Chapter 24: A Final Battle
Kevin was awaken the next morning with a cheery, yet exaggerated, Good morning! from Swieten.
Kevin sat up in the luxurious guest bed. "How soon does Arguelles want to fight?" Kevin said in a yawn.
Why do you think I woke you? Swieten said. Maybe you should get warmed up first, though. You slept for quite a long time. I'm almost surprised that a person like you, who travels for long periods of time, could do something like that.
"What time is it, anyways?"
Five minutes before 11:00, Swieten answered. Don't go back to sleep, because if you do, you'll die as soon as the minute hand points straight up. Take a couple of minutes to warm up, then go outside of his home, and he'll meet you in the yard between his house and the fence.
Kevin stretched for a moment, and got out of the bed. "Feels like the Barracks again," Kevin said. "Except it's not my title on the line, it's my life."
Yes, well, hurry, Swieten urged. Arguelles will attack you as soon as it's eleven, regardless if you're in his house or not. And believe me, the Psychic activity done in this house greatly enhances the attacks he uses.
With that, Swieten left. Kevin began doing warm-ups in the room to get his body relaxed. I can't believe I have to do this, Kevin sighed.
Neither can I, and I'm the one who has to do the fighting, Duo-Cevan muttered. Well, you know what they say sometimes…
Yeah… let's get this over with.
Kevin walked out of the house with one minute to spare. "Ahh, so you have come," Arguelles said, facing him. To Kevin, he seemed somewhat like a moonstruck cat, his outline etched in the Psychic barrier.
"Yeah… I still don't understand why it has to end like this for us, though," Kevin said. He got in a battle position and began charging a ball of electricity for an attack.
"Yes, and a shame, too," Arguelles said. "The poor Champion never gained his pride back."
Thirty seconds, Swieten announced. He was perched on top of the house, watching over the yard.
We certainly have a slight disadvantage, Duo-Cevan stated, as Kevin watched the barrier close off the house behind him. We don't have much flying space.
Kevin continued building the ball of electricity. His plan was to use it as a main attack, but if his plan went perfectly, Arguelles would dodge it and it would appear to crash against the wall, only to explode and send off other attacks, much like a bomb with shrapnel, and at least a few would hit the target. It may not end it immediately, but it will give him a head start.
Ten seconds and counting, Swieten shouted.
Arguelles went from a relaxed stance to a ready position. "I wish you luck, Kevin," he said.
"And I hope, for your sake, that I can stop you and make you wish you never decided to do this without killing you," Kevin growled.
Five seconds, Swieten said.
No eyes moved or blinked. No muscle twitched. The only noise now that existed between the two was their breathing as they readied themselves for the first move.
Swieten raised his wings into the air. Let the battle commence!! he shouted.
Kevin immediately launched his ball toward Arguelles with enough speed that it left streaks of lightning behind it. Kevin expected Arguelles to dodge the attack, but what he didn't expect was how Arguelles dodged it. Arguelles floated up a bit into the air and moved to the side, causing the main attack to fly harmlessly past.
He can fly too? Kevin said in surprise.
"Don't think you can hit me that easily!" Arguelles shouted. He was suddenly caught in the back by two smaller thunderbolt attacks that came from the blast. The rest were now bouncing around the arena as if the whole fighting area was rubber.
This is unexpected, Duo-Cevan remarked as two sailed past Kevin's head.
"What are you, insane?" Arguelles shouted, putting up a light screen as he saw the thunderbolts flying around the arena in reckless abandon. "These barriers act like reflectors, causing anything directed at them to bounce off!"
"Maybe I should've made them a little more sensitive to impact like my first attack," Kevin said, dodging three more. "However, it should keep us on our toes."
"Well, it would seem our Champion does have a sense of humor," Arguelles commented. "A shame that I don't have it as well!" Arguelles flew near the top of the dome and swung his hand to throw a ball of Psychic the size of a wrecking ball at Kevin.
Whoa! Kevin shouted. He quickly flew out of the way of the giant ball, taking a mini-thunderbolt in the arm. That was bigger than our first attack and he didn't even charge that!
"Your thunderbolt attacks don't even faze me, Kevin," Arguelles said as several mini-thunderbolts struck his light screen and were absorbed. "Apparently the only one who's on his toes is you."
"Well, so much for our fun," Kevin remarked. He opened his wings and flew straight at Arguelles, dodging the now shrinking number of mini-thunderbolts. He nearly slashed Arguelles, but Arguelles knocked Kevin back with another wrecking ball-sized Psychic. Kevin crashed hard on the ground from the ball, and ended up with a mini-thunderbolt in the face.
Bother, Duo-Cevan grumbled. I knew we should've added a bit of Psychic to these thunderbolts.
Well, a little late now, Kevin sighed. He quickly put up a light screen of his own, then grew two vines on his wrists and attempted to whip them around Arguelles. Arguelles, rather than sending another huge ball of Psychic, put forward both of his hands and began firing off smaller Psychic balls as fast as a machinegun spraying the area Kevin was in. Kevin's light screen took a good portion of the hits, but was already beginning to fade.
The vines quickly grew back into Kevin's arms. Maybe if I do the same like I did Mewtwo… he wondered. He reared back his head a bit, and then threw it forward as he sent a burst of fire blast toward Arguelles. Arguelles took the fire blast in full scale and, to Kevin's surprise, caused the light screen to fade completely.
"Impressive, Kevin," Arguelles commented. "However, if I can't have my light screen, neither can you!" Arguelles once again thrust his arms in front of him, but this time he launched a bright purple beam directly at Kevin. The beam moved so fast that Kevin had absolutely no time to react, and his light screen took the beam in full force, causing it to shatter and hurt its owner in the process.
Kevin merely flinched from the shattering of his light screen. "I see you're pretty good in long range combat," Kevin taunted. "However, I bet you're no match for close range fighting!"
"Oh really?" Arguelles said in a snide tone. "And I suppose you want to test that theory? I'm ready for you." Arguelles then formed something on the backs of his hands. It seemed to grow from within Arguelles, generating light purple growths that reached over and out like poisonous talons.
Great, that's just what we need, Duo-Cevan remarked. You know what weapons like that means, right?
Not exactly, Kevin said, but our tough skin shouldn't be easily penetrated.
Kevin, those are weapons of a non-physical nature, Duo-Cevan explained. They won't cut our skin, but they'll target those within our body, probably causing damage to our senses and ability to move arms or legs.
Oh, Kevin grumbled. That definitely puts a cramp in things. But how do you know?
A Psychic-type is much like a ghost-type, if you think about it, Duo-Cevan commented. Although some ghost attacks can't hurt a normal-type, most of their attacks affect in another form, especially confuse ray. That's why Psychics are weak to them; ghosts are more in tune to their abilities, so they have an advantage in the supernatural field.
Guess that makes sense, Kevin said, shrugging in his mind. Then again, I probably shouldn't have asked now.
"What's the matter, Kevin?" Arguelles said mockingly. "Too afraid to attack? Are my claws too intimidating?"
"No, but my other mind had something to say about you, and I agree too," Kevin said, making his comeback. "But now that our little chat is over, I know what your claws are capable of."
"Oh really then?" Arguelles said, continuing his mocking. "Perhaps then you'll realize that my claws will soon render you helpless!"
Kevin leapt into action, and Arguelles flew down on his psychic powers. On their first attack run, both completely missed the other. However, Kevin responded to the miss faster, and took advantage of the first strike. He turned around and flew down at Arguelles, swinging at his target with his bladed fingers. Kevin made his mark, and struck Arguelles's left arm, leaving slash lines across it.
Arguelles flinched, making a growling noise of pain. He turned around and swung at Kevin, who dodged the attack. Kevin, knowing what the claws were capable of, was actually being very cautious, despite of how he was fighting. Each time they got close to each other, each one would swing their weapon, and it was mostly a small hit on Arguelles.
Finally, Arguelles pulled a quick movement, and managed to catch Kevin's wing. Though it didn't affect him because the wing itself had no sensory or movement, Kevin backed off for a moment, attempting to play safe.
Wait a second, Kevin suddenly said to Duo-Cevan. Didn't we learn a third move while in the power suit?
Yeah, you're right, Duo-Cevan agreed. But what was it?
"Coward!" Arguelles taunted. "We were in the middle of a fight and you run??"
Kevin ignored Arguelles. Wait! I remember now! Kevin said. He recalled that after learning Fury Cutter and Rollout, he had learned a third move, which he had used in battle almost immediately afterwards. That third move was conversion 2! It did something odd with our original conversion move, so we can choose what type or types we want to be!
Well, I'm glad you remember that, Duo-Cevan said, relieved. What type do you want us to change to?
Hang on, I'm trying to figure that out! Kevin said, thinking hard. In the meantime, watch out for Arguelles!
Duo-Cevan realized what Kevin was talking about, and moved them out of the way of a swing from their enemy. Arguelles growled so deep it could make a Charizard's blood churn. "What are you trying to pull, Kevin?" he yelled.
The dark and flying type! Kevin said, remembering the Houndoom in the Goldenrod Radio Tower. The dark type should make us invulnerable to his claws!
Duo-Cevan activated metronome. They began using Conversion, which instantly also activated Conversion 2. The combination confused the two moves from how they originally worked, so Kevin quickly chose his types. An aura of black, followed by an aura of brilliant white, glowed around his form. Kevin felt a little different with his type change, but not much.
"What on my gates…?" Arguelles wondered, watching Kevin for the moment. He quickly began flying at Kevin. "Whatever you're doing, it won't stop this!"
Kevin finished the conversion, and flew out of the way. Unfortunately, he was too late to move his right hand, and Arguelles managed to get a slash on it.
"Aaugh!" Kevin shouted a bit. The pain was rapid, but faded, and Kevin could no longer give command to it.
"You were lucky, Kevin," Arguelles said, watching Kevin's retreat into the air. "I was aiming for your heart."
Kevin turned around and dove, determined. "While you did hurt me, I plan to do more than that right now!" he shouted.
Kevin launched a flamethrower attack, and Arguelles leapt out of the way. Kevin followed his leap and, using his only good hand, slashed up from Arguelles's waist, leaving marks from the belly to his chin.
"Yeowch!" Arguelles shouted in pain. His body reacted to the sudden pain, and swung his claws up. They hit their mark, straight in Kevin's chest.
"Aaaahh!!" Kevin shouted, feeling pain surge through his whole body. He suddenly dropped, as he could no longer flap his wings, and tumbled on the ground. He flopped like a rag doll before coming to a stop. In Kevin's odd luck, the dark transformation protected his heart from the direct attack, keeping it from being stopped. However, the attack from the claws spread to the rest of his body. The only thing he could control now, which were not affected, were the muscles in his jaw, his consciousness, and anything else keeping him alive.
Arguelles stopped floating, and walked over to Kevin's motionless body. He looked at Kevin. "A pity you couldn't share this moment with me," he sighed. "I have nothing but Swieten to celebrate this victory."
"You can perform your victory over my dead body," Kevin growled.
"What?!?" Arguelles said in shock. "But I stabbed you in the heart! Why aren't you dead yet?"
"Guess my dark transformation stopped it," Kevin said, wishing he could shrug.
"Ahh, so that must've been what those colors were," Arguelles said. He shook his head. "Poor fool. Only a pure dark-type such as my Murkrow could stop that sort of slash, not a conversion like what you did. But, since you're near death anyways, I may as well have fun torturing you."
"That's what you'd like to think," Kevin growled again, his anger rising.
"Oh, really now?" Arguelles said in a mocking tone. He lifted Kevin's motionless body and, dispelling the Psychic barrier, moved Kevin over the gates. "Can you guess where you are now?"
"If I could move, I would," Kevin yelled from where he was. His anger kept rising. "Then again, if I could move, I would hurt you right now!"
"Well, to give you an idea where you are now, you're hovering over my gates," Arguelles explained. "Once I'm finished tormenting you, I'll drop you and leave you skewered like a kebab. And you know what I'm going to do after the life has left you? I'm going to use your body to gain access to your Scyther, so he will be my Pokémon!"
Who does this guy think he is? Duo-Cevan said, his anger now rising. Kevin was about to peak from Arguelles's tauntings.
"You're no human, Arguelles," Kevin shouted in frustration. "I was wrong about you. I thought you had some good, but all I can see is a powerful, but ugly, monster!"
"It gets better," Arguelles continued. "Not only shall I have ownership of your Scyther, but I'll also use you to gain access to your home. I can possess minds, and with no spirit in your flesh, I can walk you into wherever you keep your Pokémon and claim them all as my own! And for the ones I don't want, I'll give them to criminals!"
"I correct myself," Kevin yelled, his anger as high as it could go from feeling Duo-Cevan's rise. "You're not a monster, you're a rejected freak of nature! Not even other freaks would accept you!"
Arguelles's grin turned into a glare. "You would like to think that, wouldn't you?" Arguelles said in a cold tone. "A pity it won't matter after you leave this mortal world." He let go of Kevin with Psychic. "So I'll see you in the void!!!"
Kevin momentarily saw himself back on the ground, facing Arguelles. He wanted to see what Arguelles would do if Arguelles were the one paralyzed, or worse, dead. Kevin nearly couldn't imagine himself doing such an action, but at that moment, nothing mattered.
And then… he stopped. He didn't stop thinking, nor did he stop being paralyzed. But he stopped falling. He remained hovering over the gates.