CHAPTER 11
Familial Ties
Disclaimer: Pokémon belongs to Nintendo, Satoshi Tajiri, and the Pokémon Company International, while Super Sentai belongs to Toei Company Ltd. Both Morgan Alter and I own nothing but the idea, story, and our OCs.
Written by MagicWings001 and Morgan Alter
Immediately the next day after the events of Chapter 10, Takeru and his team was taking a one-hour break from a long sparring session in the lounge room of the Guardia Base. Shigeru and Lillie were also present, with the both of them having nothing to do for the day, as it was the weekends, and the Shinkaigers themselves, including their mentors, tended to have a day off to themselves at that point in time, although they were still forced to be on high alert in case there are any attacks from M.Y.T.H.O.S. on the city and the surrounding areas. However, Takeru then received some shocking news, as he had opened his phone's instant messaging app, and he was shocked to find out that there was a message from his older cousin Keito, who announced that he would be returning to Kalos after about a year of traveling in other regions, and that he'll be coming to the Guardia Base later that day to meet up with him and Erina. This, of course, provoked a reaction from the Red warrior, who was surprised and was taken aback by the sudden announcement. Well, that may be a slight understatement.
"I'll go ahead and meet you, your mentors, your teammates, and Erina together with Mom and Dad, alright? We'll be coming to the Guardia Base to meet you all at 09:50 AM later today- WHAT THE FUCK!?" Takeru said, reading out the aforementioned text message with a low, quiet voice, before promptly swearing at the last part. This prompted a reaction from the other Shinkaigers sans Erina, who were confused, as they hardly ever knew Keito at all.
"What is it?" Ryouma asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"My older cousin Keito just returned from his journeys, and he wants to meet me, Erina and all of you guys in like, 30 fucking minutes! Including both Professor Shigeru and Ohkido-san, and we're not even ready yet!"
"H-huh? So is Uncle Calem and Aunt Sana also coming with him?" Erina asked, with the only response coming out from her brother's mouth being a panicked one. "Yeah they are, Eri, and we only have 30 minutes to get ourselves prepared!"
"We get it, blah blah blah he's your cousin and all, but what's the point? He's not a government official, Takeru! We can just step in and meet him immediately, right?" Hikaru asked again, though it was more of a sarcastic remark rather than a genuine question. This pissed off the 17-year old, who then began to yell at his rival in panic and anger. "WELL, NO SHIT! I'VE SAID THAT WE HAVE 30 MINUTES TO GET READY, SO HOW ABOUT YOU GO AHEAD AND DO IT!? DON'T JUST GO KISSING MY ARSE, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"
"Okay, let's stop with the obscenities, alright, boys? We have 30 minutes to get ready, I'd bet that'll be plenty of time to get all of you cleaned up. You've sparred for 3 hours already, anyway. Also, Takeru, I've also given Keito free access into the base, so don't be surprised if he comes barging in. I've also given Calem and Sana that perk as well." Shigeru said, in response to all of the shenanigans.
"Wait, but, I thought only Aether Foundation employees, N and Momoka-san and all ten of our parents are the only ones given free access to the Guardia Base 24/7? Why are you giving Keito and his parents free access as well?" Ran asked. This somehow caused both Shigeru and Lillie to sweatdrop at the question.
Suddenly, the automatic doors leading to the lounge room would then open up, revealing none other than Momoka herself. The pink-haired woman had actually just arrived at the Guardia Base, and while she was passing over the lounge room in order to get to her husband-to-be in the briefing room, she had accidentally heard of Ran's suspicious question, and as a result, she was quick to save her friend from all of the theatrics and problems.
"Excuse me, Shinkaigers, sorry if I've ended up interrupting your time off, but can I borrow your mentors for a bit? Speaking of which, Lils, N wanted to have a talk with you and Shigeru at the briefing room. Can the both of you please go there immediately?" Momoka said, acting as if like she was relaying a real order from N to them; however, she was able to slip a wink at the end to indicate that this was just a false pretense in order to save the Shinkaiger mentors from revealing a well-kept secret.
"Go ahead, Momoka-san. I don't mind if you borrow my mom and dad for a few minutes." Hikaru said, with him trying his best to be civil to her. Sure, he was extremely salty with N, Momoka's fianceé, for exposing his identity, and he swore that he'd try and make the Unovan man pay for what he did someday, but extending his hate boner to the ex-Team Plasma King's future wife was ridiculous (even in his own views), so he would then ultimately end up accepting the fake "order" in stride anyway.
"Alright then, Momo-chan. Let's just go on with it, shall we?" Lillie said. She and Shigeru then made their way out of the lounge room, but the three had to go to the briefing room for real in order to make the ruse seem genuine. N was also really in the briefing room, so the circumstance makes up for a perfect excuse to discuss something about the mysterious buyer from the previous day. Once the room doors had closed and the three were out of earshot, Takeru then began commanding the rest of his four teammates to get themselves all prepared and ready for Keito's arrival. "We have 30 minutes to get ourselves prepared. Clean your sweat off, tidy up your hair, change your clothes, put on some perfume, and you're done. But if you don't want to do what I just said, then fuck off to the quarters, alright? I don't want the Shinkaigers' public image be ruined by you fucking up this shit, but this is MY FAMILY that's going to come here, so I need you all to be a bunch of good cunts and follow through with my commands. Got it?"
The rest of the team then nodded at the command, prompting Takeru to respond. "Alright, all of you, piss off and get out of my fucking sight whilst I get prepared myself." The team ultimately decided not to get on their leader's bad side that morning, and as a result, they then made their way off into their quarters, opening up another door which led to their wardrobes, bathroom doors, and their personal changing rooms.
30 minutes later...
The Shinkaigers had already prepared by then, and the employees working at the Guardia Base was able to get the whole building cleaned up in preparation for Keito's arrival into the building. Takeru himself was anxiously waiting in the base's lobby, standing near the front door of the base and tapping his foot, all while the other Shinkaigers, including Shigeru and Lillie, were safely sitting in the lounge room, and as a result didn't have to go through the torturous minutes of standing up in the lobby; his feet were getting sore, and he was hoping that his uncle, aunt and cousin would be able to arrive fast enough before it was becoming too painful to bear.
No sooner than a few seconds later however, the base's front door then opened up to reveal a man, at about 42 years of age, with fair skin, gray eyes, and black hair walking up towards the building. This was Takeru's maternal uncle and Serena's older brother, Calem Auclair. Walking alongside him was a woman at about 40 years of age, with tan skin, brown hair, and green eyes. This was Calem's wife and Takeru's maternal aunt, Sana Auclair. And walking along right in the middle of his parents, was a 19-year old young man with fair skin, black hair, and gray eyes, notably a spitting image of his father's younger days. This was Takeru's older first cousin and also Calem and Sana's eldest son, Keito; the person whom he had been waiting to arrive for almost twenty minutes now. Seeing their arrivals, the 17-year old then let out a sigh of relief before proceeding to walk up to his cousin in order to greet him, for once not forgetting to still keep a professional demeanor; normally when they arrive, Takeru would have been much, much more informal.
"Bonjour, Keito." Takeru called out, greeting his cousin before shaking his hand, as was the common Kalosian custom for men. This caused Keito himself to respond back, chuckling lightheartedly. "Salut, cousin. I'd take it that we didn't make you wait too long for our arrival, did we? And how are you by the way, you doing good?"
"Heh. I'm fine as I always have... Jūkei-san." Takeru replied back with a hint of cheekiness, addressing Keito using the Kantonian word for "older cousin", specifically a male one, at the last part, putting a drawn-out emphasis on it. The Red warrior then shifted his attention to his uncle and aunt, with him greeting Calem first-hand. "Uncle."
"Hey, Takeru. Long time no see, isn't it?" Calem said casually, shaking his nephew's hand. This caused the 17-year old to chuckle before responding himself. "It sure has been, eh, Uncle?"
"How have you and Erina been lately?"
"Oh, we're both fine, Uncle. As a matter of fact, she's currently sitting with my mentors and the other Shinkaigers at my lounge room, but that's for later." Takeru bluntly responded. Calem then replied with a subtle nod as a result. Takeru then ultimately greets Sana, his maternal aunt, last. "Aunt."
"Oh hey, Takeru. I assume you and Erina have both been doing well?" Sana replied.
"Yep. But hero work's mostly not been kind, anyway. After all, being stationed here 24/7 means that both Erina and I can't see Mom and Dad that often, and Dad has it much better with the PLA rather than we did. They're doing fine too, I promise." Takeru responded back, reassuring to Sana that both her sister in-law and brother-in-law has been doing fine. Sana then simply replied with a sigh of relief and a nod.
The 17-year old then proceeded to ask his aunt and uncle if they wanted to meet the other members of the team, especially Erina. "Shall we go ahead and meet my mentors and other teammates, Aunt, Uncle? They're currently sitting in the lounge room as we speak, and besides, Erina's waiting, anyway." The three then accepted the request, with Takeru leading the way to the lounge room for them, easily navigating through the Guardia Base hallways.
Meanwhile, Kyouhei and N were now manning the computers in the base's briefing room, with the former doing usual cyber-security checks and intel gathering from M.Y.T.H.O.S forces, and the latter currently looking at a blueprint schematic plastered on the computer screen; the schematic shows a special sword-like device, which could be changed into a gun according to user preferences. The drawing of the device was cut away to show its inner workings, and five EvolMedal drawings, with the Pokémon symbols omitted out. Kyouhei later let out a distressed, heavy sigh; he had just completed his overnight analysis of Artemis' data, and after comparing some aspects, such as a short audio clip of her voice lines taken from Takeru and Erina's helmets (which had a built in microphone in it so Takeru and the other Shinkaigers would be able to hear each other speak clearly without the pesky helmets getting in their way), for example, to the corresponding data for what, or whom Kyouhei was looking for, the Unovan man was fully certain that Artemis was the person that he'd wanted to find, and that fact did nothing but emotionally affect him.
Kyouhei was stressed. He was thinking about his son Kengo's feelings throughout the time period, and he was sure that if he had told his son that Artemis was the person that they were looking for, he would instead reply negatively or just outright break down. Just thinking about it made his chest feel heavy, and Kyouhei wasn't even sure if he was able to look at his son right in the eye after all this. N however, was quick to notice.
"Is something the matter, Kyouhei? You're usually not as distressed."
"Ah... It's nothing, N. It's just that... I literally have no possible clue on how to tell Kengo." Kyouhei responded, trying his best to hide the stress.
"It's about Artemis, isn't it?" The ex-Team Plasma King replied back, easily shattering Kyouhei's futile attempt to hide his stress. "Yeah. I do not, for the love of Arceus, know how to tell him that the one that he'd wanted to find for was now working for a villainous organization. One which is opposed by Takeru, one of his own friends, no less.
"I may have a solution for that... Kyouhei." N said, prompting the Unovan trainer to ask back. "What?" But before N could retort any further, he was cut off by the sound of his phone beginning to ring; he had an incoming call. Seeing who it was, N then picked it up.
"Yo, King." The mysterious caller said to N, mockingly referring him with a code name that referenced his former position as the puppet leader of Team Plasma.
"Oh, hello there... Enforcer. N replied back at his part of the call.
"I've already extracted Zeraora's power here in Alola, and I've also purified the resulting medal which came out of it. It should be safe for Kyouhei, but that depends if he can handle its tremendous power." 'Enforcer' said, getting straight to the main topic of the call without wasting any time.
"Oh, did you? Good, then. Did you also have the Reshiram Medal that I sent you fully purified?" N responded.
"Yep, it has. However, the Zekrom Medal should require you to call Touya and either return to Unova or fly him to Kalos. He is the one who is in possession of the Dark Stone and is the only person able to summon Zekrom, after all, and we can't extract that Pokémon's power without his help."
"I'm sure that can be arranged, Enforcer. However, I sincerely hope that nothing will ever happen between you and your sister. She's not going to like the fact that you've been involved in this plan for about a while now, provided if she ultimately finds out about it, of course."
"Well, this is the least I could do for you, King. After all, you don't have enough time to do something if you're a member of the Alolan Elite Four. Is there any progress on the devices, though?" 'Enforcer' asked.
"Ah... We're still making progress on that. I'm currently just testing out if it's safe to use for normal humans like me and Kyouhei. It's a significant drawback, I'm sure, but I still have to mitigate it myself." N replied.
"Great, then. Please update me on it if you have it already built, alright? Send my regards to Kyouhei, too, King."
"I will, Enforcer. Farewell, then." N said, ultimately ending the call himself. The green-haired man then later walked up to Kyouhei, eventually deciding to sit right beside him before telling him something. "I may have a solution to get you closer to Artemis for the time being, but you'd have to keep in mind that this plan would not recover her past memories because of the brainwashing that Zeus had forcibly put on her. I know that you're only doing this for Kengo's sake, but if you want to make him happy, you need to follow through with my plans, provided that you do one big favor for me."
"Hmm?" Kyouhei said, tilting his head in confusion.
"I want you to join me in my crusade against Zeus and his other generals. You're personally connected to Artemis, and only her, but that's not the case for both me and Momoka. We both knew Zeus and Hera personally, and the both of us also knew a few of their other underlings. Except Apollo, however." N explained, before switching to clarify something at the last part. He and Momoka had known Zeus and Hera personally, as well as a few of their other fellow generals, who were currently stationed in other regions. Apollo though was a recent addition to the roster of M.Y.T.H.O.S generals, so the Unovan man never really knew him.
"So, you're basically saying that you want to bring Zeus, Hera and all of the other generals that you once knew back into the side of justice? But what does this entail for me?"
"You're wrong, Kyouhei. That's impossible. Zeus, Hera, and all of the other generals that Momoka and I once worked with became completely insane after they decided to switch allegiances to M.Y.T.H.O.S. They were never brainwashed; they're fully aware of their actions. Undoing Apollo's brainwashing might be possible, however unfortunately, my sights are not on him." N explained, before continuing again with his sentence. "And therefore, our main priority is taking Artemis away from Zeus before we find a way to override the M.Y.T.H.O.S brainwashing from her systems."
"But we need to find a way to get to her somehow, N. We have a lot of obstacles surrounding her that would only make this plan take a longer timeframe to execute. Not to mention, Zeus already has an army of monsters who only Arceus knows when is he going to send them out against us and Apollo already blocking our way in. That should make doing this a lot more difficult, right?" Kyouhei questioned.
"I have a simple solution to that, old friend..." N said before trailing off. This prompted Kyouhei to obviously ask about it, awaiting a response from his friend. "What is it?" N however, adamantly responded to the question with an answer that would only wound up perplexing the Unovan trainer anyway, his voice tone being rather suspicious and persuasive.
"The Shinkaigers."
Kamishiro Family Residence, Vaniville Town, Kalos
After a short meeting with Ran, Ryouma, Hikaru and both Shigeru and Lillie, Takeru and Erina had ultimately decided to come home to where their parents were currently residing in Kalos, Vaniville Town, with the former transporting Keito and the latter transporting Calem and Sana with their respective EvolStrikers, with them already reaching their destination no sooner than 5 minutes after departing the Guardia Base in Lumiose City. Satoshi and Serena were informed of their nephew's arrival by Takeru and Erina via text messaging a few hours prior, and as a result Satoshi had to quickly fly back to Kalos from an errand in Alola using his fastest Pokémon, ultimately causing him some severe jet lag when his son and daughter had just returned back from the Guardia Base. Serena was just, there, as usual, as she was no longer Kalos Queen and therefore doesn't have any more public duties, leaving her alone in the house after her son and daughter had began their journeys as Trainers.
A few minutes of conversation later started within the family, with Keito asking a question to Takeru and Erina in order to get out some answers from them regarding their identity problem, only for it to later backfire on him when the elder one of his two cousins decided to ask him about the thing that had made Ran suspicious about it in the first place, all while Satoshi and Serena were minding their own businesses with Calem and Sana. "Takeru, Erina, why didn't the both of you tell me and Mom and Dad that you were Shinkaigers? The identity bombshell a few months ago was a big shocker, you know that?" Keito had said that Takeru's identity reveal by N was a big shocker, which is true, but his tone of voice actually seemed like he was feigning it. This made the Red warrior feel suspicious for a little bit, but he then quickly played along like nothing ever happened.
"I can't just go and reveal my identity to you, Uncle Calem and Aunt Sana back then, Keito. I mean, I work for the government, for crying out loud! The top brass wanted the Aether Foundation to keep mine and Erina's identities secret to everyone in the world except my mentors and the immediate families of all Shinkaiger team members, which, in mine and Erina's case, includes Mom and Dad and only them, but not you and neither do Uncle Calem nor Aunt Sana. We have to cater to the strict rules, so we never told anything about it to anyone... Until that identity bombshell." Takeru explained, leaving out the fact that N knew of his identity beforehand.
"So, Uncle Satoshi and Aunt Serena knew about you two this whole time and they never said anything about it? And what about the person who revealed your identities, though?"
"Yes, Cousin. Mother and Father knew about us and supported us for a few months now. They were sworn to secrecy by the government, though, so they wouldn't keep the information from being leaked out to the public at any cost." Erina said, responding to her cousin's questions. "As for the person who revealed our identities though, that was just a traitorous insider revealing secret government plans illegally." Takeru then added, with him indirectly roasting N by sharply criticizing him. However, he was about to turn the tides of the conversation in his favor.
"Okay...?" Keito simply responded.
"Say, Keito... Why were you and Uncle Calem and Aunt Sana given free access to the Guardia Base earlier? I thought that you could only get in there with approval from the government! You could argue that Mom and Dad were given free access too, yeah, but they're my parents, so it was properly justified. But what about you, though? You didn't barge in without a permit, did you?"
Hearing this, the 19-year old Kalosian young man then sweatdropped for a moment before attempting to get out a response and later backpeddle out of the situation... frantically. "T-T-T-T-Takeru! I can explain!"
"Spill it, Keito."
But before the 19-year old Trainer was able to put one well-kept and heavily guarded secret known only to him, Shigeru, Lillie, N, Momoka, and his parents in jeopardy, he was then cut off by the sound of a phone ringing. It was Takeru's phone, and Hikaru was the one on the other side of the dial. Knowing that this would be urgent, the Red warrior then picked it up, putting it on loudspeaker.
"What is it, slug-boy?" Takeru began, annoyance present in his voice tone.
"Take-chan, there's an Inhumanoid attack going on in the city, and that monster's targeting the government's gold reserves for Arceus knows what plan are they making! We three are trying our best to fight against that abomination without you and Erina, but I'm getting pummeled back even though I'm using Blastoise literally right now! Ran and Ryouma's also not faring better than I did, so come on! I just need you and Erina to come help me!" Hikaru frantically said, with laser firing and arrow hitting sounds present in the background. He was literally fighting on the battlefield right now; he had just connected his communicator to Takeru's U-Phone via Lillie's help in order to call his rival without having to use his own U-Phone, since that would be cumbersome in battle and would make things even worse than before.
"Okay, so you're fighting and you need my help now? Hikaru, come on man. I'm FED UP with you now. Fuck." The Red warrior replied back.
"Takeru, what's the big idea?"
"I'm sick and TIRED of all this, Hikaru. I've strained every nerve in order to train all four of you, and yet, your fighting techniques are still SHIT!? And then we wonder, why the hell are the Shinkaigers beginning to underperform drastically in every fight? Well, it's because they're warriors! All they know is to punch, kick, shoot, hack, and slash, that's all!
"Takeru, what gives?! Come on and help me already, for crying out loud!"
"Because everyone fucking vexes me nowadays! I'm sick and and tired of you, Ran, Ryouma, and Erina constantly screwing up so much. Now what? I have to sweep all four of you off of your feet! Do you know why I've decided to become more rigorous to all of you over the past few weeks? It's because you only managed to do nothing but screw up and slack off under my leadership! Do you get it? We're not improving, we're going downhill! I've been tired of being pressured to lead four BASTARDS to war against a criminal organization, and it's been like this for over MONTHS! Do you know what's interesting? None of our performances will change! Do you know why? It's because you, Ran, Ryouma, and Erina never bothered to train a little bit more and leave me to do all of it while the four of you keep slacking off and skipping training like a bunch of fucking WIMPS! Am I still better than all four of you that you all want me to do every one of your tasks?" Takeru responded. Hikaru's words ultimately made him lose his temper and cool, and he eventually goes on a profane rant about his own team in front of his parents, aunt and uncle, cousin, and sister no less, with him disregarding his rule of toning down his expletives and curse words in front of his family members.
"Takeru-"
"And you make up excuses, say some fucking bullshit, slack off, and get away with it! Same shit, different day. No one gives a shit, you all couldn't give a fuck. Me, not a damn soul. You couldn't even care less. No one ever gives two shits at all, for that matter! If I'm just able to drill you again with another training session for one week straight without any breaks, then I'll beat you up until you're able to fight without my help! Fuck slacking off, fuck goofing around, fuck skipping training sessions, fuck it all, damn it, I just wish that could happen! I'm telling you this as your team leader, Hikaru, but you don't give a flying fuck!" Takeru continued, eventually reaching his breaking point before ending the call himself.
"What a fucking bastard..." Takeru muttered under his breath, stepping outside of the front door, ultimately transforming into Shinkai Red and taking off into the skies to Lumiose City, leaving everyone except Erina completely perplexed. The Pink warrior on the other hand could only sigh, though, realizing that the pressure of having to lead a team that was supposed to be the world's last hope against an organization like M.Y.T.H.O.S. was taking a toll on her brother.
Meanwhile in the battlefield at Lumiose City, the rest of the Shinkaigers was trying their best to fight off M.Y.T.H.O.S' latest creation, a monster based off of a Lucario. Wolf Inhumanoid, as he was designated, was assigned to steal the gold reserves of the government for one of Zeus's plans: Stealing all of the gold supply from the 8 major regions, and since Kalos was the closest to their main base, the supply of the region was targeted first. Of course, the Shinkaigers weren't letting any of it, however, the enemy forces were the one getting the upper hand this time.
"Ergh.. dang it! When is he going to come along and help us already!?" Hikaru lamented after being hit with a punch in the gut. Hearing this, Ran then responded back to him with annoyance present in his voice. "Yeah, but if you had properly told him that we needed help, then he would've already been here from the start, you loudmouth!"
"Wha-!? I did tell him that we were facing off against a monster and that I needed him and Erina to come along! But he was pissed off!"
"Well, the buck's on you, Blue!" Ryouma rebutted at the statement, with him proceeding to kick the wolf monster in the solar plexus, and as a result knocking him back a few feet.
"Hey!"
However, the scuffle was then interrupted by a slash from mid-air which would then hit the pavement on the area, creating a ring of fire that would entrap Wolf Inhumanoid.
"Ẁ̴̦h̸̡̩͒ḁ̸̛͛t̵̥͔̔̈́!̵̠̺̆̏?̶̯͕͒̍" The wolf-based monster said, in confusion at what had just happened.
"Wolf Inhumanoid, your attempts are futile!" came Takeru's voice.
"Red!"
"Take-chan!"
The Red warrior then proceeded to make a soft landing on the ground, before concealing his wings and walking up to face the Lucario-inspired monster with an annoyed expression on his face.
"You three surprise me because of how shit you were, but let me take care of this." Takeru said stoically, glancing over to his three teammates before facing Wolf Inhumanoid. "As for you, you little wolf fucker... Then I'll be your opponent. Let's see who gets to come out of this fight alive, shall we?"
"H̷̹͗͝m̴̬̠͠p̴̡̉ͅh̴͙̏͗.̷̪͝͠ ̷̳̫͝G̸̦͎̔ĺ̵͙̕a̴̖̓̚d̸̼͓͌̊ḽ̴̡͘ý̸̛̭͕,̶̻̽ ̵̞͖̾͆S̶͙̖̊h̶̘͗̇i̷̙̋n̷̼͆̅k̶̯͑̈a̷̠̋i̸̟̟̿ ̶̙̐R̴͕̿e̴̻͗́d̶͈̱͠!̸͛̚͜"
And thus, the Red warrior and the wolf cyborg monster would then begin to trade blows, with Takeru proceeding to deliver some punches and kicks before combining his karate techniques. He then takes out the EvolBlade, slashing Wolf Inhumanoid using his proficient kenjutsu techniques in order to force the canine-humanoid hybrid cyborg to talk. "Answer me, Wolf Inhumanoid... What do you intend to do with all of those gold!?"
"E̵̥͛̿m̸̻̉p̷̼͍̆e̴̹͇̕r̵̛͎ö̶̗͖́r̴̗̿̍ ̷͎́͊Ż̷͚̣̑ë̵̱̗́͝ù̵̡̫̽s̵͕̀ ̷̡̾̒ẃ̵̤̕a̷̜̽n̶̬̓͠t̷̤͈̍̓e̸͓̊̒d̸͍̙̄ ̵̖͇̂m̶̖͊ȩ̸͚̐ ̶̠͖̓̍t̴̢͐̑ơ̸̤͇̋ ̶̡̖̃s̶̍͜ţ̴̲͂è̴̢͙͝a̴̞̫͆l̵̺͓̇ ̶͎͍̋̏a̶͕̣̎̑l̴̬̫̃l̶͓̅ ̶͈͑͘o̵̧̺̅͛f̷͚̝̀ ̸̣͖̍͂K̴̞̽͘a̷͕͝l̶̨̍o̷̭̳͛ṡ̶̲͔̍'̷̜͐ ̴̗̇̌ḡ̸̨̧͗o̴̻͙̓̂l̴͓̯̈͒d̵͎͓̊ ̴̥͙͌̾d̸̨̦́ë̴̱́͠p̵̢̊̋ö̴̤͔̚s̶͎͛i̴̛̙ͅt̸͕͚͌o̶̗̭͊r̷͓̃y̵̜͋ ̷̯̭͗̕ṣ̸̘͌ú̵̘̈p̷̫̃p̵̘̗̕l̷̜͆͑i̴͈̪̒̅e̴͕̓s̷͙̾̔!̵͕̍ ̴̧̅Ẁ̵̘͚̕ḥ̸́a̶̛͍t̵̜̓̆ ̸͎͇̑w̸̩̱̏o̵̧͒u̴̺͛l̸̡̆̚͜d̵̤̔͜ ̷̟̻̋͠h̶͒͜͝ȅ̷̱ ̵̮̑d̸̡̺́o̴͇̓͒ ̴̡̯̑ẃ̷̼į̶͛̔t̷̩͛h̵̜̑ ̷̏̕ͅț̴̆̊h̷̞̭͛o̵̝͋s̵̥̄e̷̢͗͐ ̶̫͇̚b̵̬̖̋a̶͕̗̕r̴͔̳̓͋s̷͇̳̓͝ ̸̳̭͐̓o̴̤͓͂̇f̷̰̪̊ ̴̻̾͐g̸̜̲̓̓o̴̰̳͐ļ̸̕d̸̘̘̒̽ ̴̹͖̑̆i̷̙̘͌ṡ̶͕͈͝n̷̯̬̿'̸̳̜̈̎ṫ̴̺͙ ̶̫͈̎̑f̵͓͐o̶͙͒r̶̭͔͛ ̵̼̙͠y̴̤̋o̴͓̼̓̕u̶̧͋ ̷͓̏̀t̷̲͂̌o̶̭̓͊ ̶̯̓k̷̞̱̊͑n̴̛̟̦͠ö̶̳́ẁ̶͈̖͘,̶̧̳̒ ̵̲̉͋ś̴͔̤̏i̷̺͝ṇ̷͉̓̍c̸͙̘͑̃e̷̡͘ ̴͕͙͆y̵͕͠ơ̵̬͙̈́u̸̮͂ ̸̘̪̃͆w̷̯̤̃́o̴̼̰̍̉n̸͇͆'̶̢̟̒ť̵̫ ̶̧͉̕b̴̛̭̼̄e̶̊́͜ͅ ̵̱̱̀a̵̧̜̓́b̴̹̐͗l̸̤͒̓e̷̠̿͠ͅ ̴̩͛̒t̵̡̓o̴̲͗̓ ̷̯̲͋͗s̷̜̯͑̈́ṯ̵̽́ọ̶͕̑p̷̥̩͗ ̷̜̎m̶̞̗̈́̎ȅ̴̩ ̷̖͔͆f̶͠ͅr̵̯̙̍õ̵̯̤m̷̤̞͌ ̵̘̩̽̆m̷̝̒̅e̷̩͋l̵͖̊t̴̢̡̔i̷̲̊̓ń̴͖͜g̸̹̓ ̴͇͖̎͆t̷̼͗h̴̪͚͊͑ḙ̶̾̀ ̴͙̅d̷̮̗͑̉e̷̟̽̈́p̸͉̫̚͝o̷͕̺̕s̶̪̘̀i̴͙̤͛t̶͍̀o̷͚̒̈ř̵̮̝̌ý̷̥͗ ̷͇́̋v̶̞̅̍a̴̛̝̟̓ũ̵͉̘̈́l̴̫̮̄ţ̴̃͂ ̴̼̱̉̚w̴̘͑̅i̶͚̋̃ť̶̻̭͌h̴̛͈ ̷̬͚̾ḿ̷̖̚ŷ̷̤̅ ̵̼͚̀p̴̧̥̈͠o̷̩͐w̸̨̉͠e̷̪͉̐͝r̵̥̫͠s̸͚̽!̴̖̘̈́͘" Wolf Inhumanoid said, only explaining a part of the gold heist plan.
"What the fuck!?" Takeru exclaimed, shocked at the fact that his opponent was able to melt objects such as solid steel. 'Has Zeus truly showed his insanity this time?' He thought.
"W̴̧̛̖͛ĕ̸̥l̷̼̐l̴̞̀͑ ̵̬͚͐̽t̷͛̈́͜ḧ̴̝́̕e̵̙̖͋̚n̸͙͑,̴̘͘͠ͅ ̷̧̭́̍S̴̨̓h̶̥̯̔̚ï̵̻͝n̵̨̚k̶̥͒͒a̴͌̿͜i̷̥̩͊ ̶̬̘̆̚Ȑ̵̘̿ẽ̶͙͘d̴̢͆̇.̸̧̟̐.̵̳̂.̷̠̙̒́ ̷̨̿Ḫ̶̏a̴̩̐v̵͖̍͂e̶̟͗ ̷̖̐ä̶̩͛ͅ ̷̮̈́̆t̷̩̅a̴͕̋s̸̪̈t̶̩̼̀e̵̗̹̽̊ ̴̱̠́͌o̶̹͋͊f̶͇̊͛ ̴̯̬̿m̶̩̱͗͑y̴̧̱̓ ̶̜̓ṕ̷̡̯͝o̶̗̅w̵͔̖͌e̷͔͛͝ŗ̸̞̈!̶̱̚ ̸͓̀T̶̗̉a̵̙̐ḱ̵̜̪è̸̩̀ ̷̟͎̍t̸̹̱̋h̵̠̊i̷̢̽š̷̛̟̠!̵͍̊̓" Wolf Inhumanoid said, before firing a larger, deadlier, and much more upscaled version of Aura Sphere. This caused Takeru to spontaneously dodge as a result, but unfortunately he wasn't able to make it fast enough and the twisted sphere of dark power ended up grazing his body and knocking him backwards a few feet due to how powerful the move was.
"Gah! Damn it, that Aura Sphere was more powerful than I thought it would be... Well then, Owl Inhumanoid... I think it's time I get stronger as well." Takeru declared, taking out the Axis Brace and strapping it to his other hand before taking out the Charizard Medal and inserting it into the medal slot.
CHARIZARD!
As the bracelet's standby sound later echoed in the area, Takeru then spun the aforementioned device 180 degrees, and as a result, an astral projection of a Charizard would then appear, as well another projection of the Mega Evolution sigil. The Charizard projection would later fly through the sigil in a few seconds, transforming it into Mega Charizard Y before spinning around the Red warrior. Simultaneously, a blaze of burning flames would then appear on the battlefield, though unlike Charizard X's transformation, the flames were colored the usual red and orange.
Takeru then meanwhile proceeds to do a specific pose similar to the front stance adopted in karate, before pressing the button of the Axis Brace using his left hand.
AXIS UP!
The flames surrounding Takeru would then begin engulfing him completely, creating a pillar of fire similar to his transformation as Mega Charizard X. This would then prompt the Mega Charizard Y projection and to stop spinning around; the Charizard projection begins flying up high into the sky, before proceeding to make a nosedive towards Takeru inside the pillar of fire to form the full suit and helmet of his new Mega Charizard Y-based form. Inside said pillar of fire, Takeru had actually transformed into his Mega Charizard X form at first, before absorbing the projection and causing the armor to crack and break off into pieces.
SCORCHINGLY WARM! DANGEROUSLY HOT! WATCH OUT FOR THE FLAME! ABSURDLY STRONG! MEGA~ CHARIZARD Y!
The pillar of fire then dissipates, revealing Takeru to be decked out in a vermilion undersuit with vermilion gloves and boots complete with gold cufflinks. While the upper armor had the same color scheme as the undersuit, it was completely different in design compared to Mega Charizard X. The shoulder pads were less spiked, and the upper torso had a different chestplate design, but overall had the same color scheme: vermilion accented with gold. Though the forearms lacked Charizard X's spiked design, his elbow was still protected with greaves located just right above his gloves, with the only difference being that it had changed color to vermilion. Under his belt, which still remained untouched, his Kantonian style-robe at the lower torso was now completely replaced with a fauld, with the aforementioned armor pieces being colored vermilion with a red gradient extending up onto the undersuit. His knees was protected with vermilion kneepads instead of shin guards, and his boots had now changed shape to become completely flat, as opposed to the ends being pointed like a sabaton, even though it still retained its bulkiness. The helmet has also drastically changed to resemble the head of Mega Charizard Y a little bit more, with the open maw once again acting as a visor with visible fangs, gold accents at the sides of the helmet, two larger vermilion horns at the top of the helmet, and an angrier set of 'eyes' similar to the ones in Mega Charizard X, and like it, the remnants of the iconic bird motif from Talonflame was still persistent in the design. To round off Takeru's transformation, a blue spinning X then appears at the center of the chestplate. Its bottom legs then join together to form a Y before changing color to red and finally coming to a screeching stop.
Takeru then adopts a relaxed posture for a brief moment with the completion of his transformation into Mega Charizard Y, before he then adopts a horse stance, with his eyes locked on towards Wolf Inhumanoid. After building up enough momentum, the Red warrior then steps forward, adopts a bow stance, and delivers a straight punch to his opponent; Takeru was usually known among his teammates and mentors to adopt different fighting styles for each form, for example using karate and kenjutsu for his usual Shinkai Red form, before switching to heavily brutal, gory, and aggressively violent techniques for his Infernal Blade form, all in the blink of an eye. Now, Takeru was utilizing wushu as his fighting style while using his Mega Charizard Y form. The 17-year old then proceeded to trade blows with the Lucario-based monster, with him effortlessly utilizing his wushu techniques like it wasn't much of a big deal to him, and the brawl would continue on for a few minutes, until Takeru had ultimately decided to go for a finishing blow, pressing his Axis Brace to initiate the technique. He was'nt in the mood to waste any of his time battling an Inhumanoid when he had another errand to take care of.
FINISHING BLOW!
"Ryuujin Shuugekiha!" (Dragon God Kicking Break!)
With that, a ring of fire then appears on the pavement below, surrounding the Red warrior and the Lucario-based wolf monster. Takeru then jumps into the air, performing a flying kick as red-hot, burning flames would completely engulf his right foot, striking down towards the Lucario monster.
CHARIZARD Y! AXIS FINISH! FIRE!
The kick would then cause a small explosion surrounding the vicinity of the wolf monster, causing the aforementioned Inhumanoid to retreat back to the Olympus Castle. The explosion did'nt kill him, sure, but it was enough to wound the canine-humanoid hybrid for a bit that he needed to retreat.
"D̶̲͘ả̴͖̂m̸̳̘̌̾n̵̯̖̔.̷̙͘.̴̫̺͛̊.̸̮̰͊̈ ̶̨̬̂y̵̭͇̑̽o̸̗͗ư̸̼̜.̷̺̀̄.̸̻̰̿.̷̬͝ ̵͇͛Ì̶͇̚'̸̼̾͋l̶͓͑͑͜l̴̨͕̀ ̷̱̍r̵̢̤͝e̷̯̓̾ṁ̸̯͔e̸̡̲͐m̶̪̃̂b̵̯̣̐͛ë̷̖r̵̘̋͐ ̴͙̮̓̓t̸̻̓h̷̤̜̿̆ì̶̹̣̓s̴̟̗͒.̵͓̺͊̚.̶̨͇͊.̷͔͠ ̶̯̏̐Ş̷̻̐h̵̯̼̍̕i̸̹͍͂̚n̸̢͇͗ḳ̷͐à̵̤͌ḭ̸̊ ̵̯̿̓R̸̡̤͌͋ẻ̴̠́ḑ̶͒!̸̱̓͋"
"Heh. At least now that he's probably not going to continue terrorizing us for the time being..." Takeru said, muttering to himself.
"In any case, though, I think we should still be on high alert. We don't know when is he going to launch another attack against us." Ran said.
"Eh, you're right, Ran. Are you coming back to base, Takeru?" Ryouma said.
"Nope. I'll be off later, Black. I still have Uncle Calem, Aunt Sana and Keito still visiting over at my home, so I'll be going back to Vaniville in order to continue the family meeting."
"Eh... Sure, then. See ya later, Red."
With that, Takeru later glanced briefly at Ryouma, before reverting back to his default Talonflame form and changing his U-Phone into the EvolStriker, making a V sign with his right hand, before ultimately riding the motorbike and speeding off to Vaniville himself.
Fast-forward a few minutes later, and Takeru was now right outside the front gate of his Kalos residence in Vaniville, and he could swear that he was still able to hear Calem, Sana, and Keito's voices inside the house even though they were muffled by the sound of the EvolStriker's engines due to his enhanced hearing. Takeru then proceeded to turn said motorbike's engines off before changing the vehicle back into its smartphone mode and making his way into the front door, however he was instead met by his younger sister Erina stepping outside of the house, stamping her foot and looking at him with an annoyed expression. "Big brother. We need to talk. Now."
"E-eh? What is it, Erina?"
Closing the door to her home, the 15-year old then proceeded to bring her brother into the house's front yard, before Erina then spoke up in anger. "Why did you harshly refuse Hikaru-san's pleas for help earlier when you were talking to Cousin?"
"Hmm?"
"Earlier today, big brother. Hikaru-san called you, but you refused to give him any help so much that you forgot to tone down your profanity. Did you ever realize that he'll get defeated if he did'nt receive any backup?"
"Wha- I did, Eri! But why did you ask me that question!?" Takeru responded, befuddled by his sister's question. Erina however, did'nt take the response lightly.
"Why did I ask you that question!?" Big brother, SERIOUSLY!? HAVE YOU CARED AT ALL ABOUT YOUR TEAMMATES' OWN LIVES!? I could hear everything in the background when you were calling Hikaru-san, and all I've heard other than you talking was Ran-san and Ryouma-san literally Writhing. In. Pain! WERE YOU FOCUSING TOO MUCH ON RANTING THAT YOU DID'NT HEAR YOUR TEAMMATES SUFFERING LIKE THAT!?"
"I DID'NT HEAR THEM! I MEAN, REALLY! FOR ARCEUS' FUCKING SAKE, I DID'NT HEAR THAT! BUT WHAT SHOULD I DO!? HE'S ASKING ME FOR HELP ALL OF THE FUCKING TIME!"
"BUT WHY DID'NT YOU GIVE HIM ANY HELP, BIG BROTHER!? HE NEEDED IT!"
"BECAUSE I'M FED UP WITH HIM! I'M FED UP WITH HIM AND HIS TENDENCIES TO DISOBEY ME! RAN AND RYOUMA, THEY FUCKING SKIP TRAINING ALL OF THE FUCKING TIME, AND YOU'RE ALSO THE SAME!" Takeru yelled, stopping to get some air before continuing. "I want to build ourselves some more equipment, blah, I need to have my ammo refilled, blah, I need to go somewhere else, I need to train my Pokémon, blah, AND THEY DO IT ALL THE FUCKING TIME! BECAUSE OF THAT I'M NOW FED UP WITH THEM!
When that response was said, Erina's facial expression then turned sour, before her hands then began to tremble in anger. The young girl then clenched her hand into a closed fist, before ultimately punching her brother. Takeru barely had any time to react to his sister's actions, and as a result, he was thrown up into the air for a few feet... Before ending up slamming into the front gate of the house, hard. Hard enough that the impact actually created a loud 'clang' sound heard even from inside the house, as Erina had put 300% strength into her cybernetic hands, overclocking the maximum amount of 100%. Fortunately, Lillie and Shigeru had anticipated a situation when a Shinkaiger would overclock their cybernetics when they were constructing the machines, thus causing the Shinkaigers' aforementioned cybernetics and their synthetic skin to be super-reinforced in order to not implode on itself and potentially kill them from the inside.
"G-Gah..." Takeru grunted, with the punch from Erina causing him immense pain on his back. That younger sister of his could deal a lot of damage even if she lacks fighting experience, however, the one thing that weirds him out was the fact that Erina had just punched him in the face. "She's usually never the one to get into a fistfight... Why is she like this?"
"Fed up with them, you say? Well, IT'S YOUR WAY OF LEADERSHIP THAT'S MAKING THEM DISOBEY YOU, TAKERU!" Erina yelled. Again, one thing in particular stood out that made Takeru gasp in shock. "She's never called me by my first name even once in her life... Eri's not herself at all..." He thought.
'Erina' then let her rage die down for a bit, continuing to argue with her older brother. "You've pressured your teammates and Erina too much for the past few months, Takeru! That, and your way of leadership is still flawed, that you're just making your team more likely to splinter and probably disband! I did tell you to be a calm and capable leader, to not take reckless decisions, and for you to tone down your cursing... Right?"
Her response then caused Takeru's mind to flash back to one particular moment: The family pep talk that he had with Red and Yellow's spirits at the end of Chapter 9, just after the battle with Tyranno Inhumanoid, making him realize something. "Ah... I get it now... Grandma. You can drop the act. You've been possessing Erina all this time during our argument, eh?
Flashback...
Erina Kamishiro was just waiting for her brother to come back home with an exhilarated sigh, after explaining everything that ultimately led to Takeru's profane rant at Hikaru to Satoshi, Serena, Calem, Keito, and Sana at the time. She'd decided to take some time alone for herself to relax in her bedroom, as she needed to cool off from the uneasiness from Takeru's expletive-filled anger, and it was a nice break from her living quarters at the Guardia Base. She swore that there was something off with her brother, but the Pallet-native girl could'nt quite put a finger on it somehow.
Just then, a mysterious gust of wind then blew into the room, even though the windows and doors were closed and the weather wasn't windy. Erina, who got snapped out of her train of thoughts by that gust of wind, then instantly got weirded out by it, trying to figure something out in her mind. "Huh? Wait, the weather isn't windy today, and I've got the doors and windows closed... Then why was there a gust of wind blowing in here just a few seconds ago?" However, the 15-year old girl then stopped thinking again, as she then felt a mysterious aura surging through her body. The gust of wind that she'd felt a few seconds prior was actually a sign that there were spirits lurking around in the room, and that one of those spirits had actually entered her mind in order to communicate with her.
"Erina." A familiar, feminine voice called out from Erina's inner thoughts. Hearing this, she then instantly recognized the voice, and, knowing that the doors were closed and that her family were barely out of earshot, then replied verbally to it.
"Grandmother?" Erina said, with the voice that had just came out of her inner thoughts actually belonging to Yellow. However, she was not believing it yet until Yellow had responded to her verbal reply. Luckily, only Yellow was able to hear it besides Erina herself, as Satoshi and the others were barely out of earshot."Yes, Erina. Your ears aren't deceiving you."
"But how? Why did you decide to talk to me at a time like this, Grandmother?"
"It's a long story, Erina. I can't explain it to you right now, because this is urgent, and I need your help." Yellow responded, before ultimately explaining what she needed her help for. "It's about your brother."
"Eh?"
"Have you been under pressure lately, Eri?" Yellow asked, with her voice tone sounding like that of a comforting mother.
"I'm not, but... What does this have to do with big brother? I knew that something seems off with him these days, but I can't even put my finger on it..." Erina admitted, causing Yellow to explain everything. "I talked to Takeru with your grandfather the other day. He's made a lot of reckless decisions ever since he was appointed as leader, and, along with that rude mouth of his, we fear that his attitude is causing you a lot of pressure to meet up with his standards. Hikaru's grandfather even has the same concerns, and once again, I've already told him to change that. But it seems he's being as stubborn as ever right now and Shinkaiger can fall apart any time soon if he keeps this up at this rate..."
Hearing this, Erina later would let out a sigh, clearly feeling her grandmother's pained thoughts. The whole problem wasn't just about Takeru's rude personality, however. The Red warrior was also getting fed up with his own teammates due to their lackluster performance over the last few months, but, what Takeru himself did'nt know, is that someone was internally messing with the Shinkaigers, causing them to underperform. Back during the events of Chapter 9, both Shigeru and Lillie had thought of creating lots of new EvolMedals, which would enable the team to use the power of a Pokémon with the same type as their specialty. The medals were planned to be distributed evenly to the five team members, which would give some of the Shinkaigers, especially Ran, Ryouma, Hikaru and Erina, a much needed power boost. However, once N had consolidated power on the Aether Foundation and began his control over the organization from the shadows, the ex-Team Plasma King then enacted the classic strategy of divide et impera (divide and rule), which consisted of him moving over the majority of those medals away from the other members of the team and into Takeru's possession, causing Ran and the others to be more reliant on him as their team leader; something which the 17-year old had personally deemed unacceptable. This, along with Takeru's rude personality, then caused conflict.
"Which is why, that I need, your help. I need to clearly knock some common sense to your brother before everything is too late. Do you understand now, Erina?"
"Yes, Grandmother." Erina affirmed.
"Good. Well then... I'm sorry, Erina." Yellow said, apologizing for what she was about to do next. Before the 15-year old could ask anything, though, she then felt the mysterious aura that was Yellow's spirit surging through her body again, before she then twitched a little, with her eyes glowing white for a few seconds. After that, Yellow then smiled, with her having taken over Erina's brain in order to result in a true possession. The real Erina was still conscious, and thus, she was still able to talk, see, and hear everything around her even though she was possessed at the moment.
"And now comes the difficult part... Waiting for Takeru." Yellow said, at first using her true voice before assuming her granddaughter's own. She then giggled, before walking out of the room to begin her impersonation.
The present day...
"I'm surprised that you managed to figure everything out, Takeru. Now, I did tell you to change when we talked last time, right?" Yellow said, now using her true voice again. She decided to stop acting as if she was Erina, as her cover was already blown.
"Yes, you did. In fact, I vividly remember that talk after I was done using Shinkai-Oh. Grandpa nearly decked me, but you cut me to bits." Takeru responded bluntly.
"Then why didn't you do what I requested?"
"Grandma, the Shinkaigers are still lacking in performance. If they can't even meet my own standards, then what's the point of me being lax to them when we're expected by the people to be successful in every fight!? Not to mention, we're under pressure to COME BACK ALIVE every single time, and I'm almost tired of leading four bastards to war right now, so what's the point!?" Takeru rebutted angrily, yelling at his grandmother, but not too furious enough to use profanity.
"Well-" Yellow started off, but she was interrupted by a ringing sound coming from Takeru and Erina's U-Phones. It was Lillie, calling them to notify that Wolf Inhumanoid was on the run again. The elder Kamishiro sibling then picked up the call, while Yellow briefly went back to impersonate Erina before also picking up.
"Yes, what is it, Ohkido-san? Wolf Inhumanoid again?" Takeru asked.
"Right on the money. He's gotten a lot stronger this time, so all five of the Shinkaigers are needed to face him off. No objections, please deploy immediately!" Lillie replied sternly from the other side of the phone, prompting Takeru and Yellow to answer. "Yes, Ma'am!"
With that, Lillie then ended the call, and Takeru and quickly changed his phone into the EvolStriker before mounting the motorbike. Yellow then glared daggers at her grandson for a bit, saying something before leaving her granddaughter's body and letting Erina regain control of her brain again. "This talk isn't over, young man. I'll see you later after you're done taking care of this."
The two siblings would later make their way onto the battlefield, with Erina changing her phone and mounting her motorbike. She was still conscious when her grandmother had her possessed, after all.
However, on the way to the battlefield, at Santalune City to be precise, Takeru and Erina would later feel a mysterious gust of wind, and the former would also feel someone's aura surging through his body, a sign that there was a spirit that had just entered his mind to communicate with him. Annoyed at the occurence (as he was still driving a motorbike, literally), Takeru then called out the culprit verbally, not caring if Erina or anyone else for that matter could hear him. "GRANDPA!? WHAT IN ARCEUS' NAME ARE YOU DOING HERE!? I'M DRIVING A MOTORBIKE, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"
"Wait, what?" Erina said, tilting her head in confusion. She didn't expect something absurd like this to happen when they were in an emergency, especially after what Yellow did to her.
"...You literally didn't have to do that, Takeru. I know you're in a hurry, so I apologize for barging in at a time like this, but I need you to talk to me." Red said, at first admonishing his grandson for yelling before his voice tone turned serious. This however, only made Takeru even more peeved. Red was known by his closest friends and loved ones to not have a proper sense of schedule, resulting in him doing things that he should've done much earlier and often forcing Yellow, Green and Satoshi to keep him in check. And right now was one of those moments.
"If you want a talk, do it later when you can do it together with Grandma! I have an Inhumanoid to fight and people to save! You're just distracting me and Erina right now!" Takeru rebutted, with his sanity beginning to dwindle. Erina though was much more confused, as she could only hear her brother talking to himself due to Red not being in her mind.
"Oh come on now... Well, if you really have a fight to do, then I suppose I have no choice but to do this..." Red said in frustration, before eventually attempting to take over Takeru's brain in order to possess him. By force.
"No, no, nonono, Grandpa, don't you daaAAAAAAHHH!" The 17-year old then suddenly screamed as his grandfather then attempted to seize control of his brain, causing him to accidentally press the throttle on the EvolStriker's right handlebar too much and accelerate out of control, making Erina worried for a bit. Red was then successfully able to wrestle control of his grandson's brain, resulting in Takeru being possessed by Red from that point in time. Red then was able to gain control of the bike by slowing it down to bleed off the extra speed. Seeing this, a confused Erina then called out to Red. "...Grandfather?"
"Yes, Erina. It's me. Everything's okay, but I'll borrow your brother's body for a bit, alright?" Red said, using his true voice.
"Everything's okay? Yeah, you almost made me fall off my own motorbike, Grandpa, but I'm surprised that you could drive one." Takeru sarcastically remarked using his inner thoughts, as his brain was taken over by his grandfather. In response to his grandson's remark, though, Red just put on a sheepish grin. "Yeah, sorry, Takeru. Good thing I learned how to drive motorbikes like this even though I never used one when I was alive back then."
"Wait, is big brother still in there?"
"Yep. Alive, well, and conscious. He can still see, talk, and hear everything going on around here, including the engine noises from this bike, but since he's now a spirit, he can only talk to me, and I'm the only one who can hear him. Well, technically, you could too if he possesses you, but I'm the one doing the possessing right now, and he's the one being possessed. If you're dead, you can do that." Red explained.
"Stop fooling around and keep focusing on ahead, will you, old man? Now that you're possessing my body, YOU'RE the one about to fight that wolf monster. Don't forget to try your best impersonating me, or else, everyone is going to be suspicious of you, Grandpa. Grandma almost had me with her Erina impersonation, heheh." Takeru interjected.
"Yes sir!" Red affirmed mockingly while assuming his grandson's voice. With that, he then proceeds to shut up before arriving onto the battlefield minutes later.
At the battlefield, Ran, Ryouma and Hikaru were actually already there, trying their best to face off against Wolf Inhumanoid, but to their dismay, the Lucario-based monster actually had the upper hand once again. Both Ran and Hikaru had gone for Galvantula and Blastoise, however the cyborg abomination was too strong for them to handle, even when they were working together. Ryouma though was making no progress, and he was literally curbstomped by the Aura-using monster before he could even land a hit. Fortunately for the team however, Erina and Takeru (in actuality, Red pretending to be the young man) then arrived at the area. But, unbeknowst to them, something was off.
"Yo, everyone! Sorry about the time. I kept y'all waiting, did I?" 'Takeru' said.
"R-Red...?" Ran muttered silently, choking from the fight.
"D̶̝̒̉ä̴̯́ͅm̶̳̒n̸̝͔̓͋ ̸͖̃̓y̴̜̰̚ö̶͈́̈́u̷̥̔̄,̷̱̩̌ ̷̪̩̋̈Ś̶̻̄h̸̪̀̈́i̶͆ͅṇ̶̈k̴͎̍a̷͓͔͠ì̴͉̤ ̶̟̔R̷͎̣̈́̃ẹ̸̀͐d̷̤̄!̸̩̭̃̈́ ̶̩̲̈́̋W̵̼͉͋ḫ̶͆̕ẙ̶͉̜͋ ̷̨͋d̸͔̓̔o̵̟̼͒̌ ̴̣̰̈y̶͚̩̕o̴̻̺͆̍ư̶̺̙ ̵̯̽̀ä̶̝́͑l̴͚̙̅̔ẘ̷̢̱͂a̸̠͘y̶̨͝ͅs̷̼͑̅ ̷̺̽f̴̻̭͝o̸̳͂ị̸̧͝l̵̺̪̾ ̸̬̐ǒ̵̢u̸͇̓͐r̴̻̚ ̸̢͐̏p̷̜̍̕ļ̸͈̇͑ä̸̞́̒ṉ̸̹̈́͐s̷̡̧̈!̶̡̂̕?̴̹̋" Wolf Inhumanoid loathed in anger. However, 'Takeru' was quite laid-back about it. "You know me... I'm quite the persistent type."
"H̷̫͜͠͝m̷͔̗͌̓p̶̙͍̈̄h̶̩̮͛.̴̧͑ ̶̗̯̉T̴̢̈́o̴̤͌o̴̮̚ ̴͘͜͜ĺ̴̼͛â̴̗̤̐t̷̖͒͝e̷̯̬͌̀!̴̢̦́ ̸̝̍̕S̸̛͎͗o̴̼̭̒ő̷̤̱͒ṋ̸̻̇̊,̶͙̊ ̴͎̍á̶̟l̴̜̊l̶̢̳̀͂ ̷̻͒ȍ̵͜f̵̺͔̿̑ ̷̩̂t̶̰̤̾ĥ̸̳e̸̛͍̻ ̸͎̾8̵̛̥̊ͅ ̵̲̉͜m̵͎̾ḁ̶̣͠j̸͓̔o̷̹͆ȑ̶̤͙́ ̴̺̆̓ŕ̸̢͙e̸͉̅̉ğ̵̟̩̌i̷̱͙͘ọ̷̽̀n̴̮̓́s̶̩̉'̸̠̟̐͒ ̵̞͗s̵͙͝͠u̷̹͓͊̋p̴̦̞̆p̴͍͗̾l̵̥̈́ỳ̶̤ ̴͔̚ǒ̶̢̝͠f̶͖͔͝ ̷̪̾̎g̴͕̥̀͛ó̶̱ḽ̵́̇d̸̺͕͆̌ ̶̢̳̇ŵ̷͍i̷̛̳͕l̷̜̐ḷ̸͝ ̴̠̆̓b̷̹͓́e̴̺̪̎̉ľ̸͔̳͝ö̷̪́̕ň̸̪̫g̷̢̭͆͆ ̵̬̩̈́͂ẗ̴̮̞͂o̴͙̦̍ ̷̺͑E̷̥͑m̵̹͐p̸̞̾͘e̸̥͙͌͌r̶͎̰͋ȯ̵̡͉r̵̺̽ ̴̨̟̑Z̶̛̗̞͛e̷̥̅ͅu̴̡̫͋̎s̸̹̲̅͝,̶͔͙̇̌ ̵̭̕a̸̘͌̏n̸̡̨͛̎ḓ̶̏ ̸̢̬͗̽n̵̖̓o̶̳̍͘n̸͈̹͗e̵̯̐͑ ̷̲̜̍̔o̸̫̽f̸̟͊ ̵̻̮̒y̸̼̒̋ȯ̶̜u̶̧͍̓̕ ̷̯̙̈́p̶͚̰̌ǎ̵͍̓ṭ̸̀̑h̷̰́ĕ̴̲̦t̴͍̣̚i̵̼̻͂̀c̴̢̛͗ ̸̲̲̓̈́S̵̢̞̈́h̴̡̧̆i̷̳͛̑͜n̷̤̞̎͆k̴̞̥͒̓ã̵̩̻͝i̷̦͗͊g̷͚̅e̵̹̐r̸̞̞̎s̸̺̣̈̍ ̶͖̦͌͝w̶̬͗͋i̸̝͌̋ḽ̵̇l̵͙͔̈́ ̴̧͔̂b̶̻̈́é̷͉ ̶̪͖̎a̵̪͝b̴̯͇́ĺ̷̯͜ẻ̶̦ ̷̝̇͝t̴͓̎͒ö̴͓́̎ ̶̲̤͑̚ŝ̵͙̗t̷͉͊̉ọ̵́p̷̗̃ ̷̪̓̄͜m̷̡̠̈́e̷̡͑ ̸̗͈̇̾f̷̟̌r̴̈ͅơ̶̻̊m̵̱̊͐ ̸̮̰̈́͗s̸̼̕t̸͕̻͋̂e̵͖͘á̵̬̝͑l̶̦͕̓̍ì̵͓̤͑n̷̰̆g̴̨̗͆̌ ̸̺̖̓͊t̸͈̎͜h̶̠̭̕è̸̹͈m̵̧̬̈́͗!̴̘̀̌"
"If only we were much stronger...!" Hikaru said, gritting his teeth.
"Do what you want, then, pathetic little dog..." 'Takeru' taunted. This caused Wolf Inhumanoid to growl and snarl. He hated being called a dog. "Ḋ̷̻̲ö̶͔́ǹ̸̦̜͝'̸̙̾͊t̵͖̽͘ ̷̻́y̶͙̋̾ô̵̖͗ù̶̜̬ ̶̤̏ͅd̵̜͜͠å̸͇͚r̶̗͌ě̷̝̿.̶͍͂.̵͔̿.̵̦͇͌ ̴̡̓C̶̡̹̏A̸̽̽ͅL̵̟̈L̵̠͉̈́́ ̶̳̖́M̴̭̎͝Ĕ̵̙̮ ̷̼̳̐͝A̴̘͚̓͊ ̸̐̍͜Ḷ̶̢͒̀I̴̬̙̋̅T̷̳̕T̶̰͈̊̈́L̷̦̏̏E̶̡̐̌ ̶͓͊Ḋ̸̪̲O̴̲̔G̴̪̎!̶̫̑̕" The wolf monster then proceeded to use a deadlier version of Bone Rush due to being angered with Red's taunt, but he was able to dodge them effortlessly like it was no problem. As Red was possessing Takeru's body at the time, he now had greater endurance and strength than a normal human, which he liked. Red then froze, with him realizing that he also was able to use any of his grandson's machines... including his transformation devices.
'Takeru' then smirked soon enough, before proceeding to summon the EvolBracelet in his left hand. While everything seemed normal to Ran and the others, Erina then muttered something only audible to her upon seeing that. "Grandfather..."
'Takeru', in reality, Red, then proceeded to open the EvolMedal holder located on his right hip, taking out the Talonflame Medal, opening the EvolBracelet's glass lid, and eventually inserting the device into the bracelet's middle slot before closing it shut. This caused Erina to experience more surprise and shock, to the point that she had to cover her gasping mouth with both of her hands, just to be polite.
TALONFLAME!
Red then proceeded to put his hand on the top button on the EvolBracelet; he did'nt press it yet, but he was going to, soon enough. "You've done well up until this point, Ran. Hikaru. Ryouma. But... this, is a job for me."
"I'll go settle things with him." And with that, Red then presses the button, engulfing him in flames.
Moments later, Shinkai Red, in his Talonflame form, would then land on the ground. But instead of Takeru's iconic karate pose, he had struck a different one instead, before standing up and giving the beckoning finger sign, curling his index finger towards the palm of his hand. This weirded out Ran, Ryouma, and Hikaru immediately, confusing them while Erina just stood there speechless. After all, it wasn't actually Takeru who transformed into Shinkai Red, but his grandfather, Red Kamishiro, pretending to be him.
CHANGE, SHINKAIGER!
Red then proceeds to take a battle stance, staying like that for a few minutes before surprising Wolf Inhumanoid by jumping up into the air and punching the monster in the gut. In response, the cyborg Inhumanoid then goes ahead to conjure a deadlier version of Close Combat, but Red himself was able to dodge it effortlessly. Red then delivered a punch to Wolf Inhumanoid at the chest, before elbowing him. Red then proceeded to supercharge his left hand until the cybernetic systems there were overclocked to 400%, before releasing it in one big punch. He then adopts a horse stance for a moment.
Erina was utterly surprised with how effortless her grandfather was able to fight using her brother's body, but she swore that she'd never heard her grandfather have any combat experience besides being a Trainer. "Oh my Arceus..."
Also eyeing the fight was Ran and Hikaru, who quickly realized that there was something really off with their friend / rival team leader. "Wait, I think I feel something weird..." Ran said.
"Take-chan's not himself..." Hikaru added, puzzling Ryouma. "Wait, what?"
"He moves completely differently... He's also using hand-to-hand combat, but he would have used both karate and kenjutsu at this point... What's going on?" Ran explained.
Meanwhile, Wolf Inhumanoid had summoned his platoon of Hoplite Soldiers, and Red was able to effortlessly solo all of them by pressing one of the buttons on Takeru's cybernetic hands to deploy his flamethrower before turning it on at full power, incinerating the soldiers alive. In anger, the wolf monster then used a deadlier version of Force Palm, however Red was also able to dodge it with a few backflips. After making sure that he was at a safe distance, Red then unfurled Takeru's set of hawk wings, jumping into the air and using the aforementioned wings to fly behind the Lucario monster as quick as possible. Now behind his opponent, Red then proceeded to remove the Talonflame Medal before swapping it out for the Golem Medal.
Crash! Rumble! Burst! Smash! Link Up!
GOLEM!
Red then delivers a boulder-enhanced kick using his right foot to his opponent, causing Wolf Inhumanoid to prepare a punch. Fortunately, Red was able to block it before he was able to deal any damage. The wolf cyborg then used Force Palm again, hitting Red from the back, and as a result knocking him a few feet. However, not easily giving up, he then returned back to his Talonflame form, unfurling his wings again before proceeding to fly around his opponent in circles at high-speed, disorienting him. Seeing the chance, the former Kantonian top battler then took out the EvolBlade, and started to randomly slash the Lucario-based Inhumanoid until he was damaged. Unlike his grandson, Red had no experience in kenjutsu, and as a result, he was basically just using a sword without any apparent techniques. Now a bit wounded and with his pride hurt, the M.Y.T.H.O.S Inhumanoid then fired out deadly projectiles of Aura Sphere, however Red then landed on the ground, sheathed his sword, changed once again into Golem, and deflected the projectiles by punching them or flexing his back muscles. A frustrated Wolf Inhumanoid later put Red on a chokehold and punched at him relentlessly, weakening him for a bit, but fortunately he was able to break free anyway.
Not wanting to waste time, Red then presses the top button of the EvolBracelet two times, activating a finishing blow.
FINISHING BLOW!
Red then unsheathes the EvolBlade before swinging the sword to his back as the gold blade of the weapon then begins to burn in flames. He then throws the sword as if it was a spear, with him stepping closer in order to be able to execute the technique. The Kantonian former top battler then presses the top button of the EvolBracelet for the third time, supercharging his fist with energy in the process.
TALONFLAME! ONE STRIKE FINISH! FIRE!
The EvolBlade then hits its intended target, stabbing Wolf Inhumanoid on the hip and severely wounding him. However, Red then proceeds to run up to the cyborg monster before punching him right in the stab wound, causing a fatal injury. Realizing that he was about to die, the Inhumanoid then lamented in frustration, with it being his last words before he exploded, marking his first death. "W̴͇͊͆ḥ̸́͝y̸͔͇͛̕.̸͈͈̒.̸̦̀.̶̧̯̔ ̴̨̙͗̑W̵͆̓͜Ḣ̷̩͌Y̶̼͓̅Ý̶͖Y̴͍͕͆Y̶̛͙̩̒Y̷̯̎Ỳ̸̠Y̴̺̐̽Y̷͕͋̾!̵͈̃́!̴̭̓͘!̵͔̟́"
It took a few moments for Red to realize that he had won, but once he did, the former top battler then smiled behind his helmet, as Ran, Ryouma, and Erina erupted in cheers at Red's win. Even Takeru himself let out a short remark to his grandfather, although it was meant to be sarcastic instead. "Eh, you're not pretty bad for someone with no prior fighting experience, Grandpa. But I suggest you watch out twice now..."
And as if on cue, Wolf Inhumanoid's fail-safe program would then kick in, reviving the cyborg monster and making it grow up to giant size. The colossal Lucario later rampaged around the city, with him still hellbent on getting that gold supply. In response, the team then turned to Takeru... or so they thought, in order to take a last-minute decision.
"So, Takeru... What are we going to do? Are we planning on using Shinkai-Oh?" Ryouma asked, on behalf of his other teammates. However, as if to prove his point, Red then turned his head to meet his grandson's teammates' gaze before promptly answering what everyone least expected.
"No."
A moment of silence.
Then pure chaos.
"EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?!?!?"
"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!? GRANDPA, ARE YOU CRAZY!?" Takeru yelled using his inner thoughts, not believing what his grandfather had said.
"What the fuck, Take-chan!? You're planning to fight a giant Inhumanoid without using Shinkai-Oh!?" Hikaru replied.
"Yep. Screw the giant robot... Let me do my own thing." Red sternly and defiantly declared. The former top trainer then took out the Charizard Medal before inserting it into the Axis Brace's middle slot. Since Takeru had used the device to access Mega Charizard Y's form earlier that day, the Axis Brace was still in its Y configuration, prompting Red to rotate it back to X before pressing the button.
CHARIZARD!
AXIS UP!
FLAME! WILDFIRE! BURST! INFERNO! MEGA CHARIZARD~ X!
With the transformation complete, Red then strikes his own classic battle pose before relaxing again... Only to find out that all eyes were on him now, with Hikaru even asking about it. "Whoa, Take-chan! What's going on with you!?" The former top trainer then felt that he was much more energized for some reason... before he soon realized that he was literally engulfed in bright, blue flames. The reason being that back when he was alive, Red had formed an excellent bond with his starter Charizard (that he was even able to Mega Evolve it into Mega Charizard X), so excellent, in fact, that he had a lot more extra power than Takeru did when he utilized that form, and all of that extra power was now radiating all over himself, even though he was already dead.
"Eh, don't know. Felt more energized all of a sudden, but oh well. Let's get straight into the finishing blow, then." Red said, again not wasting any time. He then presses the button of the Axis Brace.
FINISHING BLOW!
With the finishing blow successfully abdicated, the top trainer-turned spirit would then leap into the air, as the blue flames surrounding his body then converge into his feet. A black energy field would then surround Red, before he then delivers a flying side kick into the abdomen of the giant monster, followed by a second kick, with the former top trainer trying to channel all of his extra power and energy into the attack. Moments later, he would then be able to pierce through, landing safely as Wolf Inhumanoid then began sparking; a sign that his second death was imminent.
"W̷̛̬̑ŏ̷̜̿ͅe̷͙͊ ̶̧͑̀ṫ̷̬̅o̴̺̮͑ ̷̩̓͆y̸̧̛̺͗ō̶̘̦u̷̼͐͝.̴͚͇͐͝.̸̢̌͛.̶̘͗̏ ̴̳̐̾S̸͖͓̉h̷̬̤́́i̴͖͎͊ṅ̷͕k̷̥̊͝a̸͚͂̂į̴̳͊g̵͚̙̉è̴̳̬̾r̵̖͐s̸̭̆!̶̖̘͌" That was all the monster would then say, before he then exploded to his second death. Red had managed to kill a giant Inhumanoid without even needing to use Shinkai-Oh or receive some external help. Everyone including Takeru himself knew that they had won again for the second time at that point, with them being too astonished, mesmerized, surprised, and speechless to even speak up.
Meanwhile, an unkown figure clad in a mysterious suit would then walk up nearby, seeing the Shinkaigers from afar. As it was noon at the time, the glare from the sun's rays had obscured the figure's face, but the rest of his armor shined, revealing it to be a beautiful chrome silver. The figure then glanced at the Shinkaigers for a moment, with the team being unaware of his presence.
"My, my, that was unprecedented. I knew that you were strong, but this was not what I was expecting from you, Takeru..." The figure said. He then proceeded to walk away, muttering something audible only to himself. "If only you knew..."
Later that evening...
In the Guardia Base's briefing room, Ran was just finished importing a PDF file containing an analysis of today's fight that he had just worked on with Takeru (who returned back to normal after Red had possessed him earlier that day), later copy-pasting it one of Lillie's directories on one of the base's computers. However, the Yellow warrior had accidentally stumbled on a directory named '[REDACTED DATA]' while browsing through folders of files and documents, and, out of curiosity, decided to click it. What was stored in there was a bunch of documents that were never known to anyone else except Lillie and Shigeru. This piqued the 16 year-old's interest even more, and he decided to click one of the documents.
"Heavily protected file?" Ran said, reading the pop-up on the computer out loud. The person who used the data must've put some passwords and protections to prevent anyone from viewing any of its contents. Seeing this, the Yellow warrior then used his high IQ and above-average thinking skills to bypass all of the security, eventually managing to open the document. And what he saw gave him the shock of his life.
The document was a text file, and the contents of that file was a detailed plan written by N, explaining how he would infiltrate the Aether Foundation by revealing the Shinkaigers' true identities first, before taking over the organization to act as the real power behind the throne, using Lillie and Shigeru as his intermediaries to the general public. With Aether under his control, N would then sabotage the team by moving over the majority of Ran, Ryouma, Hikaru and Erina's EvolMedals to Takeru's possession, which would then cause the team to be increasingly reliant on their team leader; something which is considered as a cardinal sin by Takeru's standards. Eventually, this would then divide the Shinkaigers amongst each other, paving the way for N to use them as his pawns: This was the classic strategy of divide et impera (divide and rule), which N is in the process of imposing to the team, as evidenced by Takeru putting all that effort to his hardcore training sessions to the point that he had ranted in front of his family without realizing that it was actually useless. Ran then scrolled down, hoping to discover more. And he had found out another one of them.
In addition to the divide and rule strategy, N had written a detailed plan to form a new Sentai team, using a perfected version of one of Lillie's prototype technologies in conjunction with the EvolMedals. However, the Unovan man had explicitly stated in his plan that the Shinkaigers are 'a major threat to his goals', and he had made sure that this new team would employ underhanded tactics that does not prioritize civilian safety, planning to attack M.Y.T.H.O.S directly and treating any civilian casualties and property damage as collateral ones, which would leave them in the government's jurisdiction, and potentially jeopardizing the Shinkaigers' own reputation while targeting Zeus and his lackeys, wanting them both dead or alive. N had also included a few of the technology's blueprints and schematics, as well as the Pokémon names Reshiram and Zeraora, alongside the detailed texts.
Driven by more curiosity, Ran then decided to scroll down again, but what he saw ended up making him freeze in disbelief, with his hand trembling at the computer mouse. He had seen what he shouldn't have seen, with him already digging too deep into the iceberg.
...He'd have to tell Lillie about this, that's for sure.
To be continued
Author's Note: And that's a wrap on Chapter 11! This one in particular actually took way longer than what I originally expected, since when I was writing this chapter back in September, there was a lot going on with my personal life in the real world, and as a result, my writing time was restricted throughout October and November, eventually postponing work all the way until the Christmas holiday season and screwing up the monthly update schedule. Both I and Morgan Alter had to go through a lot of ideas when we wrote this, but what I can definitely say is that we're now about to transition to the second arc of the story. Technical stuff aside, Keito, Takeru and Erina's cousin, now debuts in this chapter after being mentioned a few times before, and Calem and Shauna from the Generation VI games (and also the anime, to some extent) was able to properly make an appearance now after a few mentions in previous chapters. Red and Yellow also return after previously appearing way back in Chapter 9, and this time, Red has a more major role in his third appearance.
In addition to that, N is now putting his own game plans into action, which I've finally detailed on the last part of this chapter. He has had help from a member of the Alolan Elite Four who seems to have a connection with the Shinkaigers somehow, and we also have a cameo appearance of another mysterious character wearing a chrome silver suit. The latter may be self-explanatory for you Super Sentai and Power Rangers fans, but I'm not revealing the identity of that Elite Four member and that mysterious character as you'll have to figure that out yourself, so please stay tuned for future updates. Shinkaiger will be having a content update in order to add some information which we wasn't able to previously add, or in order to fix up any mistakes which we may have made during writing previous chapters. However, we would'nt be including Paldea from the new Generation IX games in the content update. We do have some ideas on how to incorporate the new region into Shinkaiger, but I wouldn't divulge that just yet. As a result, we will still be sticking with a limit of 8 major regions and 905 Pokémon-based EvolMedals for the time being, including those from Pokémon introduced in Legends: Arceus.
And one last thing before I end this author's note is a recap of the EvolMedals in possession of Takeru, Ran and other characters, to name a few, so far, as suggested by Morgan Alter when we were writing this chapter. So, let's get on with it.
Medals in Takeru's possession: Talonflame, Golem, Charizard, Swellow, Bike, Barrier, Clone (7)
Medals in Ran's possession: Jolteon, Galvantula, Bike (3)
Medals in Ryouma's possession: Umbreon, Bike (2)
Medals in Hikaru's possession: Sharpedo, Blastoise, Bike (3)
Medals in Erina's possession: Sylveon, Bike (2)
Medals in N's possession: Silvally (1)
Medals in unknown possession: Reshiram, Zeraora (2)
Total count: 20
And with that all complete, as always, please give us a review, point out our mistakes, and we'll address it when we can. We always appreciate your feedback in order to improve this story.
MagicWings001 here, signing out. Jaa ne!