Chapter 46: Not a matter of If- Only when
Lucia stared at the large doors which lead to the battlefield where she and her father would finally face off. The sound of the crowd's muffled cheering could be heard from behind the doors.
The battle Lucia dreamt of was finally here. Her heart couldn't stop racing. Slowly, the tomboy's hand reached for the doors, and just as she pushed them, a hand came to her shoulder from behind. Lucia's eyebrows rose as she spun around. Lucia gasped with happiness once she realized who it was.
"Mom!" Lucia cried, rushing to hug Rebecca. Rebecca hugged her back.
"How's my strong little girl doing!?" Rebecca cried. "I'm so proud of you..."
Lucia giggled like a little girl, then pulled away. "I'm so happy you're here…" Lucia said.
"I wouldn't miss this fight for the world," Rebecca said. "You know, before I went to fight your father as the champion, your uncle came to me and gave me words of encouragement. I'm here to do the same for you. Listen to me." Rebecca placed both hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Lucian is… well, he's the strongest trainer, even with your new powers, you may think you don't stand a chance… But remember that audacity you had to fight against me, a former champion. Don't let him intimidate you- if you can beat me, you can beat him."
"Okay..!" Lucia said, nodding. "I'll do that!"
Rebecca leaned and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Do your best!" She cried. Lucia nodded and ran off.
Tears rolled down the mother's face as Lucia opened the doors.
"THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY IS FINALLY GOING TO BEGIN!" The announcer wailed at the top of his lungs as the entire crowd made an uproar.
Beatrice, who sat in the spectator's seat next to Anastasia Marie and Zennon, was the only one who wasn't cheering. It wasn't because she was a sore loser- it was because she had a single question on her mind that needed answering:
Why could Lucia use Trust-borne fusion?
Beatrice quietly pondered as she raised a bent finger to her lower lip. She could have asked Lucia- but the thought escaped her until now. An annoyed sigh escaped her lips.
'Think, Beatrice, think', she thought.
Only legendary Pokémon are able to fuse into others' bodies. Either artificially, using technology to force the fusion, or trust. Thus, the name "Trust-borne fusion". Beatrice knew that this meant that she couldn't use trust-borne fusion with Ninetales, no matter how much they trusted each other.
So, trust wasn't a factor. It wasn't that Lucia trusted her Salamence more than Beatrice trusted her Ninetales. No. It has to be because of something else:
Her invoker.
Beatrice's eyes widened once she recalled a conversation she watched Lucia and Brawly have:
"I had a rematch against my Machoke," Lucia had said to Brawly when she and Beatrice beat him. "Only difference was that I fought him by myself. When he went full power against me, he was powerful. Like, super powerful. Like, he could move a mountain if he wanted, powerful. But for whatever reason... I was able to match his strength. Because I-"
"Because you really, really wanted to!" Brawly cried. "In other words, your willpower kicked in, and your Invoker must've reacted to it!"
"Oh jeez... That could explain a lot, actually..." Lucia said, crossing her arms.
Beatrice blinked after she finished reminiscing. "Willpower…" The redhead muttered under her breath as the announcer called out Lucian's name- and the entirety of the arena yelled in excitement.
"Beatrice!" Anastasia said, shaking Beatrice by the shoulder. Beatrice's eyes swung to the white-haired girl who was beaming and pointing down toward the battlefield. "Look! Lucia's walking up to Lucian! It's so cool!"
"Yes," Beatrice said, smiling wide. "It's all very exciting."
"LUCIAN! LUCIAN! LUCIAN!" The entire crowd chanted Lucian's name.
"One day," Anastasia said, "They're gonna chant Lucia's name at the same time! I just know it!"
Beatrice nodded. "They'd better. If they don't, then I'll buy this colosseum, have TVs stationed all around, and have them show Lucia's name for all to see. Of course, they'd be programed to show my name when I eventually take Lucia's place as Champion," Beatrice flipped her hair sassily.
"Everyone prepare yourselves!" The announcer roared. "This battle will be one to remember!"
Beatrice crossed her arms as she watched Lucia and Lucian finally meet face-to-face.
"You'd better win, Lucia. I won't tolerate failure!" Beatrice roared.
"So," Lucian said as he stood face to face with his daughter and her Salamence. "How and when did you realize that you could use Trust-borne fusion?"
"Well, I'll explain the 'when' before the 'how,'" Lucia said. "I discovered this when I was at the sixth gym. As for how… I thought about a battle way back when Swampert was still a Marshtomp, when she and I fought Wattson. I lost to him so many times, all on purpose, and every time, Wattson'd hit us with his strongest attack to finish the battle. Every time we rose up to fight him again, my will would become stronger, and my fears of losing would become weaker. That was the plan, at least. Though- I remembered that I felt a second power welling up inside of me every time we let the attack hit us. That was when I realized it. My invoker doesn't just react to my determination, it reacts to my Pokémon's too!"
"I see," Lucian said.
"That's when I realized that I could go a step further." Lucia placed a hand on her chest as she closed her eyes. Salamence's eyes closed as well. The two of them began to glow with an azure color. "If Salamence and I just focus hard enough, make our thoughts one and the same… and combine our determination...!"
Salamence's eyes opened as he roared at the top of his lungs. Suddenly, Salamence's body turned into an azure light that condensed and turned into a tiny orb, which slowly descended to Lucia's now open palm.
Lucia opened her eyes and clenched the orb. A shining light seeped past her fingers as an azure orb expanded and completely covered the girl's entire body. The orb began to crack as light flew toward the sky like a beacon. Lucian watched as wind blew against him, the jacket that he wore like a cape flew wildly in the wind as the father smiled a proud smile.
The cracking orb completely shattered, and the pillar of light shrank. A blazing aura formed around Lucia, who had donned the armor she wore against Beatrice. The dragon head shaped helmet and cape she had on sparked with azure colored electricity. Slowly Lucia raised her hand, and flames erupted before her palm. She grabbed it, and the flames expanded and took the shape of a sheathed Katana. She unsheathed it and pointed it at Lucian.
"...This happens," Lucia concluded. Her voice had an echo travel behind it. "So…You scared?"
Lucian began clapping.
"Good job, good job! I'm really proud of you!" Lucian spoke with such a light tone, that Lucia furrowed her brow in confusion. Was he not scared after all? With this amount of power she wielded, there's no way he wasn't at least intimidated...
'Wait-' Lucia thought.
It was a bluff. Of course he was scared. Lucia smiled. "Y'know," Lucia said. "It's okay to say that you're scared."
Lucian laughed loudly. "I'm not really scared."
"Pfft- Yeah, whatever. Anyway, where's your Pokémon? I haven't seen them yet."
A smile came to Lucian's lips. He pulled at his pocket, and then pulled a single Pokeball. "C'mon, Flygon!" Lucian tossed his Pokeball in the air, and out of it came Flygon, who roared in excitement as he remained in the air.
Lucia sighed a deep breath to prepare herself.
"Well?" Lucia said. "Aren't you going to put on your Invoker armor?"
"Nah," Lucian said.
Lucia's eyes widened.
"What?!" Lucia cried.
"Wha-" Marie cried.
"Did he-" Anastasia said.
Beatrice's jaw dropped.
"St-Stop messing with me!" Lucia said. "You're- If you think Taunting me will work, you're-"
"No, no," Lucian said, waving his hand in denial. "If I were to put on invoker armor, it would interfere with what I'm going to do to make this fight Ten times harder for you."
"Huh?"
Lucian closed his eyes as his short pink hair began to glow for a split second. It turned into a shining blue. His skin became jet black and shined with a diamond-like color. His left eye was now crimson red, and the whites of his eyes were replaced with a deep black.
The entire crowd gasped in complete surprise.
"Wait..!" Lucia cried. "That form- it's- it's the same as when you merged with Dialga! I- How!?"
"Yeah, uh," Lucian scratched the back of his neck. "When Arceus revived me…Dialga and I kind of… permanently merged. He wasn't too happy about that, either." He chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. " He's gonna stay inside my body until I die, then he'll be free. So, in the meantime, I can use his power so long as I don't have an Invoker on. Having one on would have me link to Flygon instead and muck up the link."
"I-Isn't this cheating!?" Lucia cried.
"Nah, had a talk with the rule-makers. They said it's fine."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN!?"
"Eh, don't worry! I can only rewind time, freeze time and speed up time only for myself for a maximum of five seconds! If I were to go any further, I'd use too much temporal power and risk disappearing!"
"Wha..?" Lucia said. "But- this is-"
"Roar of time- Time stop."
Lucian disappeared in an instant, and in that same instant, Lucian's hand fell onto his challenger's shoulder. Lucia almost screamed in fright.
"...It's okay to admit you're scared." Lucian said.
Lucia gasped in fear, spun around and leapt away.
Flygon roared loudly as he finally descended to stand next to the powered-up Lucian, who cracked his knuckles. "Since Dialga trusts me, I have more access to Dialga's power than Quinton ever did."
"Tch..!" Lucia grunted.
"One more thing: Nepotism won't save you," Lucian said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucia asked.
"It means that I won't hesitate to knock you out just because you're my daughter."
"AND NOW..!" The announcer roared.
"Wait-" Lucia cried.
"LET THE BATTLE…!"
"I-I have to get my thoughts togethe-"
"BEGIN!" The announcer roared.
"ROAR OF TIME-" Lucian cried. "ACCELERATE FOR ME ALONE!"
Lucia blinked before seeing Lucian's fist fly toward her and onto her gut. Lucia's eyes widened as spit flew out of her mouth. Lucian clasped his hands together and slammed Lucia's back, sending her to the ground.
"Do it, Flygon!" Lucian leapt into the air as Flygon shot a hyper beam straight at Lucia. The girl rose to her feet and raised her Katana to prepare to swing.
"ROAR OF TIME- BRING TIME TO A HALT!" Lucian cried.
Lucia's eyes widened upon realization that she wasn't holding her sword anymore. It was gone.
"I like your sword!" Lucia turned her head around to see Lucian holding Lucia's sword. "It's very nice, very sparky."
"YOU-!"
The hyper beam approaching her slammed into her body and carried her toward the colosseum walls before exploding. The smoke cloud that erupted from it was enormous- but eventually it faded to reveal Lucia who was pinned to the wall. With a boisterous cry, she ripped her body off of the wall and fell to the ground on all fours.
"How can you just take my sword like that!?" Lucia cried.
"Well, it's made of Dragon type energy," Lucian said, raising the blade and gliding his fingers across it. "So Of course, I can use it. Dialga's a Dragon type too. Why do you think that punch hurt you so much? It's super effective."
"You..!" Lucia thrust her arm ahead of her. "Then I'll just make another sword!" Flames erupted in front of the girl's palm as another katana took shape.
Lucian sighed loudly. "...Roar of time… Bring time to a halt…" He groaned.
Lucia blinked, and Lucia's sword disappeared from her hands again. Lucian was now in front of her daughter wielding both swords.
"Wanna make a third one?" Lucian said. "Maybe I can hold it with my mouth. I saw a guy do it once in an anime," Before Lucia could even speak, the champion slashed in an X motion just as Lucia rolled past him to dodge. Lucian turned around and stepped forward as Lucia took several steps back to create distance. Suddenly, she bumped into Flygon. Lucia spun around and saw the Dragon/Ground type glare at her.
"Maybe I should return Flygon to his Pokeball," Lucian said. Lucia turned back and forth. "Make this a little easier, maybe?"
"SH-SHUT UP!" Lucia shouted.
"FLYGON! DRAGON TAIL!"
Flygon backflipped and whipped Lucia with his tail to send her flying into the air. Lucian watched her fly into the air and swung Lucia's blades at her- each swing sent a crescent wave of Draconic energy that crashed into her body one by one. Lucia cried out in agony as smoke cloud after smoke cloud followed each explosion. Soon, Lucia's body fell through the smoke and onto the ground.
Lucia grunted and groaned as she looked up to see Lucian and Flygon standing over her. Lucian pointed his new blades at her face.
"Move, and I cut you down." Lucian said coldly. "Only way out of this is if you Surrender."
Lucia gritted her teeth.
That's when Rebecca's earlier statement came to her mind and replayed.
"Even with your new powers, you may think you don't stand a chance… But remember that audacity you had to fight against me, a former champion. Don't let him intimidate you- if you can beat me, you can beat him."
Lucia started to chuckle.
"What's funny?" Lucian asked.
"I just remembered; you don't have invoker armor on. So technically, all I need is just one hit...!"
"That's if you can hit me" Lucian said. "The next thing you say better be, 'I surrender', or I'll seriously cut you down."
"...Fine," Lucia said.
"Smart choice."
Lucia's armor slowly began to disintegrate and shatter like glass- the katanas Lucian stole shattered along with them.
"Well, kid, you did your best," Lucian said with a smile. He crouched and offered a hand to pull her up. "But-"
"Hey- I've got a question." Lucia said, looking up at her father.
"What'd that be?"
"What's angry, gigantic," Lucia said. "And about to smack you with its massive tail..?"
"Uh… What?" Lucian raised his eyebrows. A giant, Salamence-sized shadow loomed over him and Flygon. The champion and his Pokémon turned and looked up at Salamence.
"Oh-" He said, blinking before widening his eyes in realization. Salamence whipped his tail down at them. "Roar of time-!" Dust rose from the ground as Salamence's tail smashed where Flygon and Lucian stood.
Lucia rose to her feet and smiled at her massive companion and turned to see Lucian and Flygon stand right beside them.
"Real underhanded but smart move there, kiddo," Lucian said.
Lucia turned to glare at Lucian, smiled, and dug into her pockets. She whipped Salamence's Pokeball out and returned the dragon type into it. The champion tilted his head.
"Are you trying to switch Pokémon?" Lucian asked. "That's not allowed."
"I'm not switching," Lucia said, pulling on her other pocket and pulling out a Dynamax bracelet. Lucian's eyes widened, and he started glaring.
"ROAR OF TIME! TIME STOP!"
Within a fraction of a second, Lucian appeared right in front of his daughter and grabbed her wrist. Her Dynamax bracelet fell to the floor.
"You think I'd let you?" He said.
Lucia grinned. "No," She said, tossing her Pokeball aside with her free hand. Lucian turned his attention to it.
"ROAR OF-"
Lucia's bare fist slammed into the man's face and sent him to the ground. Flygon's eyes widened- he opened his mouth and released a Fireblast that flew her way. Salamence's Pokeball that fell to the ground and opened, bringing the dragon type back along with its link with Lucia. With a flick of her wrist, Lucia summoned a dragon-flaming shield and swatted the fireblast away with it.
Lucian clenched his teeth as he grabbed his face."ARGH... Jeez, kid, That HURT!" He cried.
Lucia ran toward the downed champion. "Ugh..!" He cried, closing one eye and glaring upward. Roar of-!" Lucia kicked the man in the stomach with every bit of strength she had- sending him flying like a soccer ball into the sky.
"Salamence!" Lucia said, whipping her other hand to summon her dragon-flame sword. "Don't move from this spot, and attack when I say so!" Flaming azure dragon wings erupted from her back before she leapt into the air. Flygon quickly flew after her to save his trainer.
Lucian gritted his teeth and glared at the young girl as his body spiraled uncontrollably. "Ugh..! Roar of time- Time REVERSE!"
Lucia watched as Lucian's body flew backward toward her. It was like watching a baseball fly for her, and she clutched her sword like a baseball bat. She swung- but completely missed- the blade flew right over the champion's chin as he flew right back to where he was originally lying.
But that's what Lucia wanted- Salamence would be waiting there. That guaranteed Lucian wouldn't be a problem for a while. Lucia spun around and set her sights at her real target: Flygon. Lucia darted toward her enemy. Flygon's eyes widened in shock, narrowly avoiding Lucia's diving swing. Lucia spun around to see Flygon glaring at her.
"Time for you to kiss the ground, Flygon!" She cried.
Flygon fired a flamethrower at Lucia, and Lucia dove in- readying her shield. She blocked the flamethrower and pushed forward. Lucia slashed the Dragon/Ground type once she reached him and flew past him like an arrow- causing the Pokémon to shout in pain. Lucia then darted back at the Mystic Pokémon and slashed wildly at him. Every slash left behind a line of azure flame that marked the Dragon's body like chalk on pavement. After slashing him enough times, Lucia spun around and motioned like she was sheathing her sword behind her back. The several lines of flames burst and exploded- sending a smoke-covered Flygon toward the ground. Lucia spun and dove toward the ground, seeing her bruised and nearly beaten Salamence lying before Lucian. Lucia landed on the ground before Flygon did. Lucia landed with a crouch, her flaming wings exploded and scattered into the sky as Flygon's unconscious body flopped on the ground behind her.
Lucian turned around slowly, locking eyes with his challenger who was now on the other side of the battlefield.
"You beat Flygon," He said.
Salamence opened his eyes weakly- and closed his eyes- deciding to leave everything to Lucia and trust her completely. His determination to win had the Pokemon shine with an azure light before turning into a blue orb that flew toward Lucia.
"But I have to beat you both to win, right?" Lucia said, raising her open hand as the orb that contained Salemence's power flew to it.
"Bingo." Lucian said.
Lucia grabbed the orb- and the orb became large enough to completely cover the girl's body- the orb cracked as a pillar of azure flame erupted below it. The orb shattered, and the azure pillar shrank to form an aura around Lucia. She had donned her armor and cape once again.
Lucia wordlessly shot her hands forward and summoned her sheathed flame katana. Lucia kept her blade sheathed and neared her hand next to the blade's handle. Lucian entered a battle stance of his own as dark-blue Temporal energy radiated around his body.
The two stared at each other with intense looks in their eyes.
Lucia's red wings erupted from her back as she flew forward, making sure not to draw her sword. Lucian stood still, knowing that she'd eventually have to draw her blade- and the moment she did...-
"Roar of time! Time stop!" Lucian shouted- and in a blink of an eye, Lucian was gone, and so was Lucia's sword. Lucia's arm was out because she attempted to slash with a sword she no longer had.
Lucia instinctively did a backflip, narrowly dodging a horizontal swing from Lucian using her own blade against her. Grabbing onto her attacker's shoulder while midair- Lucia summoned another sheathed katana to her waist and let the blade fall.
"Roar of time-!" Letting go of her father's shoulder as he spun around and shouted, Lucia grabbed her sword and swung down. "Time stop!"
Lucia landed on the ground on her feet, swinging downward with nothing in her hands. Lucian's battle cry alerted the young girl to spin, summon her katana again and block Lucian's downward swing with both swords.
The two glared at each other as they remained in a roared and pushed Lucian back- and darted forward to attack.
The entire crowd watched in pure awe- no one was shouting or crying out- their eyes were simply darting back and forth watching the two move like lightning bolts across the entire arena and clashing with each other.
Beatrice's eyes were filled with the most awe. "...My god…" She muttered.
Lucia and Lucian clashed once again and entered a deadlock- staring into each other's eyes and glaring all the while. Suddenly, Lucia flapped her massive red wings.
"Steel WING!" Lucia swung her body along with her wing to swipe at Lucian, who quickly leapt away as the earth below where he once stood crumbled.
Lucian's heels dug into the ground as he skided backwards after landing.
"ROAR OF TIME- SPEED UP!"
Lucian moved faster than the speed of sound- disappearing then reappearing behind Lucia with his swords swung outward. Lucia grunted and cried out in pain her body lurched and moved about as though an invisible sword were slashing her. Lucia soon fell to her hands and knees as her father turned around.
"You can't beat me in a sword fight." Lucian said.
"GRRR…!" Lucia grunted. "SHUT UUUUP!" Lucia's wings flexed before she leapt high into the air, high enough that Lucian couldn't reach her. She flew so high that she went above the clouds.
"What's she planning..?" Beatrice asked as every spectator's eyes were glued at the sky.
"L-Look!" Anastasia cried, pointing down at Lucian. Lucian watched with narrowed and calm eyes. He extended his hand toward his daughter and closed his eyes.
The earth began to rumble as the sky grew dark.
"Wh-What's happening!?" Zennon cried.
"Oh- Dang it…! He's doing it again!? GUYS!" Marie shouted at the top of her lungs at all of the spectators. "We've got to move! Get out of here, NOW!"
"Wh-what!?" Anastasia cried.
"No, no, no, NO!" Lucia roared as she remained in the air. "What am I going to do…!" Tears were beginning to form in the girl's eyes. "I can't beat him one-on-one, I can't bring out Salamence anymore because he's too beaten up…"
The sound of a meteor descending toward her alerted the young girl. She spun around, and then saw the biggest Draco-Meteor the world had ever seen- one that was the size of a skyscraper.
"O-Oh my god.." Lucia said.
Beatrice ran alongside everyone else she sat with- with the colosseum finally behind her, Beatrice spun around and stared at the darkening sky along with all of the other spectators.
"You said something about Lucian doing this for the second time," Beatrice heard Anastasia's voice from behind her.
"Yeah," Marie said. "He did this before."
"Why didn't he do this against Aldrich?" Zennon asked.
"Probably because he was using all of Dialga's power to protect us, rather than fight…!" Marie cried.
Beatrice clenched her fists.
"LUCIAAAA!" Beatrice roared at the top of her lungs at the sky. "IF YOU LOSE, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU- DO YOU HEAR ME!?"
Anastasia blinked. "LUCIA! YOU'VE GOTTA WIN!" She cried. "YOU CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE IN YOU!"
Lucia stared at the massive meteor that flew her way.
"I-...!" Lucia said. "I… I don't think we can do this..!"
Beatrice and Anastasia's cries suddenly reached her.
"LUCIA- IF YOU LOSE-" Beatrice shouted. "I SWEAR I'LL NEVER STOP YELLING AT YOU! YOU'RE MY RIVAL- MY SISTER! THE ONE WHO HELPED ME CHANGE! YOU CAN DO IT!
"LUCIA!" Anastasia's voice reached her. "YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND INTO! I'VE WATCHED IT HAPPEN! IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU, I WAS ABLE TO SEE THAT I WAS GOLDEN! YOU'RE GOLDEN TOO! YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT, EVEN! YOU'VE FOUGHT THROUGH WORSE ODDS…YOU CAN BEAT ANYONE!"
Lucia clenched her fists.
"Salamence! Give me your POOOOOOOWER!" Lucia roared at the top of her lungs as an azure flame erupted around her body. An image of Salamence took from behind her and roared along with her. Lucia stared at the oncoming meteorite and closed her eyes.
A flashback of a previous statement from Lucian came to her mind then and there.
"Your sword's made of pure Dragon-type energy," Lucian said. "So of course I can use it."
Lucia opened her eyes after remembering those words, let out a battle cry, then thrust her katana into the Draco meteor falling her way. The meteor began to shine with an azure light.
"If you could make my sword's power your own…" Lucia cried. "Then..!"
The spectators watched in sheer shock- and Marie stepped forward. Suddenly, the massive shadow of the meteorite that was threatening them began to shrink.
"Wh-What's happening?" Marie cried.
"T-The Meteorite… it's gone?!" Zennon cried. "Did Lucia destroy it?!"
"No.." Anastasia said. "I didn't hear the meteor explode or anything..!"
"...Wait…"Beatrice said, widening her eyes in realization. "No- She- If she did what I think she did, she-..!"
The clouds above parted and gave way to Lucia- There were golden dragon wings behind her back, and their size rivaled skyscrapers- they were so wide that they blotted out the sun. It was like watching a Dragon-angel descend to the earth.
"Lucia-" Beatrice said. She-... She absorbed the Meteorite's dragon-type energy and made it her own..!"
"She WHAT!?" Marie cried.
Lucian's eyes widened in sheer shock as he saw the clouds part to give way to his daughter. Lucia's eyes were glowing with a blazing blue light. Her armor had become even scarier and completely Golden. Her shoulder pads had dragon heads on them with glowing blue eyes. Her katana had turned into a golden sword- its hilt was a dragon with an open mouth.
She no longer had a helmet on. Her hair was flowing wildly in the wind and was completely golden.
The spectators were coming back, filling the seats one by one as they watched Lucia's wings begin to shrink so they'd fit in the arena as she stood right in front of the champion.
The shining gold armor shone with such incredible light it seemed like it would rival the sun's rays that shone down at her at that moment.
"Who-..." Lucian clenched both of the swords he stole from his daughter. "Wh-What are you?!"
Lucia raised her sword. "The strongest trainer who ever lived." She said.
Lucian glared. "ROAR OF TIME!"
The sound of ticking clocks slowing to a halt echoed in Lucian's ears as everything became frozen in time.
"It doesn't matter how much power you gain," Lucian said, raising the swords he stole. "You can't stop me!" He swung down with one blade.
Lucia's eyes moved.
Her free arm darted and grabbed Lucian's weapon by the blade.
"WHAT!?" Lucian cried.
"Hm..." Lucia said. "It's odd. After absorbing what was supposed to be Dialga's Draco meteor, I don't feel frozen time's grip on me anymore. Must've absorbed some temporal energy, too."
Lucia snapped the sword Lucian held with her hand.
The sound of ticking clocks began to speed up as time reverted to normal.
The spectators roared with surprise.
"DI- DID SHE JUST STOP HIM!?" Anastasia cried.
Lucian staggered back, panic was in his eyes as Lucia raised her open hand at the champion.
"How was it that you said it? Oh right." Lucia glared. "Roar of time. Time Stop."
The sound of clocks slowing to a halt echoed in Lucian's ears.
"WHAT!?" Lucian cried out as time all around him began to freeze. The champion's eyes widened in horror. "I- I CAN'T MOVE..!" He cried. "Why can't I move!? I have Dialga's power..!"
Lucia walked toward the frozen Lucian.
"That's because Salamence and I, after absorbing some of Dialga's power...became Stronger than Dialga and can unleash a Roar of time that can affect even him!" Lucia said. "You have no armor on. One slash is all I'll need."
"Gch..!" Lucian grunted in exertion before suddenly smiling. He began to laugh loudly. "There's nothing I can do… I've lost."
"You're damn right."
"...You're incredible, kid.. Go on. Take your victory. You've earned it."
"With pleasure."
Lucia raised her sword above her head.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Lucia swung down after letting out a loud battle cry. A single slash line appeared on Lucian's body- and a pillar of golden flames erupted below Lucian's body.
The sound of clocks beginning to speed up blared. The moment time came back to normal, the crowd gasped in unison. Lucian was now on the ground, and Lucia stood in front of him.
"I- I have no idea what just happened…" The announcer cried.
Anastasia began to beam in joy.
"But… Lucian and Flygon are unable to fight…"
Beatrice grinned widely.
"The winner… Is Lucia!"
The entire crowd erupted in joy as they screamed for their new champion. Lucia's armor disintegrated and turned into a golden ray of light. Her golden hair faded as well. The ray of golden light flew beside Lucia and took the form of Salamence before fading away. Salamence blinked once he realized where he was, and looked down at Lucia, who was grinning widely. She. and patted the weakened but grinning Dragon-type's side. "Everyone was able to see our wings- we flew high- just like we wanted."
Salamence nodded.. Lucia pulled out her other two Pokeballs- holding Machoke and Swampert. Both of them roared in excitement upon seeing their trainer, and Lucia leapt to hug them both at the same time. "WE DID IT!" She cried, pulling away and holding both Pokemon by their hands. Lucia started leaping for joy. "I'm the CHAMPION!" She cried. "I'm the champion, I'm the champion- I'm the champion!"
"Celebrate as much as you can," Beatrice's voice came to her from behind. Lucia spun around and saw the red-haired girl walking toward her alone. "I'll be champion soon enough. Warm that seat for me."
Lucia grinned. "You're never gonna be able to sit in it," Lucia said. "Cause I'll-
Suddenly- Anastasia tackled Lucia to the ground, and the two of them rolled across the floor before finally sliding. Anastasia was on top of Lucia.
"YOU WERE AMAZING!" Anastasia cried. She leaned and started showering Lucia in kisses. Lucia started laughing as the white haired girl continued kissing her.
Marie and Zennon walked in at that time, and watched from afar.
"That kid.. She actually did it." Zennon said. "I'll be honest. Really didn't think she had it in her."
"I did," Marie said. "It wasn't a matter of if, only when this would happen. She's Lucian's kid, after all."
"MWAH, MWAH, MWAH-!" Anastasia kept kissing Lucia, and Lucia was completely red in the face but still laughing- she was too overjoyed to faint. Just then, Lucian stepped in, holding Flygon's pokeball to which he returned the dragon-type to and clutching his shoulder.
"Sorry to interrupt," Lucian said. Anastasia stopped and turned her head to Lucian. "But, I wanna congratulate my daughter." Anastasia's eyebrows rose.
"Oh- Sorry, Sorry!" She said, climbing off of Lucia. Lucia sighed as she stood up. She looked at her father.
"I'm so proud of you.." Lucian said. Tears started falling from his face. "Oh- Oh jeez- I said to your mother I wouldn't cry.."
"It's okay that you're crying," Rebecca's voice came to them from behind. Daughter and father turned to the mother, who put a hand on her husband's shoulder. The parents smiled and nodded at each other before turning to Lucia.
Lucia beamed and hugged the both of them as the spectators began to throw roses.
Lucia's armor wasn't perfect. But she had won against Lucian and became champion anyway. Winning earned her thousands of admirers. They watched her fight like a commercial "get an invoker just like Lucia's!" So they did just that.
A brand new set of armor was issued by scientists because of the sheer demand of her fans. This invoker would copy Lucia's flawed invoker- it was dubbed the "Invoker, L-type. The L meaning "Lucia."
Lucia, who was now over 20 years of age, walked into the battlefield where she and her father fought years ago. Her hair had grown a lot- she had tied it into a ponytail that reached toward her lower back. She wore a black tank-top, long blue jeans, and had the same jacket her father wore when she was the champion over her shoulders like a cape. As she walked forward, she saw her challenger: Beatrice.
Beatrice, who had grown as well, stared at the champion with intense eyes. The redhaired girl had cut her hair short, she wore a white blouse with a black skirt- and red stockings along with black high-heels. Below her neck was an invoker necklace- the sign that she was planning to use the original model of invokers, not the L-Type.
"We're basically trading places as Champion at this rate, y'know?" Lucia said. "You beat me, then I beat you... it just goes on and on and on... How long do you think this'll go?"
"No clue," Beatrice said, reaching for her invoker necklace. "But- I know for certain: this victory will be mine!" She activated her invoker armor.
"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" Lucia grinned and cracked her knuckles before pulling out her Pokeball and letting out her Salamence, who roared in excitement. Beatrice tossed her own Pokeball- and out of it came Ninetales.
All four of the combatants glared at each other.
Both girls flashed a smile at each other before rushing into battle alongside their Pokémon.
The end.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
After 46+ weeks, the story is finally done! I would like to thank my friends for helping me continue this story. Special thanks to Makisotu Douraji- without them, I wouldn't have even considered making a sequel to my previous story!
Thank YOU for reading this far-I appreciate it so much!
As for future fanfictions… I'm thinking about bringing invokers to other Pokemon settings, such as maybe Pokemon Arceus's setting! Maybe I'll make a Pokemon explorers fanfiction too, a simple romance one would be nice.
But for now, I'll be (probably) taking a break from writing pokemon for a short while, maybe two weeks or so. But- BUUUUUUUUT. I WILL be writing that What-IF for Beatrice and that chapter that makes fun of my story. But that's soon!
Like i said before: As of posting this chapter This story will be listed as "Complete". When I begin the chapters for Beatrice's what-if, I will be starting with Lucia's fight with Beatrice, then will put in another chapter for her fight with Lucian!
Thanks again for everything- This experience was amazing, seeing all of you guys come in to read my story made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. If you're itching to see more of my work, or heck, want to see some of my Original works, go to Wattpad and find "AllanJohnson7".
Heh, I always get a little emotional as I finish my stories. But in that 'I'm happy that it happened' mood. Thanks so much, everyone.
I'll be seeing you all in the next chapter- or the next story!