Interlude: The Blooming of Gaia Emerald
Ash gasped when he noticed an emerald pendant around Brock's neck, similar to Dawn's citrine pendant. "Brock, you received a Jewel Suit already???"
"Yeah...and I can't wait to fight alongside Dawn, and possibly you and the girls." Brock replied.
"The girls?" Ash asked, confused.
"It turns out that May and Serena also were chosen by the lottery along with Misty--and they too are training with you." Brock explained. In fact...Mr. Hamada wants you, me, and the girls to become the first real team of Jewel Suit users."
"Just like superheroes on TV?" Ash gasped, starry eyed."
"Something like that." Brock replied, just is Mr. Hamada arrived in the room.
"Until now, you have only seen Dawn battle, and you likely will see Brock fight alongside her as you continue your training." Mr. Hamada explained. "But once you have undergone core implantation and become part of the team, Dawn will take more of a support role, stepping in if the five of you need help."
"Makes sense." Ash mused. "Although...what is it like to undergo core implantation?"
"Well..." Brock begins. "First the head of the med team goes over all the risks and benefits of the procedure..."
We swirl into a flashback as we see a doctor and Brock talking about something. The Brock in the flashback answers the doctor's question affirmatively before a second doctor leads him into a room shining with glowing jewels. "Then you pick what kind of jewel you want implanted into you." Brock explains via voiceover as his self in the flashback looks around in awe.
The Brock in the flashback looks over all the jewels very carefully, then selects an emerald surrounded by leaves and glowing crystals. The second doctor smiles and leads Brock into a dressing room, where he is given an outfit akin to a hospital gown to change into. "Then they give you something like a hospital gown to change into."
In the next scene, the Brock in the flashback is being tied down onto a medical gurney as Flint, Lola, and some of the older Brocklings look on. "Then they take you into the operating bay proper, where you are put into stasis. This essentially pauses most bodily functions so nothing important is damaged during the long procedure itself."
"Be strong, Brock..." Flint smiles as he hugs the Brock in the flashback one last time before he is rolled off to the operating bay.
"So stasis is basically anesthesia turned up to 11?" Ash asks via voiceover as the Brock in the flashback is transferred into a bed-like platform, and has a device similar to a scuba regulator put in his mouth before being rolled into the long tube where the surgical bots will do their work.
"Not the way I would describe it, but that is a close enough analogy." Brock explains via voiceover as three tiny Spinarak-like surgery bots descend on the seemingly lifeless Brock in the flashback and begin the complex and delicate core implantation procedure. "You are aware of the passage of time, people in the room, and something crawling on you, but other than that, you don't really remember the procedure itself, or any pain."
A TIME PASSES card appears on the screen before we see the Brock in the flashback coming to in the recovery room, where Flint, Lola, and some of the Brocklings watch. Lola smiles as Brock groggily wakes up from the stasis. "Once in the recovery room, this is about when you figure out some of your out of the suit abilities."
The Brock in the flashback notices an earpiece on him, complete with an emerald button near his left ear. Piqued, he presses it, summoning a green tracking visor that lists his family's names, ages, physical information, and even personality quirks.
The scene fades to the Brock in the flashback in an observation room as a team of doctors looks on. "After a few days to recover from the procedure and get used to your new powers, they take you to an observation room to see if you can awaken the suit inside the core."
After a few tense seconds, the Brock in the flashback holds the emerald pendant he is wearing close and sings Imultaos, ame no hao bakezo..., creating a green burst as the jewel in his pendant flickers for a few seconds, creating a cocoon of leaves, crystals and light.
Inside the cocoon of leaves, green light and crystals, five glowing leaves form on Brock's hands, expanding into one armplate, with a second set forming the other some seconds later. The legplates form not long after that, then a quiver full of sparkling green arrows appears on Brock's back as the chest plate, with a glowing emerald inside, forms in an explosion of leaves. "Gaia Emerald, bloom!"
The doctors cheer as the Brock in the flashback emerges in the suit. "If you can transform, that is a sign the jewel has bonded to your heart." Brock explains via voiceover as the scene returns to the present.
"Do you have any evidence of what happened to you?" Ash asks.
Brock unbuttons his shirt a little, allowing Ash to see a faded vaguely circle-shaped scar on his chest, around where the surgery bots cut into him. "The scars heal fairly quickly, but they do remain as faded outlines for a while. The surgery bots are programmed to know just where to perform each step of the implantation to minimize any pain, so it doesn't really hurt that badly."
Ash nods, many of his fears of the procedure assuaged. "I promise I will train even harder, so I can fight alongside you, the girls, and Dawn!"
TO BE CONTINUED...
The Saga of the Kagayou Theater
The First Sparkling Stage (Waku)
The Stage of Crystal (Paldea)/The Stage of Light (Kalos)/The Royal Stage (Galar)/The Stage of Victory (Talie)
The Global Stage (Unova)/The Stage of Paradise (Alola)
The Shimmering Stage (Waku)