"— you are a small-minded man who has stood upon a dirt pile who thinks himself impressive for his meagre achievements. I do not need to view your mind to know who you are Overlord Granite," Sabrina mocked.
Her words carried across the clearing.
Granite's eyes dilated slightly as he sucked in a breath in surprise.
It was rather wonderful to pop a delusional man's bubble.
Behind Granite, the people stirred.
Someone laughed, only for it to be cut off quickly as lackeys of Granite began to look around.
Two of the men, towering edifices that flanked Granite with more muscle than brain glared.
People went still.
If they had been pokemon they might have even rolled onto their backs to present no threat to the leader of the pack.
It said much of how this man ruled.
"There is nothing grand about you," Sabrina announced.
Granite stared at her, his brow twitching in agitation before he loosened an all too practised sigh. Sabrina could spot an actor, and while good, this man paled in comparison to the masters of the craft that she'd begun interacting with.
"I see you are quite delusional, for I am not merely Overlord of the Crusher Tribe but heir of a grand purpose." He tapped his pokebelt, specifically on three black pokeballs, and a trio of Tyranitar emerged, only for another pokeball to be tossed over his shoulder dismissively.
From it, yet another Tyranitar emerged to slam into the ground in an attempt at intimidation.
Sabrina gave it a less-than-impressed glance before humming dismissively. She didn't even let her eyes linger on the Megastone on its neck.
The trio of Tyranitar behind him only drew pity.
She'd seen the pokeballs upon Granite's belt and she'd only seen their likeness once before.
At New Island, wielded by Mewtwo.
Which painted an interesting story as she detected several people within the crowd seething with anger at the appearance of the three Tyranitar.
Hmmm, interesting.
Mewtwo would never have given up those balls to anyone. He guarded what was his and looked down on most humans.
But the Capture balls, as Brock had once called them, weren't originally Mewtwo's design.
Granite had contact with Team Rocket.
Either in the past or still, with remnants of their organisation giving him those balls.
"You seem only able to stand tall upon others. I see nothing that you have built yourself," Sabrina commented idly, causing Granite's face to twitch.
He'd been expecting her to be intimidated.
It would take far more than this to make her worry.
"You will come to understand your place in the coming days," Granite growled. "It pains me to do this, but wild beasts need to be shown the lash."
He waved a hand, and Sabrina knew what was coming next. The girl in her arms, Valentine, stiffened as Sabrina rolled herself around her to protect her from the Dark Pulse that rocketed out of the Tyranitar and into Sabrina's side.
A gasp exploded out of her even as she found herself airborne, having been launched off the back of the Houndoom that carried them.
She hit the ground then, and the pain of impact and the still lingering Dark Pulse ran through her. She flooded her body, almost, but not quite, causing an aura of power to be emitted.
She needed to be careful as she couldn't show how much Granite had just erred in taking her out of contact with that dark-type pokemon.
That had been one of the only things that had been slightly repressing her abilities.
As she pushed the dark energies out of her body, she felt her powers expand like a flower blooming in the sun.
She began to register all the pokemon around her, all the unshielded minds that she could feed a small dose of the pain she felt, making them grimace in what they perceived as shared empathy.
Some even stepped forward with their hands raised. "Overlo—" called one of them, only for one of the men flanking Granite to step over to him and smash them on the head and make them fall to the ground.
A ripple of anger ran through people and some bristled only for the other brute flanking Granite to step towards the watching crowd. His hand hovered over his pokebelt. "Would any speak for the outsider?" growled the man.
That caused people to quieten down once more. The only people who met the taller man's gaze were oddly dressed in beads and leather. At the forefront of their group a woman with heterochromic eyes watched on, like this was merely a story playing out for her.
Others clustered around older men and women, looking to them for advice.
None of them moved however.
Deeper within the camp, a tent that had several people within caught Sabrina's attention.
She could feel Tiffany in there along with two others. One felt oddly draconic to her while the other was a man who was rock-aligned and older.
As her range expanded, an all too familiar mind, along with the ninja that had been accompanying him, stood out.
Brock was here.
That was good, and a small part of her unclenched in relief.
She levered herself up even as Valentine wiggled in her grip. "Miss Sabrina? Are you alright?" she asked.
"Hmmm, I've had worse," she replied as she leveled herself up. "Make sure you stay close to me for what comes next, understand?" she whispered as she affected a slightly dizzy expression on her face.
By the way Brock's emotions were spiking and vanishing from her mind, she was perhaps a little too effective.
As Granite swaggered up to her with a cocky smirk on his face, she considered her options.
The trainers and her own pokeballs were now within each psychic grasp. There were two sizable boulders that she could easily use as bludgeons.
Granite wouldn't be smirking when she smashed him with two rocks the size of his pokemon.
The risk, sadly, was still there for the two children held by the Crusher Tribe members who were backing the pokemon away from her and Granite, while another ran to check on their downed member.
"Do you need another lesson?" asked Granite gleefully.
Ah, a sadist.
How cliche.
She continued to assess the situation as Granite strode towards her.
Hmmm, she needed a distraction to guarantee that she could get to the hostages and ensure their safety.
Nearby boulders began to look rather promising, along with a few knives and ropes.
"I don't think anything you have to teach will be worth learning," Sabrina said with a dazed tone. Sadly, there was no one filming this performance, otherwise, she might have won an award.
Granite scowled, and like the idiot that he was, he back-handed her, allowing her to position herself just that much closer to the hostages closest to her.
Sabrina was more than ready to strike him down for that, but she controlled herself even as part of her envisioned all the ways she'd enjoy destroying him later.
She needed to stay in control of herself; from there, success would come.
A nearby shelf of rock caught her attention, and she smirked as the idea of causing an avalanche sparked in her mind.
As she sat back up, ignoring the drip of blood down her face, she had to force down a smirk. Perfect.
An avalanche would make for the perfect distr—
Before she could complete that thought, a dark mountain suddenly rose over the valley.
Darkness fell upon all, and Sabrina found her heart lurching as a primal terror swept over her.
Every being in the valley turned their eyes up towards where the sun should have been filtering down upon them, only to find a towering form glaring down at them.
Like an eclipse, the land was suddenly much darker, but where usually the warmth would take a while to fade from their view, there was only sudden cold grasping at her.
Sabrina stared.
Darkness stared down upon them.
…
Only…
That was Brock.
It was Brock, but she'd never seen him like this before.
He stood with the sun at his back, a visible aura of darkness wafting from him like smoke.
Shadows had claimed his face, but Sabrina knew him well enough to know that he had become like a granite cliff face, immovable and steady in a way that was usually grounding.
But here and now, with his power sweeping over her, Sabrina couldn't help the way her heart thundered in her own ears. Within her lap, Valentine clung to her fearfully, and Sabrina was oddly glad for the human touch as she stared up at Brock.
She shouldn't be able to from this distance, but she could see his eyes, glinting with a flinty brown that was devoid of its usual warmth.
Darkness had consumed the light, and all that looked down upon them was a being of immeasurable will.
Sabrina's fear vanished as she looked up at her husband-to-be, as a truth appeared in her mind.
Brock wasn't looking at her.
His focus was on another who was even now twitching his hands towards his pokebelt.
Brock was furious on her behalf.
It reminded her of a moment during their Journey when Brock had mistakenly decided that he'd look into acquiring a ghost-type pokemon only to dismiss the idea after wasting a week pursuing them and getting nothing.
They'd needed to enter a graveyard for the 'quest' to acquire said pokemon, and as a young girl, she'd scoffed at the grieving couples, thinking them weak for their tears.
Brock had chastised her, saying something to the effect that their tears were a demonstration of love.
She hadn't understood then and said as much. How could love present itself as tears?
Brock had looked at her with eyes both wise and weary.
"Love," he'd said, "Can turn to grief when it has nowhere to go or be given. Those people have lost their loved ones and can no longer give their love, so they cry. Love is the most powerful emotion, and it can present itself in many ways."
It had taken Sabrina a long time to understand that statement, but right now she was reminded of the last part of Brock's wisdom.
Love can present itself in many ways.
Such as fury.
And his fury was vast and glorious to behold.
Around Brock, massive forms of pokemon erupted from his pokebelt without Brock making a move to activate his pokeballs.
People gasped as two Tyranitar, a Regirock, Rhyperior, Steelix, Lunatone, Swampert, and even a Clefable glared down at them, adding their own condemnation to that of Brock's roused fury.
They didn't need to pose or flex on each other to make themselves larger than they already were.
They stood, almost shoulder to shoulder, in line with Brock rather than behind him.
Then Brock lifted his foot and stomped it once.
A rumble began in the earth around Sabrina and she watched as, instead of running or attempting to ride one of his pokemon down the valley wall, Brock instead sheared off a segment of the mountain he was standing on, allowing him to slide forward.
He rode an avalanche forward with his pokemon at his sides, all of them beginning to glow. Behind them, a wave of dust rose, and Sabrina understood straight away what was going to happen when Brock reached ground level.
People gasped, and Sabrina allowed herself a smirk.
That would certainly work as a distraction.
Sabrina's telekinetic might swept the area around her, causing riders to suddenly be thrown from their mounts as the terror they'd been feeling suddenly manifested itself into action.
Her bindings unravelled from around herself and those of the hostages as pokebelts suddenly returned to their hands.
Then Sabrina was next to them, grabbing them and dragging them to a spot out of the chaos that was erupting around her as people shouted and screamed.
Rather than flee away from the Crusher Tribe, Sabrina instead ran into the crowd, snagging some loose clothing and draping them around herself and her rescues.
"Are we going to help drive the Crusher Tribe off?" Valentine gushed excitedly.
"Oh no, something much better, we're going to watch," Sabrina declared as she lifted her group up onto a sizable boulder that happened to have an overhanging tree, which allowed her some degree of concealment.
She sat herself front and centre, with the best view in the house, so to speak. A moment later, her pokemon emerged to array themselves around her.
She tapped her transceiver and smirked at the gaping expressions.
"You're filming this?"
"Of course," Sabrina replied.
She watched as Brock and his team of pokemon slammed into the ground atop their avalanche and began to stalk forward.
The landing had done nothing to hinder them, even as others ahead staggered and stumbled.
The few pokemon that had charged forward to intercept them found themselves hurled out of the way with a dismissive strike from Brock's team.
Brock himself swatted a Houndoom out of his path with a blistering backhand.
Overlord Granite had all of a few moments to lock eyes with Brock and understand the fury that he'd called down upon himself before Brock and his Team were consumed by the Sandstorm they'd called up behind them.
The kids stiffened as they realised they were staring into a sandstorm racing straight at them.
"Uhmmm Miss Sabrina?" squeaked Valentine desperately.
Sabrina sighed, lowering her transceiver, knowing that she'd only catch snippets from here, most likely. It had still been a wonderfully dramatic entrance.
She made a note of it for later use in her drama.
The Sandstorm roared up upon them, only for her team to flex their power and form a cohesive safe house of Barriers overlapped by Reflects to keep the howling winds and sands out.
Around her, people flinched as sand swept past them, stinging and biting. Calls for goggles, and sandstorm requirements whipped past them on the turbulent winds.
Sabrina liked to think she'd somewhat built up a tolerance for sandstorms, having faced such phenomena three hundred and eighty-five times so far when facing Brock in their training spars.
It was interesting to note that while there were lots of tribesmen weathering the storm, there were still dozens reacting like their heads had fallen off.
Others… Others seemed to make a point of 'settling old scores' as a few people approached others and began to kick or strike at them while under the cover of the sandstorm.
In the case of the hulking brutes, whom Sabrina now suspected of being related to Granite, no one drew close, but several people threw rocks at them.
It painted a riveting tale of a fractured tribe, held together only by the machinations of a man with an iron grip on the people he was supposed to be ruling.
It was wonderfully chaotic, and Sabrina added to the madness by hurling rocks, untying ropes that anchored tents, and even going as far as to release Tiffany and her fellow hostages. Their pokebelts, or at least what she suspected were their pokebelts sailed through the air and slipped through the tent flap.
Tiffany squawked in surprise before exhaling, causing Sabrina's lips to twitch upwards.
It was always wonderful to spook a Ghost specialist.
The other girl, with the dragon typing, snatched up her pokebelt, and from it pokemon emerged.
A Whismur, a Larvitar, a Shelgon, and another dragon-typed pokemon that Sabrina had never encountered before.
She suspected that it was a pokemon that Brock might be able to identify. Now that she was able to sweep the Crusher Tribe encampment properly, she was starting to notice several oddities.
Such as the Slugma and rare Magcargo being used in place of cooking fires. Or the electric-type cat pokemon that were sprinting towards the hostages' area only to run into the released pokemon acting as defenders of their trainers.
The man who felt like the rocks released a Golem into their mix, who happily detonated without a moment's hesitation.
Sabrina grimaced, noting that several people had been caught in that explosion who weren't part of the fight.
An oddly calm group of minds racing up a nearby hill caught Sabrina's attention and she was more than ready to crush them with a quick avalanche… only for the entire group to sit, and watch, not taking a single step to help their fellows.
Sabrina considered them for a moment, her grip on the rocks behind them locked in.
She let it go after a few moments' consideration.
While the Crusher Tribe were obviously in the wrong, she wasn't about to start casting area-wide attacks, something that Brock, despite his enraged state, seemed to agree with as no giant rocks, Sand Blasts or Hyper Beams were being launched.
She directed a message to the captured Rock Specialist who had been a captive. "Control yourself, there are children nearby," she reprimanded, and the man's mind locked down on itself even as a tinge of guilt flashed across it.
Turning back to the battle, if it could be called that, Brock performed an admirable uppercut that left a Machoke stunned, only for a deft flick of stone from Bertha to flatten it and leave it behind them, out of the fight.
For a moment, she toyed with the idea of talking with Brock to soothe him, but having him storm forward was a momentum that was all too important for a fight; a delay could spell demise in a situation like this.
Instead, it was a clinical take-down of any pokemon or person that got in their way, with Brock continuing to advance on where Granite was rallying his men.
"ENOUGH!" roared Granite, and several men released flying-type pokemon.
With their emergence, the Sandstorm was swept away.
Sabrina raised an eyebrow. Was Granite not comfortable in the howling winds?
No, it wasn't that. Granite made sure to glance around and check that he had everyone's attention as the Sandstorm faltered in the face of several flying-type pokemon.
From her position, Sabrina squinted up at the birds. She could take them down… but in doing so, she'd reveal herself.
Brock, rather than pausing as his Sandstorm was torn away from his pokemon's control, continued to stride forward, his gaze zeroing in on Granite.
His eyes darted about quickly, and only then did Sabrina send a gentle pressure to squeeze his arm in a reassuring manner.
His lips twitched, and while he didn't stop, his body loosened, his stride coming easier and beginning to flow.
Which, oddly enough, made his steps rumble louder.
Granite twitched and growled as he stomped his feet and clenched his hands into fists. From within him, a potent power rose.
A mountain rumbled up to everyone's senses causing them to shudder at the sudden feeling of being overlooked by two landmasses that had appeared from nowhere.
Sabrina on the other hand, couldn't stop herself from letting out a small "heh."
It was smaller than Brock's.
As the trainers around her shivered at the feeling, Brock cocked his head, still striding towards Granite.
There were only a few hundred metres between them now.
"You! Brock of Pewter! You are declared a Rebel for attack—" Granite attempted to grandstand but Brock was having none of it.
"I don't give a shit about that! You have something of mine!" Brock growled, his voice reverberating out as his eyes locked onto his target. In one smooth action Brock stepped forward only for a large rock to throw itself up in front of him.
Brock caught the rock and hurled it without breaking stride.
Granite flinched in surprise only for a pokemon to launch itself from one of his Brothers' pokebelts.
The Rock Throw was intercepted by a Machamp that snorted derisively.
Granite stepped around it and scowled at Brock. "I knew it! You seek to steal our birthright! Pokemon! Slay the rebel!" he declared, as he pointed at Brock.
Sabrina just knew Brock was smirking.
"Granite stop!" called an old woman at the back, only for her to be pushed back. "Damn you boy, this is not our way!" she screamed, only for it to be lost as Granite snapped his fingers and a roar erupted from behind him.
Like a river flowing around a boulder, the trio of Tyranitar raced forward with a roar that caused the ground to quake.
Brock continued to march forward.
Around him, Bertha, Jormungandr, and Shrek leapt forward to intercept the rampaging Tyranitar.
With six powerhouse pokemon charging towards each other, the field began to buckle and shake. Behind Sabrina, Valentine began to bounce.
"T-t-t-this i-i-i-isn't a-a-a-a-anything l-l-l-like t-t-t-the st-st-st-stadium f-f-fig-hts!"
Sabrina blinked and levitated her fellow observers slightly off the boulder.
The Tyranitar opened with a powerful Earthquake that saw the ground rise to crush Brock's pokemon only for Shrek to respond with Surf, causing him and Bertha to be carried up.
In a staggering show of strength, Bertha and Shrek heaved Jormungandr above their heads as they rode the wave forward.
The trio of Tyranitar gaped in shock at what they were seeing.
The muted feelings of incredulity rose when Shrek and Bertha hurled Jormungandr like a rope directly at them.
Jorm twirled through the air, the most inelegant nope rope that ever existed and Sabrina felt herself giggle at the silly thought.
The trio of Tyranitar threw themselves into the ground with Dig to evade the wave, along with the flying Steelix.
"THEY THREW HIM LIKE A—" Valentine started to scream, only for Kirlia to lean over and put her small hand over the loud girl's mouth.
Sabrina knew that no one close by had noticed Valentine's shout, but it didn't pay to be careless. Sabrian set her gaze up to where another woman was looking down at her with a quizzical tilt to her head.
Sabrina put her finger to her lips and the other woman smiled and nodded back.
With that done, Sabrina turned her attention fully back to the fight before her.
Jorm hit the ground and dug in before causing an Earthquake.
In the meantime, Bertha and Shrek both turned slightly so they were facing behind the Surf they were riding on.
Jorm's tail pointed in one direction, and both pokemon didn't question; they leapt.
As they soared through the air, both cocked back their fists.
Shrek's fist slammed down into an emerging Tyranitar and floored it while Bertha's attack missed and slammed into the ground.
Only for the ground to twist around her fist and drag the two Tyranitars in where she whirled them around and crushed them with her Seismic Twist.
The wave splashed down, and Brock's pokemon rose, eyes locked forward.
Granite staggered backwards. "That's … what?" He took another step only to bump into one of the hulking brutes that Sabrina had caught sight of bashing people.
"We got this brother," murmured the bigger one. "We can take him!" growled the other, hands darting to the side and releasing Primeape, Machamp, Golem, and a trio of Onix.
"Nothing we can't handle!" snarled the other as he released a Houndour, Mightyena, Arcanine, and an Ursaluna of all things. Sabrina strayed at the pokemon Brock only vaguely knew of, but had plans to include.
The powerful ground type roared along with its fellow pokemon as they locked eyes on Brock's team.
Having support seemed to bolster Granite's resolve as he stepped forward and glowered at Brock. "No more holding back!" he roared as the gem at the front of his helmet began to glow.
His Tyranitar strode forward, glowing with rainbow light.
"Oh no," Valentine gasped. "He's going to Megaevolve! Brock! Quick! Use Thief!" begged the girl.
"None of Brock's pokemon know that move currently," Sabrina replied calmly, even as her own pulse began to rise as a powerful dark aura washed over her.
"Oh no," Valentine wailed, clutching at Kirlia like a teddy bear.
Mega-Tyranitar emerged, and when it roared, it sent waves of dust and sand blasting outwards.
Brock continued to march forward, the only sign he recognised the danger he was in was to wave his hand and have his pokemon disperse while Selene slid into place beside him.
Then Brock pointed a hand to the side where the tents were. "Regirock! Protect those children from the fight!" he ordered, and Sabrina felt a small smile slip out.
Even now… he was thinking of others.
Granite's brothers grunted, and his pokemon lined up with others, creating a line with the Mega Tyranitar at the lead.
They stalked forward, causing a thunderous quake to ripple forward.
Brock and his team continued on.
With each step they drew closer the two teams picked up momentum, causing them to slowly begin to charge.
Titan lengthened his strides and locked eyes with his foe.
A Machamp and an Arcanine raced in front like some honour guard.
They broke out ahead, but Titan had no eyes for them.
Seeing this both pokemon leapt to attack, fists and fangs glowing with energy as they prepared to strike.
For a single moment, it looked like Titan was about to take two devastating attacks for the sake of pride.
Then two shadows fell upon the Arcanine and Machamp with Zephyr and Don smashing both pokemon away, opening the path for Titan to engage.
The Mega-Tyranitar had a moment of surprise before Titan was suddenly upon it, slamming home with an opening strike that rocked it back.
Across the battle line other pokemon engaged only to find Brock's more than up to the task of repelling them.
Don and Zephyr rose from the downed pokemon to begin sending the flocks of flying types scattering through the air as dogfights erupted with eight pokemon against two.
Sabrina rather thought the odds were still unfair to the Crusher Tribe flying types.
She was proven correct when Don snatched a Honchkrow out of the air while Zephyr's head spun around and fired a powerful Hypnosis at those trying to trail him.
Two Houndoom attempted to catch Link by surprise, only for him to deftly hammer them back with Moonblast.
Jorm performed a powerful Iron Tail to dispatch a Golem, and Bertha was once more there to blow away a gaggle of Graveler before twisting into a spin that saw her tail bludgeoning a Mightyena.
But everyone had to step back from their fights seconds after they'd begun as Titan and his Mega evolved foe drew clear of each other only to smash back into each other, roaring all the while.
Titan had to duck under the spikes that threatened to gouge him, only for him to reach up and grasp them at the base. He twisted and flicked, sending his foe toppling to the side.
Even as Mega-Tyranitar smashed into the ground however, another Earthquake erupted and spikes of jagged stone punched up around it.
Titan deftly wove around what he could while other attacks landed causing him to grimace.
The fight resumed a moment later however with both pokemon slamming into each other and causing the ground to crater around them.
Their roars echoed around the valley, and flocks of flying types that had been roosting around the valley's edge took off in fright, causing even more noise as they trilled in fear.
Valentine released Kirlia from her death grip, and the little pokemon scuttled to Sabrina's lap to continue watching as some of the strongest Pokémon Sabrina had seen threw down.
While rumbles and quakes caused the earth to buckle, Sabrina noted that the impact was reduced, and a glance to the side, near the tents, revealed that Regirock had taken up position in front of them, both massive arms connected with the ground.
When an errant rock flew towards the tents, Regirock's arms flicked, causing a wave of rock to intercept the strike.
This wasn't going unnoticed by the Crusher Tribesmen as they clutched their children while staring at the Legendary pokemon that had arrived as an invader only to serve as their protector.
Brock's pokemon quickly began overwhelming their opponents.
They stepped back rather than continue to push on, but in doing so they created a half circle around the growing crater where Titan fought.
Bertha began thumping the ground with her tail while others stomped their feet. Soon they called out encouragement as Titan continued to clash.
Sabrina giggled as an all too familiar thump, thump clap, echoed about the valley.
"The Brock intro song!" gasped Valentine, showing that Sabrina wasn't the only one to recognise it.
Titan seemed to notice the song as he redoubled his efforts.
Brock stood at the edge, his gaze for once shifting off Granite and to that of his battling starter.
Sabrina knew they were communicating with how pulses and twitches raced back and forth while Titan's own power surged or shifted as he evaded, struck, or recovered from a blow that Mega-Tyranitar was able to land.
Granite stepped up to the edge of the crater, directly opposite of Brock, to observe the fight.
"Sucker Punch!" he snapped.
Mega-Tyranitar's faked a strike with its claws only to sweep its tail around and lash Titan's face causing him to backpedal as the blow caused some wounds.
"Rhyperior!" barked Bertha, raising her hand.
Then, from around the circle, the others raised their own hands, and Brock smiled.
Sabrina felt her breath escape her as each of Brock's pokemon formed a link with each other and then to Brock, who filtered and fed the energy to Titan.
Titan rose with a mighty roar and launched a devastating Stone Edge that staggered Mega-Tyranitar.
Then, suddenly Titan launched himself forward.
Usually a Giga-Impact took time to build up power, but this time Titan went from Zero to one hundred almost instantly.
The ground behind him was thrown up as Titan kicked off.
Mega-Tyranitar, still stumbling from the earlier hit, suddenly found itself folded around Titan's fist before he slammed into the crater wall.
The crater split at that point, and everyone staggered as yet another Earthquake swept out.
Dust rose, and Titan stood up with a deep rumble as he glared down at his opponent with blood continuing to run down his face.
Granite leaned forward, only for the ground around him to give out and for him to go sliding into the crater.
He landed next to pokemon and stiffened as Titan turned his head towards him.
"Now! Attack! While it's distracted!" Granite shouted in panic.
Titan snorted and slowly turned his head and gestured. "Ty-ranitar," he declared.
He then leaned down and bit off the necklace around his downed foe, tearing away the Tyranitarite and rumbling with pleasure.
Something dark stirred in Granite as he looked upon Titan.
"Brothers!" he roared as he crouched, his hand falling to a pouch. A bottle of something whizzed through the air and broke upon Granite's Tyranitar, causing it to twitch.
Despite the sudden revival of his downed foe, Titan couldn't spare it a look as from above two shadows fell upon Titan.
Titan's gaze snapped upwards as the Machamp and Arcanine that Don and Zephyr had knocked away were suddenly back in the fight.
Sabrina cursed herself for missing what must have been hyper potions upon the downed pokemon. She glanced around to find Granite's brothers reviving other downed pokemon to keep them in the fight.
The revived pokemon surged forward to attack Brock's distracted team only for them to once more be swatted away as Brock's team reacted decisively.
Titan skipped backwards away from the oncoming threats in his crater as his previous foe rose and growled.
A single claw was pointed right at Titan's jaw where the Mega stone rested.
"Tar!" barked the rival pokemon.
Titan just locked his stance and flicked his claws in a universal sign for 'come get it'.
Machamp, Arcanine and Tyranitar launched themselves forward.
Brock responded.
"TITAN! MEGA-EVOLVE!" he bellowed, channelling all of his emotions into the transformation.
A glorious light erupted from Titan, and Sabrina looked up to find an equally powerful glow surrounding Brock as he held his arm before his body. The gauntlet was now fully on display as the Keystone glowed.
Any attacks that had been launched were turned away as a roar ripped itself from both Brock and Titan's throats.
The sounds echoed through the valley with darkness and rock, empowering them further than they should have gone.
Sabrina hissed in surprise as the boulder they'd been hovering over shifted, like it had been ordered to rise.
She felt a shift within Brock and Titan's bond and more power than she'd witnessed in any other evolution to date pulsed outwards.
Then Titan's light show turned dark right as the power condensed into the evolving pokemon.
Titan stood at the epicentre of the explosion of energy in all his Mega-evolved glory.
He now stood slightly taller, with a presence that weighed upon those who looked at him.
His spikes were more pronounced and from the dark gaps in Titan's form, glowing red orbs peered out into the world, causing Sabrina to shiver slightly in aversion.
Then Titan shifted, and what had appeared as part of his shoulder crests floated off his body entirely.
They were born into the air upon a smoke like dark energy that glinted with red light that exuded from the eye like dots.
A gorget? Sabrina thought.
Brock had mentioned something of this when he'd discussed the armour he'd had commissioned.
Had Titan taken inspiration from that?
Sabrina found her head full of questions. This was obviously a Mega-evolution, but at the same time it was wildly different from that of Granite's with his pokemon.
Several Elderly Crusher Tribesmen shouted in surprise. One woman, her hair white and her body brittle, staggered forward to stare at Titan.
"Synchronisation?" she gasped.
Granite, who was down in the crater with the newly mega-evolved pokemon crawled backwards. "A-attack!" he screamed at the trio of pokemon. "There are three of you!"
This saw the trio explode forward. Arcanine went low, Tyranitar came from the front.
And Machamp cocked back all four fists as it leapt.
Titan danced forward, causing Arcnaine's Bite to miss as Titan's tail whipped around and smacked it away.
Titan caught his fellow Tyranitar's attack with one hand while tilting his body to cause two of Machamp's fists to miss entirely.
The other two rocketed forward only for the gorget to intercept the strike and cause the blow to deflect.
The floating armour piece was still knocked down into Titan, causing him to buckle slightly, but this worked better than taking a super effective attack directly.
Sabrina glanced up at Brock only to find he was still emitting a glow with a strand of energy feeding towards Titan.
That… that was also unusual. Sabrina hadn't encountered any Mega-evolutions where the energy component was actually visible!
Brock's brow twitched and the energy fed to Titan grew slightly. Titan rose to headbutt the Machamp only to then follow up with an Earthquake that caused the crater to break like a porcelain bowl.
Five splits shot outwards only for Titan to twist again and stop the energy radiating outwards.
The trio of pokemon that had been facing Titan all stood, staring at Titan.
Then, their eyes rolled into the back of their heads, and they collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.
Sabrina reached towards them and found their energy reserves well and truly depleted. In the case of each of them, several breakages had also arisen.
Granite, who'd just crawled out of the crater when it split, found himself sliding back down it on his backside. The helmet that signified his position as Overlord caught on the edge of the crater and was pulled off.
Granite found himself suddenly before Titan, with no one else between them.
Then Titan shuddered in time with Brock.
The mega evolution faded quickly and Titan shook his head, dazed at the sudden return to being merely one of the strongest pokemon around, and not the strongest.
Sabrina stiffened as, rather than try to back away, Granite grabbed for something at the back of his pokebelt. He snarled as he got his feet underneath him and tried to slap it into Titan's flank.
Titan flinched, stumbling back in surprise, which was all that saved him when Granite tried to slap a black capture ball into him.
Granite growled and made another attempt and Titan couldn't evade this time.
Sabrina's ire pulsed, and with it a rock shot across the crater and smashed into Granite's head, causing him to stagger.
A snarl erupted from Granite's throat. "I WILL NOT BE DENIED WHAT IS MINE!"
Then, before Sabrina could launch another rock, a shadow fell over Granite.
Granite glanced up only to find Brock soaring through the air, his fist cocked back and a thunderous fury etched onto his face.
Brock landed and slammed his fist into Granite's head, causing the man to go sailing through the air and slam into the ground metres away.
"Get up so I can beat you down again, you rotten Weedle!" snapped Brock.
Granite obliged, launching himself up and darting low with a dagger now in his fist.
Brock caught his arm easily.
With Grante's arm in his grip, Brock glared down at him. "Well, how about that, you became even lower in my expectations, which is quite the feat."
Granite tried to struggle to his feet, only for Brock to twist and lock him down. "You're going to—"
"To me Brothers!" ordered Granite from where he lay in the dirt.
The hulking men leapt down with a roar, only for Brock to twist his arm, causing Granite's arm to snap and the dagger in his grasp to fall to the ground as he howled with pain.
Brock then stepped into the first brother's lunge, meeting it with a textbook strike that drew on everything he'd learned from both Surge and Lola.
The hulking man was launched backwards, where he hit the back wall.
He growled as he straightened, preparing for another strike as the second brother joined them in the crater, causing Brock's focus to split.
Only for a large boulder to slam into both of them, knocking them out, courtesy of Sabrina.
Sabrina smiled to herself as she floated her group up off the boulder, through the branches and towards Brock.
Brock smiled up at her.
He was covered in dirt, there were small tears all across his clothes, and he looked like he had aged slightly.
He was incredibly handsome.
Sabrina beamed at him.
A slow shuffle of some Crusher Tribemen approaching the edge of the crater and peeking in forced Brock and Sabrina to look away from each other.
Brock huffed. "Is there anyone else who'd like to try their luck?" he declared.
Silence met Brock's comment.
Then an old woman who'd previously tried to make Granite back off stepped forward with a sly glint in her gaze.
"Though it may be unconventional, the battle for leadership has been settled! All kneel for the new Leader of the Crusher Tribe! A man not of any faction! Hail Brock!" she declared.
This caused people to stare at her.
Then a few of the cannier minds in the tribe caught on and knelt, causing a wave of people to kneel atop the crater, their gaze locked onto Brock.
Brock pinched the bridge of his nose. "Shit," he announced.
Sabrina sighed, knowing that sometimes the price of victory could be very heavy indeed.
Deciding that his win wouldn't be tainted like this, she deposited her group on the other edge while floating herself down to Brock who took her in his arms as he decided to ignore the tribe.
"Heroes deserve kisses," she whispered as she leaned in and claimed her lips.
If those watching this happened to burn with envy, all the better that she reminded herself as everyone, that he was hers, just as much as she was his.
When they broke apart they gazed into each other's eyes. "Hey, you scared me for a bit there," he murmured.
"I could say the same," she replied before glancing away and biting her lip. She wanted to say more but it could wait for later.
The sound of wings and the aura of several powerful trainers and their pokemon entered her range causing her to sigh.
"Lance has arrived, late as ever."
Brock huffed. "Take a photo, make a meme of it, this is his fault," Brock replied.
Sabrina giggled as she did just that.
They turned, looking at the new arrivals.
There was going to be a lot of work untangling everything that had happened here, but for now, she took solace in the way Brock's hand held hers.
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A.N. Thanks go to my Patreons for your continued support!
It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter.