match together!"

Ruby opened her eyes back in real time, her smile wide.

"We can still win this!" Ruby cheered before throwing out her hand. She ordered, "Venusaur, swing your vines around and attack the Scyther clones!"

Venusaur's eyes snap open as he heard his trainer's voice.

"SAAAAUUUR!!" He roared and sprouted dozens of vines from the flower on its back. The vines lash out in all directions, sweeping through the battlefield like a wind storm. The vines strike and whip through the illusionary Scyther clones, causing them to disperse.

"Scy?!" The real Scyther is revealed, looking stunned as its copies disappear, leaving it open. It narrowly dodges the barrage of vines attacks. However, it didn't see the other vines coming from behind. They quickly wrap around the Mantis Pokémon, restraining it from moving.

This still gave Team RWBY a momentary advantage. Mr. Sleuth nodded, impressed by Ruby's skill.

"Blake, he's open for attack!" Ruby shouts to her teammate.

"Got it!" Blake nods, focusing her attention on Scyther. She has to seize this opportunity while it's still there.

"Oh no, you don't!" Mr. Sleuth says. He shouts an order, "Tentacruel, Poison Jab!"

"Tentacruel!" Tentacruel's many tentacles glow purple at the ends and swung them at Felix.

"Weiss, have Roland defend Blake's Pokémon!" Ruby orders her friend. Weiss nodded, hoping

"Do it Roland! Protect Felix so we can win!" Weiss ordered, hoping he would listen. This was a gamble she and the others couldn't afford to lose.

"Pol." She got a sideways glance from her Empoleon, but he did what he was told. He covers Felix as Tentacruel jabs at him with it's poisoned tentacles.

The attack has no effect on Roland due to his steel-typing. He was the perfect counter against the Jellyfish Pokémon. Empoleon attacks on his own again and uses Metal Claw, keeping Tentacruel occupied.

"Thanks, Weiss." Blake nodded gratefully before getting back to the battle. "Felix, finish this battle with Flame Charge!"

"Mrawr!" Felix yowled, slamming his paws on the ground. He kicks up a cloud of dust that covers him, then a red and yellow light glowing within. Then the Fire Cat Pokémon lunges forward, his body ignited in flames as he grows closer to the disoriented Mantis Pokémon.

"Hitmonchan, use Mega Punch!" Mr. Sleuth shouts at his other Pokémon. "Defend Scyther from Torracat!"

"Hitmon!!" Hitmonchan jumps in the air, his boxing glove growing white as he prepares to attack. With Venusaur restraining Scyther and Roland holding off Tentacruel, Felix was open for attack.

But then, The Fire Cat Pokémon starts glowing from within the Flame Charge attack. The fire surrounded him grows bigger and brighter, causing everyone to cover their eyes. Hitmonchan closed his eyes as the light stung them.

And then, something grabs hold around his glove. The fire explodes into a nova as Felix appears in a brand new form.

Felix was now a muscular, bipedal feline Pokémon resembling an anthropomorphic tiger. His colors changed from orange to red, with banded black stripes covering his arms, legs, and tail. His eyes turned green, and his paws changed into five-fingered hands with sharp claws. His gray-colored torso resembled a sleeveless muscle shirt with black markings. And to complete the new look, around his waist is a flaming red, orange, and yellow belt.

"Incineroar!!"

To be continued.

Cliffhangers, amiright? But this was the only way I could think of that will help make things more coherent in the next chapter.

But that's for me to worry about, let's go over Mr. Sleuth's two new Pokémon: Tentacruel and Hitmonchan. I wanted their Pokemon to cover both Empoleon, Venusaur, and Blake's new Incineroar. We have Scyther to cover Venusaur, Tentacruel to cover Incineroar, and Hitmonchan to cover Empoleon. I also wanted to Team RWBY to learn how to cover each other using the strengths of their Pokemon while also having them still not obey them.

Ruby has pretty much squared things away with Venusaur, but Weiss has yet to bury the hatchet with her Pokémon. I still don't know about Blake, though. And then there's the reward, which I'm keeping secret for now so have fun guessing!

Also, Eternal Forest is a vibe. Gen 4 is goated, and anyone who says otherwise can take a nice walk across a bridge crosswise and keep going!

Grunt out!