Hey! Sorry I'm late; the next one will be late too, probably. Take care and have a great day! See you next week!
Chapter 15: Shiva
Quinton stared at the jail cell ceiling for what felt like hours. His now longer and uncut red hair got in the way of his face, so he brushed it aside. As he did, his finger touched his cheek, and he felt the fuzz of his facial hair. He sighed to himself.
Days like these in jail were the worst. Being melancholy, staring at the ceiling walls like it's a TV...
As he lay on his bunk bed, he raised his hand up to stare at it. On his sleeve, he saw the black and white striped uniform he wore, serving as a reminder of what he was. He used to be someone of high esteem, someone who was fighting to be the strongest trainer of all.
But now… he was a prisoner. Fate had brought him here. As he sighed, he dropped his raised arm and turned to lie on his stomach. He hung one of his arms off of the bed, and it drooped over to the bottom side of the bunk bed. He felt a hand touch his hanging hand, a soft and feminine one.
It's rough, isn't it?" The woman said. It was Samantha, his cellmate. Not only that, but she was also his partner in crime. Together, they wreaked havoc on Hoenn... Until they were stopped.
"Of course it is," Quinton mumbled. Gently, the woman caressed Quinton's hand, gliding her thumb across his palm like she was drawing a picture.
"You okay?" Samantha asked.
Quinton didn't respond.
"I have days like these too, you know," Samantha said. "Where I'm just lost in thought. Wondering where all the years went. During that time, I think about our daughter, and I wonder how she's doing. I wonder if she found good parents. Has good friends."
Quinton remained quiet. He closed his eyes and pulled his hand away. As his face dug deeper into his pillow, he heard the sound of the bed creaking from under him. He felt the same feminine arm prod his arm for his attention. Quinton turned to lay on his back and saw his cellmate who was now on her feet. She had long white hair that went down to her waist and stared at him with a single piercing blue eye, for her other eye was covered with an eyepatch. She looked rather different without any makeup on, her normal fair and clear skin was now more pale and dry.
"You know I don't like it when you're like that." Samantha said. "It makes my cold and dead heart wrench."
Quinton still didn't respond.
"Are you going to be okay? If you're worried about our little girl, Marie said-"
"...Sometimes I wonder…" Quinton said. "I just wonder… if I was given one more chance to become the best there ever was.."
Samantha sighed and Quinton sighed along with her.
"Welp, if you need me, I'll be down here in this bunk bed." Samantha said. She knew that there was nothing she could say that could ease him at that moment.
The reality was that he had to serve his time first.
The reality was that he had lost.
The only way he'd get his chance to rewind the clock is if he was broken out of this cell. But that… that was impossible. Quinton slowly closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.
Brawly's eyes widened once he heard the front door of his Gym open. He swung his head to two opponents who had challenged him a day ago.
Lucia and Beatrice.
Lucia's face was bruised and battered. Beatrice had her armor on, but it looked like it was in terrible shape- it was covered in dirt.
"You two look like you just came out of a training session." Brawly said, approaching with his arms crossed and a wide smile.
"Yeah, we trained all day yesterday," Lucia said.
"All day, huh?" Brawly replied. "That's Awesome!"
"Not as awesome as you think," Lucia said, crossing her arms. "I can't imagine anything worse than going first-to-100 with her."
"Likewise," Beatrice said.
"First to 100?" Brawly said. "You mean, you've-"
"Fought against one another one hundred times, yes," Beatrice said.
Brawly's jaw dropped. He snickered and placed a hand on his head before laughing. He then started clapping furiously.
"Great!" Brawly said. "That's awesome! Better than awesome, actually! I'm itching to fight you right now! Let's get to our places!" Brawly spun around and ran over to the opposite end of the stadium. Beatrice and Lucia didn't have to go very far, the challengers' standing area was close to the entrance.
Brawly couldn't stop smiling, even when he reached the gym-leader's standing area. He spun around, and brandished a Pokéball from his pocket.
The girls glared at Brawly with enough intensity to send shivers down his spine, and he loved every moment of it.
"Now, Gym leader Brawly…Are you ready to lose?!" Beatrice said, brandishing a Pokéball of her own.
"Of course not!" Brawly responded.
"She didn't stutter, you know!" Lucia said, pulling out her Pokéball as well.
"Let's go over the rules one more time…" Brawly said. "This is a two on one battle! I can use up to two Pokémon, and you guys, only one! To beat me, you must defeat both of my Pokémon!" Brawly grinned. He wasn't going to throw out both of his Pokémon at once for this fight. Just like the last time they fought, Brawly had a plan. If his first Pokémon fell, the weight on his armor would engage, and he'd fall to the ground. He'd have to de-activate his invoker armor to be able to stand up again. That's how it always worked; however, because they have to defeat two of his Pokémon to win, he can throw out his next Pokémon and re-activate his invoker armor to fight all over again.
In other words, this would mean the girls would have to defeat him twice.
Brawly pulled his Pokéball from his pocket and threw it into the air. His first Pokémon, Pangoro, broke out of his ball and bellowed a loud roar after landing on the ground in front of his trainer. Brawly stepped forward and activated his armor by slapping his wristwatch-like invoker.
Lucia threw her Pokéball in front of her. Shelgon came out of it and leapt into the air as his trainer marched forward. Shelgon latched onto Lucia's arm as she raised it. With a flick of her free hand, an azure sword made of Dragon fire came to life.
Beatrice tossed her Pokéball into the air as she followed the marching Lucia. Vulpix came out of Beatrice's ball. The fire type fell right onto his trainer's shoulder- and Beatrice burst into flames. The flames moved like it was a fiery aura, The flames slowly coalesced and moved onto the red-haired girl's feet. Every fiery footprint she left behind scorched the ground below her.
Everyone on the battlefield assumed their battle stances.
"Let's go!" The three of them cried out at the same time. Lucia sprinted into action. Beatrice stayed behind and kicked the air with her burning feet, releasing a fireball with every swing of her leg. As Lucia charged ahead, the fireballs Beatrice fired followed behind her.
"Pangoro! Earthquake!" Pangoro slammed his fist onto the ground- the earth trembled as a fissure rapidly approached the purple-haired girl. Lucia leapt into the air to avoid the fissure and the fireballs followed her into the skies. Lucia flew down after Brawly with her sword raised.
"Do it, Pangoro!" Brawly swung his finger up at Lucia, and the Dark/Fighting type leapt after her. Just then, what looked like a gigantic fireball came and intercepted Pangoro, and dragged him toward the ground. Brawly gasped as the gigantic fireball's flames suddenly dispersed, and revealed Beatrice who had her foot planted on Pangoro's stomach. As the two fell to the ground, Beatrice stood on top of the Pokémon's body that skid across the floor. It was like she was using him as a surfboard. Vulpix, who stood on Beatrice's shoulder, looked like he was having a fun time.
"TAKE THIS!" Lucia roared. Brawly swung his head back to the airborne Lucia and narrowly caught her sword by clapping his hands together. Brawly raised his leg and kicked the girl in the stomach to send her flying away- but just after that- the fireballs that followed Lucia from the beginning of the fight crashed around him. The sandy ground exploded once the fireballs touched it, and the Gym leader covered his eyes with his arm. Just then, suddenly, he felt a fist slam onto his visor, and his head bounced back. As Brawly stumbled, he felt a leg sweep his feet, and he fell to the ground. By the time the dust settled, Lucia was standing over Brawly. Lucia held Shelgon like an arm-blaster, pointing him directly at Brawly's face.
"Dang..." Brawly said. "You planned meticulously for-."
A raging dragon flame burst to life as Shelgon opened his mouth right in front of Brawly's face.
"Shelgon- Full power!" Lucia roared.
"Uh oh-!"
A raging blast of flame blasted onto Brawly's body- and exploded outward into a gigantic pillar of azure flame.
Meanwhile, Pangoro's body stopped dragging from the ground, and Beatrice stepped off.
"Get up," Beatrice said as the explosion from Lucia's attack rang from behind her. Pangoro, feeling the full brunt of Lucia's attack thanks to Brawly's armor transferring the damage, struggled to stand up. As Pangoro finally brought himself to his feet, he slowly raised his fists. Beatrice sprinted after the Dark/Fighting type, leapt into the air, and dove foot-first after Pangoro. Pangoro blocked the attack with his arms, and Beatrice backflipped back into the air. Vulpix finally hopped off of his trainer's shoulder midair and fired a salvo of flames from his mouth. Pangoro braced himself for the oncoming blasts of flame. Some pelted the large Pokémon, while others landed on the sandy ground. Dust leapt into the air and into Pangoro's eyes as Beatrice finally landed on the floor. She charged for the Pokemon, slamming her foot onto his stomach once again. With grace and skill, Beatrice released a flurry of kicks onto Pangoro, and then quickly landed a final kick that sent him flying into the air.
"Vulpix! Will-O-Wisp!" Beatrice pointed her finger at the airborne Pangoro, and Vulpix fired an orb of flame at their opponent. The orb hit its mark- but didn't explode or burst, it simply circled around the now falling Pangoro. Both Vulpix and Beatrice turned away from their enemy, and slowly, the red-haired trainer raised her hand.
"It's over," She said. The moment the girl snapped her fingers, the orb that circled Pangoro burst into a brilliant explosion. Pangoro's simmering body plummeted to the ground. As soon as the Dual-type Pokémon fell to the floor, Beatrice walked toward Lucia, who still stood over Brawly.
"Heh.." Brawly said, smiling up at Lucia. "I can't move... That must mean Pangoro's down..I'm impressed… you beat me and Pangoro really quickly… but… The show's not over yet… Brawly's invoker deactivated, and Lucia took steps back so Brawly could stand back up. Brawly walked past Lucia so he could get some distance away from the two challengers.
"Of course," Beatrice said. "Lucia and I planned for every eventuality."
"Really Every eventuality?" Brawly's eyebrows rose.
"Yeah! That means that no matter what you throw at us, Beatrice and I are gonna crush you!" Brawly began chuckling loudly.
"Great, That's great! That's more than great! You two are awesome!" Brawly turned to face the two girls once again. He pulled out his second Pokéball and stared at it with a wide grin. He then dropped his Pokéball beside him, and Medicham came out from it. The Psychic/Fighting type's eyes were closed, and his hands were brought together as though in prayer. Both Beatrice and Lucia entered battle stances.
"I've decided…" Brawly said. "That if I'm going to beat you, I have to do something you wouldn't expect!"
"There's no way you can do something like that!" Lucia said.
"Just admit defeat already!" Beatrice cried.
"Nope...!" Brawly pulled his sleeve, revealing that he had two bracelets on his arm. His invoker, and another bracelet that held a Key stone. That meant only one thing:
Mega Evolution.
"WHAT!?" Lucia cried.
"You can't see it, but Medicham is holding Medichamite! You should know what that means..!" Brawly slammed his hand onto the bracelet that held the Key stone, and immediately, Medicham's entire body was encased in a purple shell. An intense light shone as the sphere began to slowly crack and break apart. Then- with a violent roar, Mega Medicham came to be.
Both challengers stared in sheer shock.
"You two lit a fire within my heart..!" Brawly then activated his invoker once again. The moment his armor engaged, an intense wave of psychic power radiated around Brawly. "When an Invoker user links with a Pokémon… their strength becomes linked…So if Medicham's power grows, so does mine!" Brawly roared. The aura that wrapped around the gym leader looked near-identical to her mother's Gardevoir.
Lucia felt her legs beginning to tremble.
"He-..He's using Mega Evolution..!" Lucia cried. "I- I can't believe it..!"
Brawly couldn't stop grinning as his hair flew wildly. It was as though a fan was blowing below his feet as his aura expanded.
"What's wrong?! I thought you planned for every eventuality?! I thought that no matter what I threw at you, you're both going to crush me!?" Brawly clenched both of his fists intense fighting type energy radiated around the man's hands and feet, and they shined with a crimson red light. "I'll fight you with everything I've got!"
Suddenly, golden arms erupted from behind the Gym leader's back. It was like looking at a Machamp- but instead of two arms, Brawly had gained Seven arms on his back. All of them moved in unison as Brawly waved his arms around him in a clockwise motion. A gold aura followed his extra arms. Mega Medicham mirrored his movements. The two of them brought their hands together as though to pray.
"I have arms that can shatter mountains..!" Brawly's voice boomed like it was on a loudspeaker as his eyes shone with a golden light. A loud and horrifyingly deep voice trailed behind his own. "I have a mind that can shatter dimensions!" Brawly roared. "This…is my full power!"
Brawly looked like he became a god.
Lucia felt fear overwhelming her at that point.
Brawly slowly entered a battle stance as shards of earth rose around him and Mega Medicham.
"You both came far after I beat you before... so If I push you both to your absolute limits... and go all out then you'll become even stronger than me, right!?"
Lucia nearly took a step back.
"C-Can…Can we… even…." Lucia finally took a step back. She couldn't speak, let alone even think. Suddenly Beatrice's hand touched her shoulder. Lucia's eyes widened as she spun to her friend, who slowly nodded at her.. Vulpix was on her shoulder, and he had a bright, confident smile on his face.
Shelgon cried out his own name, and Lucia glanced down at Shelgon, who was still latched onto her arm. The dragon type had turned around to look at Lucia and gave her a look of determination. Lucia clenched her fists and nodded back as Shelgon spun himself right back around. Lucia grit her teeth, and raised her dragon-fire sword at her two powered up opponents.
"Prepare yourself.." Beatrice said.
"We're gonna crush you..!" Lucia cried. "We'll definitely... surpass you!"
Fun fact: The god 'Shiva' is the God of Destruction and Regeneration.
So, there's that.