So an explanation as to why this one took so long to actually post. I had been at an anime convention called Ganbatte and that made it hard to focus on my writing. I also had apparently forgotten to post I believe it was chapter 35 after uploading it even though I thought I had for a while, so I wanted to hold this one off for a bit longer to give me some extra time with the next one.
This chapter continues right where the last one left off. I did finish this chapter quite a while earlier but wanted to make sure it would tie together well with the start of the next chapter. I still have a lot of details to plan out for the next while so chapters will probably slow down a bit more again for a while.
Reviews
starriechombie: Thank you for the compliment. Nice to see I'm not the only one who re-reads stories when awaiting an update.
ivanvukadin1997: I appreciate the kind words. I'm glad others notice my skills improving as I go along, as I have mentioned multiple times before, nobody ever starts off perfect right away, everyone has to slowly improve their skills so to everyone who enjoys my writing so far, please spread the word so that other writers who are just starting out can get the support and confidence they need to improve their skills as I have. And as for the OCs, I do have to greatly apologize but I do feel like that idea will be shelved for an indefinite amount of time if not for good. I do enjoy seeing other creators' characters but I personally don't wan't to destroy another's vision on their own characters. I may take OCs again in the future but only under the circumstance that I would be given full say over how they are used within my stories.
Anywho, sorry for the long response and let's move onto the chapter.
Chapter 36: Wavering Fate
Korrina replaced Mienfoo's Pokeball with another and smirked, "Here's my second Pokemon," she tossed the ball high in the air, "your time to shine, Machoke!"
In a flash of white energy, the Pokeball popped open and released the large, blue humanoid Pokemon. Flexing it's muscles, the fighting-type let out quick grunts with each movement. Aura looked down at Prince, "Guess you're up next, buddy. Good luck." Nodding his head with his ears slightly flopping forward, Prince ran out onto the field and took his position, his devoted red eyes locked on Machoke.
"Round two! Begin!" Gurkinn announced.
"Machoke! Charge in and use Low Sweep!" Korrina shouted. The human-like Pokemon took off sprinting towards the jackal with it's leg glowing white.
Aura threw his fist in the air, "Jump over it and retaliate with Blaze kick from behind!" Readying himself both mentally and physically, Prince closely watched Machoke and the moment it had ducked down to perform attack, Prince pushed off the ground just as Machoke swept it's bulky leg across the ground, flipping around in the air while his left leg ignited in flames. Immediately after landing behind the bulky wrestler Pokemon, Prince performed a spinning heel kick and slammed his blazing leg into Machoke's back, knocking it to the ground with a large glowing scorch mark left where it was struck.
Korrina gasped in awe at the Lucario, "Your Lucario knows Blaze Kick?!" Aura awkwardly nodded and rubbed his head. Forcing herself to stay focused on the fight, Korrina smirked excitedly and thrust her fist forward, "Now let's see if you can dodge this! Use Revenge!"
Still kneeling on the ground before Prince, Machoke glanced over it's shoulder at the jackal with a sardonic grin. In the blink of an eye, the brutish fighting-type spun on the balls of it's feet while rocketing upward, delivering a powerful uppercut directly to the canine's gut and launching him quite high in the air.
Wincing himself as if he could feel a fraction of the pain his Pokemon endured, Aura watched Prince plummet back down to earth. The trainer slightly jerked back as something crossed his mind. "Prince! Roll forward while using Metal Claw! Then give yourself a boost with Extreme Speed!" Wincing a bit as he adjusted his body, Prince promptly began to slowly roll in the air, picking up more speed as he fell and simultaneously using Metal Claw and Extreme Speed to make him appear almost like a giant glimmering circular saw.
Finally crashing into the ground, Aura's plan was a success as Prince slowly dug into the dirt from his velocity, spraying sand everywhere until he finally slowed to a stop with his claws to the sides and a confident, yet somewhat disoriented look in his eyes.
Gurkinn rubbed his chin and smirked to himself. "Interesting strategy there. But will it be enough?" He muttered.
"I'll admit that was a cool combo move you pulled off, but it won't be enough to stop Machoke!" Korrina punched the air again enthusiastically, "Brick Break!" Letting out a battle cry, Machoke charged Prince with each footfall making a loud thump that shook the dirt below their feet. Aura called for Prince to block it, but the Lucario's reaction time seemed to have been impaired by his combo move as he lightly swayed. Prince did manage to raise his claws in defence, however it was pointless as Machoke worked around his defences with a sudden right hook, narrowly passing the razor sharp claws by a few inches and decking the canine in the side of the face.
Prince was sent spiraling through the air and slid to a stop along the ground, however, despite the super-effective attacks, it came as a shock to almost everyone but Aura that the Lucario managed to stand back up. "You okay, Prince?" Aura called. Prince responded with a nod and immediately locked eyes with Machoke once again as he raised his fists.
"Give another Brick Break!" Korrina hollered. Jumping forward, Machoke lifted it's hand up and swung it down like a karate chop aimed for the Lucario's skull.
"Block it!" Prince quickly lifted his arms up and held them against each other with his fists pointing in opposite directions. Machoke's hand slammed down against his forearms right between his wrist spikes, the force creating a shockwave that resonated along the ground, pushing loose dirt away from them in a perfect circle.
Korrina scowled. "Don't let up! Keep hammering it with Brick Break!"
"Stand your ground and keep your guard up!"
Jumping forward, Machoke let out a roar and began to furiously punch and chop at the Lucario, slamming it's hands into him repeatedly with each one either being dodged, deflected to the side, or blocked by the Lucario's sturdy forearms. It almost began to look more like a kickboxing match than a Pokemon battle.
Feeling this was going on long enough, Aura finally called out. "Alright, Prince! Blast Machoke back with Force Palm!" Keeping his eyes focused for an opening, Prince immediately took the first chance he got and thrusted his palm into Machoke's chest. Machoke hadn't even the time to realize what was happening, still in the middle of swinging his fist again until he was abruptly pushed back by an immense force with his feet skidding along the dirt. The bulky fighting-type leaned forward and shifted his body weight to avoid falling backwards, and firmly placed his fist on the ground with his knee as he panted. "Now finish it off with Aura Sphere!"
Prince pulled both his paws back to one side and bowed forward a bit as a bright orb of blue and white energy formed between his palms. In one quick and steady movement, Prince thrusted his paws outward and launched the orb in a spiraling line directly at his foe. As the ball moved too fast for Korrina to call a command in time, Machoke acted on it's instincts and lifted it's arms above it's face. The ball of energy hit it's mark and exploded against Machoke's arms, sending it sliding back a bit further but not doing quite enough damage to finish it.
Machoke began to slowly lower it's arms, but it was shocked to see that past the clearing smoke the Lucario was no where to be seen. As it looked around confused, it heard Korrina call to it. "Above you!" Sure enough, just as Machoke turned it's face to the sky, it froze wide-eyed when it spotted Prince only a few feet away with a glowing blue bone in his grasp. Unable to stop it, Machoke felt it's face bashed in with the staff-like bone and let out a loud cry, Prince pushing off with the bone evaporating into thin air and cleanly landing a few meters away. Machoke's fingers twitched as it quietly moaned before falling forward and landing face first in the dirt completely unconscious.
Gurkinn threw his hand up, "Machoke is unable to battle! Lucario wins!"
Korrina shook off her surprise and warmly smiled as she lifted Machoke's Pokeball, "Ah well, you did your best out there and that's all I could want."
As Machoke's body became engulfed by the red light and returned to it's ball, Aura proudly smirked at his Pokemon, "Think you're good for another round?" Prince nodded in response. "You might not win this one, but let's at least make it easier for Diamond." Letting out a bark in agreement, Prince held it's fists up and watched patiently as Korrina took out her last Pokeball.
"You may have beaten my other two Pokemon, but this is as far as you go!" With a large grin, Korrina tossed the ball up and caught it, throwing it and calling out "You're up, Lucario!" The ball burst open with white energy arching to the ground, beginning to take the shape of a Lucario. Emerging from the white energy, Korrina's Lucario stood with clear confidence and a stoic expression. "Let's give 'em a fight they'll never forget!" Korrina shouted. Lucario looked back and gave his trainer a thumbs up with a short bark.
Following Gurkinn's signal to start, Aura made the first move. "Get behind them with Extreme Speed and use Blaze Kick!" Prince knelt down slightly before taking off in a blur to the right, moving too fast for anyone to follow as he circled around his opponent.
"Block it!" To Aura's surprise, once Prince had suddenly appeared behind Lucario with his leg surrounded in roaring flames, Lucario managed to spin around faster than Prince could swing his leg and lifted his arms, taking the super-effective attack without hesitation and sliding back with smoke trailing from his body. Lucario let out a bark as he flung his arms to the side with a few embers coming off as he stood nearly unfazed by the attack. Korrina grinned, "Now, Lucario! Hit 'em with Power-up Punch!"
Ducking down with his fist swirling with orange energy, Lucario took off down the field toward Prince. "Dodge it!" Was all Aura call say with such little time to think as Lucario sped forward faster than a Quick Attack. A second away from contact, Prince leaped into the air as Lucario slammed his fist into the dirt. "Now hurry and blast it with Aura Sphere!" Lucario looked up and watched Prince pull his arms back to one side with a glowing ball of blue energy form between his palms. He let out a loud grunt as he thrusted his paws forward and unleashed the orb of light.
Lucario let out a gruff cry as the ball made contact and forced him against the ground, creating a shockwave that sent him careening down the field.
"Tuck and roll!" Korrina shouted. Lucario blinked for a moment before turning his body to roll along the ground, moving with great agility like an acrobatic as he pushed his arm against the dirt and flipped through the air, only to land firmly on his feet with only minor injury and exhaustion. Korrina snapped her fingers and pumped her fist, "Yeah! That's the way to do it!" The Gym Leader looked at Aura and smiled, "Nice try, Aura. But now we'll show you how it's really done! Go, Lucario!"
Just like Prince, Lucario reeled his arms back to one side and created a ball of bright blue and white energy between his paws, although this one actually seemed to be larger that Prince's was. Before Aura could react in any way, Korrina let out a shout with Lucario immediately loosing the sphere with it hurdling through the air at Prince. The second it made contact the orb burst into a huge plume of grey smoke with Prince flinging backwards and tumbling across the dirt.
Prince slowly pushed himself up with multiple scrapes across his body, but that wasn't the end as Lucario pounced from within the smoke with two glowing bones by his sides. Landing a foot away from Prince, Lucario began to furiously barrage him with Bone Rush until Prince could take no more. Finally, with one last powerful swing, Lucario sent Prince across the floor to Aura's feet, the beaten Lucario barely able to keep his eyes open.
Gurkinn threw his arm up, "Aura's Lucario is unable to battle! Korrina's Lucario wins!"
Korrina jumped for joy, "Great job, Lucario!"
Aura meekly smiled down at Prince as he crouched be his side and lifted his head. Prince's eyes twitched before slowly opening, "I'm sorry… Master Aura…" He muttered.
Aura just shook his head calmly and lifted his Pokeball, "It's fine. You did your best out there, so take a long rest and I'll get you treated as soon as this is over." As the red light encased Prince, he slowly nodded and shut his eyes. With Prince unable to battle and Tia most likely too injured to do much else without treatment, Aura looked down at his final Pokemon and nodded. "You ready for this, Diamond?"
The fox pulled her twig from her tail and nodded, "I'll do my best, Aura."
He nodded. "Good luck." Diamond hurried onto the field and took her position with her stick held like a sword in front of her.
Gurkinn called out, "Battle begin!"
"Lucario, use Aura Sphere!" Lucario let out a bark as he leaped into the air. He let out a low growling as he focused his energy into his palms, a glowing blue sphere materializing between his paws and growing in size. Once the orb was large enough, he pulled his arm back and whipped the ball forward with all his might.
As the orb hurdled toward Diamond, Aura hastily cried out, "Light Screen!" Diamond's eyes flashed pink, she twirled her stick in the air with a shower of pink sparkles rained over her like glitter, and soon a translucent pink veil encased her entire form which shimmered in the light. A split second later, Diamond took a direct hit from the Aura Sphere which exploded on impact, pushing her back out of the large cloud of grey smoke. Diamond had stabbed her claws deep into the ground, slowing herself down while also keeping herself balanced. "Now surround it with Fire Spin and use Psybeam!"
Diamond straightened up and held out her stick with both paws clasped around it and a flame igniting at both ends. Twirling it like a flaming baton, Diamond let out a cry as a stream of swirling fire propelled forward, slowly growing in width the further it got. Lucario tried to jump out of the fire's range, however it couldn't escape as the fire swerved around and engulfed the fighting-type in a blazing tornado.
Lucario let out a howl of pain as he plummeted to the ground encased in a ball of fire. Despite the burning pain, Lucario adjusted itself in the air so he could land back on his feet, some dirt and embers splashing out a bit from the somewhat clumsy landing, Lucario being forced to his knees inside the fiery vortex.
"Alright, use Psybeam while it's still trapped!" Diamond's eyes glowed pink for a moment as she began to twirl her stick once again, the tip shining with a sparkling pink flame. The fox let out a cry as she abruptly halted the stick and thrust it forward, unleashing a bright pink beam encircled by purple rings straight toward Lucario, the beam passing through the fire undisturbed and striking the canine directly in the chest. The force of the blast caused Lucario to be pushed through the flames and tumble across the floor, landing on his back at Korrina's feet.
Korrina gasped as her Lucario winced in pain while slowly pushing himself up. "Are you alright, Lucario?!" The jackal stood back up and turned to face his trainer, he gave a quick bark to confirm her question, however he soon let out a howl as fire swirled at his feet and erupted around him, sustaining extra damage from the effects of it's burns.
"Lucario, use Metal Sound!" Pushing through the pain, Lucario reeled both arms back before promptly swinging them forward and slamming his wrist spikes together, creating an ear piercing screech to ring out in Diamond's direction. The fox let out a cry as she folded back her sensitive ears, forcing to close even tighter by pushing them down with her paws. "Now strike with Power-up Punch!"
Lucario halted the noise so he could lurch forward with his fist glowing orange with energy. Diamond couldn't hear a thing past the loud ringing in her ears, so as she struggled to open her eyes, she didn't even have time to register the Lucario right in front of her. Next thing the Braixen knew, she suddenly felt a huge pain in her abdomen as Lucario thrusted his fist into her gut and lifted her off the ground.
"Diamond!" Aura cried.
Korrina watched as Diamond hit the ground. There was no way she could survive that attack, or so she thought. To the Gym Leader's surprise, the short fox began to slowly push herself up, holding her gut in pain as a line of blood seeped from her mouth.
"W-what?! No way!" Korrina shouted.
Aura felt relieve ball up in his chest, but he knew this was no time to celebrate. "Alright, Diamond! Blast it with Flamethrower!" Diamond wiped the blood from her lip and swiftly grabbed her stick. Twirling it like usual, the end caught on fire before being thrust in Lucario's direction and unleashing a steady stream of fire.
Korrina couldn't react in time as she witnessed the blaze collide with her partner and engulf the jackal. She could hear his cries of pain from within and winced herself. As the flames subsided, Korrina sighed in relief as her Lucario managed to withstand the attack. "You okay, Lucario?" She asked. Lucario was about to answer, but it suddenly let out another cry of pain as fire erupted around it, forcing him to drop to his knee as he panted heavily. "Tch. This isn't good. At this rate Lucario won't be able to continue." Korrina looked at her glove and nodded, "Alright, Lucario! Let's finish this as soon as possible!" Raising her hand in the air, Korrina tapped the large round jewel on the back of her glove, the stone emitting a white light that soon reached out to Lucario who held up his arm as well.
The wristband Lucario wore began to glow and streams of light reached for Korrina's, and as the lights connected, Korrina cried out, "Mega Evolve!" Lucario's body became engulfed in a radiant orange and purple light as waves of energy flowed throughout the entire room. Finally, the light burst away to reveal Lucario standing in his mega form.
"Now! Bone Rush!" Lucario let out a loud roar as it slammed it's fists together, pulling them apart with a light blue bone materializing between them. With the bone in his grasp, Lucario suddenly lunged forth at immense speed.
"Guard it with Cut!" Aura panicked. Diamond's stick flashed white and extended into the shape of a blade. Swinging it forward, it connected with Lucario's bone and halted them both in place. The force of the two attacks sent out a shockwave across the ground, creating a small crater around them as they pushed against one another furiously.
"Don't let up!" Korrina called. Lucario pulled back his bone to attempt another swing, once again being blocked by Diamond's blade and sending out sparks upon impact.
"Keep it up!" Aura cried. The two Pokemon continued to connect their attacks one after another, their weapons bouncing off one another and showering the dirt below in sparks. However, Diamond could hardly keep up with the strength of the Mega Pokemon and was soon overpowered. Lucario thrusted his bone forward, knocking back Diamond's blade and quickly swinging the back end of his weapon into her side, eliciting a cry of pain from the Braixen as she bounced along the ground. "Diamond!" Aura shouted.
Diamond slowly pushed herself up with shivering arms. "I'm impressed you made it this far, but it's all over now!" Korrina called. "Lucario! Finish it off with Aura Sphere!" Lucario pulled it's arms back and began to charge it's finishing move.
As the ball of energy grew in size, Diamond watched helplessly as she could barely hold herself up any longer. Although, as she turned to face Aura, seeing the look of defeat and sorrow in his eyes, Diamond felt tears well up in her own. She clenched her teeth and gripped the dirt. She felt an overpowering sensation build in her chest as her emotions began to take over. Diamond froze with her eyes wide, they briefly flashed red before the intense feelings she had suddenly disappeared.
Aura too had frozen in place, he felt his body grow light and his worries all cleared.
Both Aura and Diamond began to glow royal blue and scarlet red. In that one moment, the two felt more connected than ever before, as if their hearts had suddenly become one.
"No…" Diamond shut her eyes with a tear rolling down her cheek, "I won't give up!" She cried, though to the surprise of everyone, Diamond had actually spoken.
Before everyone could even begin to question if what they heard was real or not, Diamond's body was enveloped in a white light as her form began to change. This even surprised Lucario as he paused his attack to witness Diamond's evolution. Soon enough, the light burst from Diamond's form as she now sat there as a fully evolved Delphox.
Diamond slowly pushed herself up as a red aura flared up around her. Everyone paused as Diamond spoke again, her words echoing through the stadium. "So long as I'm alive! So long as we're together! I will never give up on helping Aura make his dream come true!" She cried. Lifting her wand in the air, her aura flared up more intensely as she glared at Lucario. Bringing her wand down slowly with the tip pointed at the jackal, the light surrounding her flowed into the small flame on the end, causing it to quickly build in size. "Blast Burn!" Diamond yelled. The ball of fire erupted and unleashed an enormous jet of blazing fire at Lucario. Nothing could be done to stop it as Lucario roared in agony as his entire body was engulfed. Everyone had to cover their eyes from the intense light the flames produced.
Finally, the flames burst away leaving the charred Mega Pokemon standing in silence. Lucario limply fell forward with it's body flashing and reverting to normal before hitting the ground unconscious.
Gurkinn threw up his hand, "Lucario is unable to battle! Delphox wins and the victory goes to the challenger!"
Aura could hardly contain his excitement as he rushed onto the field. "You did it, Diamond! You won!" He cheered. The fox looked back and weakly smiled, though suddenly her eyes shot open as her body went numb. Aura watched in horror as Diamond dropped her wand before tilting over. "Diamond!" Aura sprinted to his mate and dropped down just in time to catch her in his arms. "Diamond?! Diamond?!" He cried.
The fox's ears rang as her vision blurred. She tried to speak but couldn't even move her lips. Was this it? Diamond's eyes slowly closed with the last thing she saw being her love crying above her.
What a way to end it am I right? Hopefully I did well with creating some suspense for you all with that cliffhanger and give you something to look forward to with the next chapter. A lot of you can probably already guess what's going on with Diamond right now, but let's try to avoid spoiling it for anyone who might not actually know since I kind of want it to be a but more anticipated.
Truth be told, back when I first started this story I had written all Pokemon dialogue in bold specifically for the purpose of what happened in this chapter. I had planned for quite a long time for Diamond to evolve right here and suddenly be capable of actually speaking so I wanted to make it easier to figure out in what way she was speaking depending on if her dialogue was bolded or not. And don't worry, her being able to speak will be explained very soon and it should make a lot of sense.
Oh and one final thing. I have finished the re-write for chapter one but I am debating on whether to hold off on posting it until I finish the rest or whether I should just post them upon completion. I'll give it a bit longer for some feedback on that because I am indecisive.
Hope you all enjoyed, until next time. ~Aura