The Patron Quadrilogy: The Legend Begins

Chapter 24

Monday, October 16th, 12:19 p.m., 2018
Tree of Beginning
"Well, we made it," Green muttered, stretching. "Though we got here later than we were hoping."
"We had to fly around the storms," Steven insisted. "We didn't really have a choice, Green."
"He's right," Blue said, checking his phone, surprised. "I'm surprised I have service here. Did they add a router or something to the Tree?"
"Your data is on, Blue," Yellow told her fiancé. "That would be why you have service."
"Anyways, what were you going to check?" Green asked.
"The weather," Blue said simply. "I want to see what we avoided." He checked KRWNC, or the Kanto Region's Weather and News Channel. "Okay, yeah, yeah we made the right call," Blue said after a few moments.
"How bad is it?" Brendan asked.
"Severe thunderstorms all across the Region," Blue said, reading as much as he could. "Warnings are in place all the way to Saffron currently, and flights have been canceled. So yeah I'd say Steven made the right call."
"All that matters is that all of us are here safely," Red said, taking Green to an exposed root so she could sit down.
"So, is this the Tree of Beginning?" May asked. "Actually, I think I was here before. I almost died."
"Yeah that seems to be a common thing about most of our adventures," Ash realized. "The Sea Temple also comes to mind. But Larousse City could be another one, when Deoxys took over the city."
"Yeah, sorry about my Legendary's attitude," a young female voice laughed nervously. "But he's calmed down considerably since then, I promise."
The group looked at the girl who just appeared. She appeared to be about fourteen or fifteen years old, and had wild medium-length orange hair. She was wearing a novelty t-shirt with a alien saying "I can has Earth?", as well as normal blue jeans. She had a white armband with black onyx studs on her left arm. A Clefairy was with her, standing by her side. While May and Ash didn't know who this girl was, the others did, and walked over to her.
"Haha, I was wondering if we beat you here!" Brendan smiled. "It's good to see you, Lucy!" He looked at Ash and May. "This is Lucy Frazier, the Patron of Deoxys. Lucy, this is Ash Ketchum and May Maple."
"Nice to meet the both of you!" She said, excitement in her eyes. "We actually literally just got here, but when I sensed that immense Aura, I just had to check it out!" She looked at May. "Are you the one who's Aura is off the charts?"
"No, sorry," she said, somewhat nervous, she looked at Brendan, who nodded. "My name is May Maple, the Patron of Kyogre. I'm kinda new to this whole thing, so I apologize if I sound a bit nervous." She looked at Brendan, who gave her a thumbs up and okay hand sign.
"You're fine," Lucy replied. "Wait, did you say you're May Maple!? The Top Coordinator May Maple!?" She asked, starstruck. "W-well, I'd i-introduce m-myself but it seems t-that B-Brendan did that for me. I'm a huge fan!" Lucy rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Guess it's my turn to be nervous, huh? Uh, do you think we could take a picture together!?"
"Sure! It's nice to meet you, Ms. Frazier!" May said, her nervousness gone.
"That girl can go from nervous to confident in a split second," Groudon mumbled.
"I think it's just she feels more relaxed when the person she's talking to is just as nervous as she is." Brendan replied. "She's been an extrovert around new people ever since we were kids. Like, she'd be an extreme extrovert. It was kinda off putting at first. But I guess the fact that she has people who are her fans makes her kinda nervous. She told me that she doesn't want fame to go to her head, so she gets extremely nervous around her fans. She doesn't want her fans to feel like she's better than them."
While May and Lucy were taking pictures with each other, a rather short and thin man, wearing a blue sweatshirt with a folded white collar and white jeans. He had blue eyes and light blue spiky hair.
"Lucy? Ms. Lucy Frazier!" The boy was shouting. His voice was mature, a rather stark contrast to his misleading form. Brendan reckoned that he was perhaps eighteen or nineteen. A Pluslie and Minun chased after him. He didn't recognize the boy, but Ash seemed to recognize him.
"Wait a minute," Ash said, turning to look at the boy. "Tory? Tory Lund, is that you!?" Brendan caught that last name, and tried to remember why it was so familiar.
"Lund? Hmm..... Wait, I met a Professor Lund, from Larousse City. Yeah, I remember now. It was during a Pokémon Professor get-together in Sootopolis. I went there with my dad! I met the kids and relatives of every Professor in the League. But I don't remember meeting this kid..."
"Ash!?" The boy exclaimed. "What are you doing here!? Are you a Patron as well!?"
"Well, I'm not, but she is," Ash replied, calling to May. "Hey, May! Come here! It's Tory!"
"Tory's here!?" May ran over to him, with Lucy following close behind. "Hey, Tory! It's been awhile since we've seen each other!"
"It's great to see you again, May!" Tory replied. He turned to Brendan, and stuck his hand out. "I don't believe we've met before. My name's Tory Lund, Lieutenant of Team Andromeda."
"The newest Lieutenant, to boot," Lucy added. "He joined a few months ago."
"It's nice to meet you, Tory," Brendan said, shaking his hand. "I'm Brendan Birch, Patron of Groudon. Forgive me, but I have to ask, you wouldn't happen to be related to Professor Lund from Larousse City?"
"I am indeed," Tory replied. Brendan could tell that he wasn't fazed by meeting another Patron.
"Lucy sure knows how to pick 'em." He thought, impressed.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know Ash and May?" Brendan asked.
"I met them when they were in Larousse City" Tory explained. "Shortly after we met, Deoxys attacked the city. He was confronted by Rayquaza. I don't think I'd be around if it wasn't for them. Oddly enough, it was that same encounter that made me develop an obsession with space, and the mysteries therein. That same obsession would eventually lead to me joining Team Andromeda."
"Well, in any case," Lucy said. "We'd best be off for now. We've still got a bit of time before the meeting starts, and we have other things we need to do. Let's go, Tory!" Tory nodded and they walked off.
"Well, I'll be damned," Blue laughed. "She grew out of her space cult phase. Good for her." The others nodded in agreement, apart from May and Ash, who had no idea what they were talking about.
"Honestly I thought she was rather cute," May said.
"Oh, yeah don't get us wrong," Blue explained. "She's great, and she's an amazing Patron to boot, but she used to be kinda unhinged."
"Yeah, she was," Claire agreed.
"When did you meet her before, Claire?" May asked.
"She stopped by the Pub one time," The ten year old explained. "I met her then. All of Brimstone has, actually. She's one of the nicest Patrons I've met." She turned to Brendan. "Hey, Brendan? Can I let Eve out of her Pokéball?"
"Sure, just keep an eye on her, and make sure that Wally or one of us can see you," Brendan replied, ruffling her ginger hair. Steven then put a hand on his shoulder.
"April's here."
Monday, October 16th, 12:53 p.m., 2018
Tree of Beginning
"Glad to see you could make it, April," Brendan greeted the Patron of Articuno.
"Apologies for not being part of the group earlier," April said. "But Séamus here told me that he heard that some suspicious folk were skulking around Pacifidlog Town." The Pelipper squawked respectfully ."So, I had to investigate. Unfortunately, nothing of note came of it. But, I did join these fine ladies on their way here." She stepped out of the way and three girls stepped forward. The first one was a pink haired girl of average height and build, aged twenty-six. She had jade eyes, and was dressed in a gardener's attire. The second girl, aged twenty-two, was a tall ginger with fiery red eyes, wearing a green camo crop-top, sunhat, and jeans. She stood to the left of the first girl. And then the third girl, a black-haired nineteen year old with gray eyes, stood to the right of the first girl. She wore a sleeveless red floral dress that ended at her knees, revealing white pants. Brendan, Steven, and Wally knew them perfectly well.
"Hey, Brendan," the third girl said. "It's been awhile.... cousin." She smiled, grinning at seeing her cousin again.
"It's great to see you again, Gail," Brendan said, giving her a hug. Gail had left Hoenn shortly after Brendan's parents died and that whole complicated family mess he was in happened. "Everyone, this is Gail Birch, my cousin on my Dad's side. But she's also a Lieutenant from Team Petal." The others all greeted her in kind.
"Well, I suppose it's my turn to introduce these two," Gail said. "Well, Brendan, April, Wally, and Steven know who we are. This is Erin Hensley," the pink-haired girl waved. "And this is Morgan Bowers," the girl with red hair waved her hand respectfully. "We are three representatives from Team Petal, the Team of Erika, the former Patron of Virizion."
"But why did three Lieutenants from the same Team come here?" Brendan asked. "Where is her successor?"
"That's kinda why we're here," Gail explained carefully. "I can't go into too much right now, but once the meeting begins, we'll explain ourselves."
Suddenly everyone heard a little girl yelling. They saw Claire running around a corner, shouting.
"Guys, Claire needs help!" Blue shouted as he ran off.
Brendan thought. "Let's go, Wally!" His best friend nodded and they ran off in the direction of the screaming. Brendan began tapping into his amulet's power, just in case he would have to fight someone.
Monday, October 16th, 1:06 p.m., 2018
Tree of Beginning
Brendan, Wally, and the others all ran to the noise, coming up on a growing crowd of Patrons and Lieutenants. The crowd was silent, but he could hear a few people laughing and Claire crying.
"Well this isn't good," Brendan thought. "And someone is about to get the worst beating of their life for hurting Claire."
"Wally, with me. The rest of you, stay here. This is not going to be pretty."
Brendan and Wally forced their way through the crowd. Once they got through the crowd, they saw Claire on her knees, crying and pleading. A man, twenty years old, was holding Eve by her scruff, and Eve was struggling to get free. Brendan felt his anger boil over. He knew who this guy was. He was a large brute with messy hair, wearing purple slacks and a purple sweatshirt. He had a black leather belt with amethyst studs in it around his waist.
"Bogdan Elliot, Patron of Genesect" Brendan growled, his eyes glowing, and smoke rising from his fingertips. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I'm teaching this little brat what happens when pets don't wear leashes," he sneered. His voice was gruff and cruel. "She lost it, now it's going to pay. Simple as that."
"The hell it is!" Brendan snarled.
"Speaking of, where's her leash as well?" Bogdan sneered. "Maybe she needs to be taught a lesson as well."
In a flash, Brendan was between Claire and Bogdan. Most of the crowd was disgusted by Bogdan's actions, but Brendan heard a few people laughing, and that only made him angrier.
"You touch a hair on her head or keep hurting her Eevee, and you'll find yourself at war with my Team," Brendan said, meaning every word of it. "And I'll kill you myself. Now let her Eevee go, and piss off." He smirked, and threw Eve to the ground, and she yelped. Brendan didn't break eye contact with Bogdan, and felt even more anger surging inside of him. Eve limped over to Claire, and Wally grabbed both of them before bringing them back to the others, who ran up to see what happened. Claire told them what happened, crying, and Team Petal and Brendan's friends all cast hateful glances at Bogdan. The Patrons in their group all cast worried glances at Brendan, who still hadn't broken eye contact, and his hands were coated in fire.
"Brendan," Steven said carefully, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Remember that there can't be any fighting here." Brendan shook off his hand, a warning that he wasn't in the mood for a reminder about rules. Bogdan has hurt and insulted his Team. His family. This was now personal. It was taking Brendan all of his strength and will to not incinerate the Patron of Genesect, and everyone there could see that he was getting ever closer to attacking Bogdan.
"Brendan, don't," May said, grabbing his wrist. "He's not worth it." Her words calmed him down, though he still wanted to fight Bogdan. He huffed, and extinguished the flames burning in his hands.
"You must be the famous May Maple," Bogdan sneered. "Top Coordinator and most notably, the Patron of Kyogre. Can't say I'm a huge fan of yours, though I wouldn't mind having fun -" Bogdan was cut off by Brendan stepping in front of her again, and was cussing Bogdan out.
"Can't say the feeling's mutual," May snorted, gently resting a hand on Brendan's shoulder. "And I'm no fan of people who hurt kids or Pokémon. Honestly, people that do so must clearly be lacking in.... other aspects of their character. Like personality or depth."
"How dare..." Bogdan clenched his fists, and then promptly recomposed. "No matter... Your loss. As for you three Team Petal Lieutenants," He continued, walking past. "I sincerely hope all goes amicably tonight. It'd be a tragedy if your Team lost three of its Lieutenants, especially now that Erika isn't around anymore." He walked past Brendan and May, giving May a slap on her backside as he walked past, making May yelp and making Brendan try to run at him, now being held back by most of the Patrons there.
"You're a disgusting human being, Bogdan!" He growled, struggling to break free of the crowd. "If you ever come anywhere near Littleroot Town, it'll be the last mistake you ever make!"
If Bogdan heard his threats, he showed no sign of it. Brendan watched as four other Patrons and their Lieutenants walked off with him, and he caught a frail teen walking behind them, appearing apprehensive to get too close.
"Hmm.... Four Patrons and four Lieutenants," Brendan thought. "Well, it's only four if that poor boy is a Lieutenant."
"Brendan, are you okay?" May asked, not taking her eyes off of him.
"Well, I'm pissed," Brendan replied, trying to soften his tone. "But what about you?"
"I'm disgusted, but otherwise I'm alright."
"Good. Where's Claire?"
"She's with Wally, and he's patching up Eve right now," she said, her voice getting angry. "To think that someone would do that to Claire or her Pokémon!"
"I need to see her," Brendan said. "I need to make sure she's okay."
"Right," May replied, and they went to go and comfort Claire. "But who were those guys that walked off with that jerk?" She asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"Patrons that are members of Bogdan's extremist faction, called Thorn, but I'll explain that later. Right now, I just want to check on Claire." As they walked back over to the others. "And as for the rest of you, fun's over," he said, casting a glance back at the crowd which hadn't yet dispersed. "Go back to what you were doing."
He continued walking over to his friends, and he saw two familiar faces. A girl with red eyes and long raven black hair stepped forward, followed by a boy that Brendan was friends with.
"Owen, Raina, I'm sorry, but we'll have to catch up later. I'm not in the mood at the moment." He said, before turning to Claire, and giving her a hug. After a few minutes, he stood up, and looked at the group.
"We need to talk. Now."
To be continued....
So, the meeting is almost about to begin. I figured I'd make and show a few more Patrons and Lieutenants off.

Owen and Raina are the intellectual property of OrigamiLantern11 and her side story, The Rainbow Wings of the Land and Silver Wings of the Sea!

Anyways, that about wraps up this chapter. Thank you all for the support you guys have shown this series so far, and I'll talk to you guys next chapter!
-Myst312 out.