#vbros au

- First and foremost, JJ was not absorbed in the womb. They grew up as The Venture Twins! on TV. JJ was the rough-and-tumble boy adventurer and Rusty was the wimpy nerd one.

- So instead of being exempt from all the boy adventurer trauma Rusty just shares it with JJ. I imagine JJ has it worse because he was the one always fighting for his/his brother’s life and getting everyone into these life-threatening situations as the daring comic relief half of the duo. He lives at the Venture Compound when he’s older and takes canon Rusty’s place as the washed-up & broke Venture brother.

- Rusty is better off in his adult years because after they aged out of The Venture Twins! Cartoon, Rusty proved the more competent heir to the Industries. Turns out being the know-it-all sciencey one paved the way for his incredible career.

- I also like the idea that Rusty is a gay (bisexual? tbd) icon. He was the fruity geek when he was little and the community clocking him worked in favor of his career. I just KNOW if he coped with his traumas better he was a horrible A List Twink. I think Jonas was homophobic behind closed doors but always acted supportive in public. Rusty was way less broken up about his death for a number of reasons. But this was a big one.

- Rusty and are a thing on the DL, gossip mags are all over them. They fooled around in college (Brock was too curious about the famous little twink in the bottom bunk to resist) and then again when Brock was assigned to the Venture Compound. This is the universe where brusty can exist sssshhh.

- Hank is pretty much still Hank. Dawn came out when she was fourteen and Rusty really doesn’t understand but loves her anyway. Synthesized Dawn her own E and everything

For starters, I wanted to say that the “Egg Group” compatibility thing doesn’t apply in this universe just for the sake of making canon “pair-ups” less of a headache, the resulting offspring from two Pokémon doesn’t always come from eggs (ex. “mammalian” Pokémon have live births instead), and the offspring has the chance of being either of the parenting species as opposed to solely being the “mother” Pokémon’s species.

HOWEVER! In addition to this, while there is an extremely high chance that the offspring will be the same species as one of the parents, as long as a certain Pokémon is somewhere in the direct ancestry of the baby, there is a non-zero chance that the baby could also be that Pokémon! (ex: a Roserade and Glalie could possibly have a Snubbull baby if the Roserade had a Granbull parent/grandparent, a Dedenne baby could be born if the Glalie had a Dedenne parent/grandparent, etc etc etc)

Also, in this AU, a shiny Pokémon has a 50% chance of passing their shiny gene onto their offspring. Why? Because it’s fun! Also, the Venture family defo has some shiny genes introduced into it starting with Rusty’s mom cause I think it just adds to that sweet sweet ✨Main Character Energy Complex✨ Rust’s got going on.

Without further ado, here’s the beginning of my take on a VBros Pokémon AU, brought to you by a Pokémon fan of 15 years! (/silly)

We will be kicking this off with, you guessed it—

The Venture Family! ✌️💥

Rusty Venture — Kantonian Raichu ✨

ABILITY: Lightning Rod

Rusty was a popular and beloved boy adventurer that was basically THE mascot for boy adventurers, much like how Pikachu is the popular and beloved mascot of Pokémon. He got the nickname “Rusty” in this AU due to being born as a shiny Pikachu, which are orange/ginger/rust-hued in color. Also, Rusty being a Raichu is a direct parallel between the way many Pokémon trainers prefer Pikachu over Raichu and the way a lot of people prefer Rusty’s former boy adventurer self as opposed to who he is now.

(BONUS NOTE: Rusty wasn’t born as a Pichu because he is the result of an interspecies union between Jonas Sr, an Arcanine; and a female Raichu whose identity remains a mystery to this day.)

Brock Samson — Kommo-O

ABILITY: Bulletproof

A big bulky powerhouse that’s physically imposing, a skilled fighter with a diverse moveset, a very valiant guardian of the younglings within its “family”, basically has a mullet, and also has- ahem- scaly armor that’s the equivalent of METAL PLATING? That is literally Brock F—kin’ Samson in Pokémon form! Try telling me that I’m wrong!

(BONUS NOTE: Kommo-O is able to scare off weaker opponents by simply clanging together its scales to make harsh noises. You know who else can scare off cowardly foes that are out of their depth with a single sound/word? That’s right- BROCK SAMSON!! And yes, I intentionally included him in this first “Venture Family” section because he helped raise Hank and Dean.)

Hank Venture — Unovan Zorua ✨

ABILITY: Illusion

Seeing as how Zorua is prone to mischief, has a tendency to put on disguises, and takes on different personas, I thought it would be fitting for Hank to be this little master of illusions. There is one significant way Hank vastly differs from his Pokémon form, which is that he is stupidly brave in contrast to the mostly timid Zorua. Anywho, I wanted to play around with the fact that he and Dean are fraternal twins, along with the fact that he bears a very strong resemblance to his egg donor/biological mother and her side of the family. That’s right- his and Dean’s mama is a Zoroark! But which kind? Well…that’s something you’ll find out later, dear reader. ;P

(NOTE: Hank is a shiny Zorua not only because I wanted a way to reflect the blue in his canon color palette, but because I wanted to show his similarities to Rusty. Hank being shiny was an unintended side effect of being the “test tube baby” of two shiny Pokémon…that’s right, TWO shiny Pokémon! Wowie zowie!)

Dean Venture — Pikachu

ABILITY: Static

Dean bears a very strong resemblance to Rusty so, naturally, I thought he’d be a Pikachu himself. However, I like to think he’d greatly differ from him by eventually becoming an Alolan Raichu on his own terms- that is, if he even chooses to evolve. This is a nod to Rusty being forced to grow up too fast and not really able to forge a life for himself, whereas Dean does have more of that freedom for himself despite Rusty really, really wanting him to pursue science as a career. Also, Dean is a lot more in touch with his emotions (which many Psychic-type Pokémon tend to have a natural “affinity” for) and I thought him becoming an Alolan Raichu would be a fun callback to the gravity boots that he enjoyed wearing in the earlier seasons of VBros.

(NOTE: Unlike Rusty, Dean WAS born a Pichu despite also having hybrid parentage. This was an unintentional side effect of him being a “test tube baby”. Ultimately, it represents him being given a slightly more normal childhood than Rusty was and places more emphasis on the importance of his connection with Hank. This is due to the fact that Pichu evolves into Pikachu via heightened friendship, meaning that Dean evolved as a direct result of his familial bond with Hank.)

H.E.L.P.eR. — Porygon-Z

ABILITY: Download

A cute little robotic guy that’s artificially made, has sentience, and was banned from the public in some way due to widespread issues that weren’t necessarily his fault, but rather an oversight on the creators’ end? Definitely sounds like H.E.L.P.eR. to me!

(NOTE: I like to think that Porygon!H.E.L.P.eR. evolved as time went by as a reference to his canon counterpart’s technology being repaired and updated over the years. Also, his color palette in the Pokémon universe matches the one he has in the canon VBros universe! So he’s not exactly shiny, but you could consider him shiny-adjacent.)

Jonas Venture Sr. — Arcanine

ABILITY: Justified

I just want to preface this by saying that I am deeply and sincerely sorry for comparing the majestic, ever-lovely Arcanine to this nasty vile heinous atrocious man. The only reason I believe Jonas Sr. would be an Arcanine is strictly due to how the general public perceived him— fiercely brave, doggedly loyal, and a powerhouse in both the realm of super science and in fights. Comparing them on a more general level, both Jonas Sr. and Arcanine are strongly built, beloved by the general public, have “attractive” physical appearances (albeit in different ways), and are well-known for their love of travelling around the globe.

(NOTE: I wanted Jonas to be a well-known Pokémon that had orange/ginger fur, towered over Raichu, and could realistically parent a Pikachu…so Arcanine it was! Plus, Jonas Sr. being a charming and lovable and innately “heroic” Pokémon such as Arcanine provides a fun way of representing the way his lovable public image did wonders to conceal his cruel and manipulative true personality.)

Jonas Venture Jr. — Growlithe

ABILITY: Flash Fire

JJ bore a very strong resemblance to his dad, but is a lot smaller— much like how Growlithe looks like a smaller version of Arcanine but has its own distinctive traits that set it apart! Also, Growlithe is a very friendly Pokémon that is adored by many, which is fitting for a sweet little fella who is beloved by the general public. Basically, JJ’s naturally warm and genuine demeanor was everything his father pretended to be in the eyes of the public.

(NOTE: JJ would’ve chosen to evolve into an Arcanine but, in a rare and unprecedented turn of events, his severely underdeveloped physiology made his body entirely incompatible with Fire Stones.)

Dermott Fictel — Luxio ✨

ABILITY: Rivalry

I know what you might be thinking— “Another shiny Rusty kid?! Are you serious, Cy?!” Yes. Yes I am. I already gave ya my shiny statistics for this AU at the start of this post, ya dingus! (/silly) (/j) Also…come on! You can’t tell me Dermott doesn’t have that Shiny Luxio energy! Just look at the two side by side! Edgy teen appearance, same flippy hair ends…plus, Dermott being shiny is just one more thing that foreshadows the identity of his father aside from them both being Electric-type Pokémon.

(NOTE: Dermott’s unknown grandfather was a Luxray, which is how he ended up being born a Shinx as opposed to one of his biological parents’ species.)

Well, folks, that’s all! Hope you enjoyed my rambling and-

Hahaaaa, just kidding.

GET READY FOR THE…

SURPRISE BONUS CHARACTER!!! 🦋

Don Fitzcarraldo — Cobalion

But many know him as...

The Blue Morpho — The Marine Vivillon

ABILITY: Justified

I know, I know— GASP! Don Fitzcarraldo isn’t actually a Pokémon that resembles a member of the Lepidoptera family?! Have I gone mad?! Well…no! I have LORE! You see, since Don based his “Blue Morpho” identity on a butterfly, I thought it would be neat if his Pokémon counterpart did the same thing as opposed to actually being a butterfly! I chose Vivillon as the Pokémon he bases his vigilante persona on because it’s a butterfly and, also, I love how it just so happens to have “villain” in it unintentionally since that’s what Blue Morpho was viewed as by a lot of folks.

In particular, he’d his persona specifically around Marine Form Vivillon due to its blue color palette. As for why I chose Cobalion for Don in general…well, it is the “Iron Will” Pokémon, and Don had to have an iron will in order to put up with Jonas Sr’s shit for so long. In addition to this, Cobalion has a blue color scheme and has always had a very “heroic” air about it, much like the Blue Morpho himself. Plus, I wanted him to be a particularly powerful Pokémon that, despite all its strengths, had a type disadvantage to Jonas Sr. as a way of showing the weakness Don had against him. Plus, The Blue Morpho was a legend amongst people in his day, which ties to Cobalion’s status as a legendary Pokémon. Heavy on the symbolism with this fella.

Unfortunately, we all know that poor Don meets his end due to a plane crash. This is the catalyst for Jonas Sr. turning him into…

Venturion/Vendata — Iron Crown

Oh man. You ever come up with an idea so twisted that you love it? Yeah. This is how I feel about my decision to make Don a Cobalion. Trust me when I say that the choices I made were absolutely intended with this goal in mind. Jonas Sr. being the first person to “invent” a Future Paradox Pokémon seemed pretty on brand to me. Resurrecting your “friend” by making them an unholy amalgamation of servos and sinew that’s a husk of who they once were?

Hooouuu Jonas, you are one sick puppy! (Pun fully intended, btw.)

I knew I had to do something with Paradox Pokémon and this AU, and Don’s arc made him the perfect candidate for it. And, stay with me here— Iron Crown’s Pokédex entry for Violet literally describes it as “a cutting-edge weapon shaped like a Cobalion”. Is Venturion/Vendata not a cutting-edge weapon shaped like Don Fitzcarraldo?

I rest my case.

Anyways, if you guys enjoyed this silly little long-winded ramble about my silly little AU, I’d be happy to continue developing it! I had a lot of fun writing this. Maybe a little too much fun, lmfaoooo 😅

Aaaaanyways...Go Team Venture! 😁