More Important Than Power

It's a plot bunny that refused to go away and an idea that haunted me until I wrote it down when I should have been working on When One Door Closes, Two More Open. What would happen if Ash had stayed awake with Charizard instead of falling asleep during Charizard's Burning Ambitions? The answer lies here….maybe.

PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews are the best gift you can give a writer. It tells me how my story is going and lets me know if any errors were made. I want to be a professional writer someday, and I need constructive criticism to make sure my writing style is good. So please take a few seconds and let me know what you think!

Recommended Read: Master Challenge by my friend, CharmedMille. In it, Ash has won the Kalos League and now faces his greatest challenge yet; the Master Challenge, a worldwide competition where the champions of all regions and the Elite Four battle to see who becomes the next Pokemon Master. With a new rival who he has more in common with than he knows and a lot of old friends, both human and Pokemon, he must face Tobias, who is becoming a rapidly growing threat to the Legendaries, and to the world.

"C'mon Charizard, don't you want to go?" Ash pleaded. He hated seeing Charizard like this.

But Charizard shook his head violently. He needed to stay. He needed to prove he could be strong, could be the best.

"I know just how hard it is for you to lose, to think you're not good enough." Ash said softly. "You're good enough for me, Charizard, but I know you want to be stronger. Isn't that right?" Charizard nodded. "I understand. This is important to you." Ash knew he had to respect his Pokémon's wishes. "But…I need to decide…" Ash whispered to himself. He knew Charizard wanted to stay in the Charicific Valley and become the best he could be. He didn't want to lose Charizard, but he couldn't hold him back. He had to do what was best for his Pokémon, even if it broke his heart.

…...

"I don't know what's going on down there, but whatever it is, it's intense." Jessie mused, looking down at the gang through her night vision binoculars.

"I sure wish I could understand what that Charizard's muttering to itself." James said.

"I…understand. I can tell ya." Meowth murmured, almost crying. "It's saying, "I want to be stronger! I want to be the best I can be!" Charizard, I know how you feel! I still do!"

"We're on your side!" Jessie called.

"Yeah, we're rooting for you." James added.

"Losers gotta stick together!" Meowth cried, and all three Rockets burst into tears.

…...

Hours later, Misty, Brock, Togepi, and Pikachu were fast asleep. "Hang in there." Ash murmured to Charizard. He almost slipped into sleep, but he forced his eyes open. To his horror, he noticed Charizard was beginning to fall asleep, his tail drifting towards the water. "Charizard!" he called, running into the water, clothes and all. Standing behind Charizard in water that nearly reached his chest, he pushed Charizard's tail up. Charizard's eyes snapped open and he looked at his trainer in surprise. "You almost fell asleep and put your tail flame under. I'll stay with you and keep you awake." Ash told him.

Charizard wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or touched. He wanted to do this on his own, but he had just almost put his flame under. He could have been seriously hurt if it hadn't been for Ash warning him. He might as well let Ash stay.

…...

For the next hour and a half, both Ash and Team Rocket kept Charizard awake. Team Rocket threw small rocks from their place atop the cliff anytime Charizard almost slipped into slumber. Ash was grateful for their help. Jessie, James, and Meowth may be villains(and pains in the butt.) but the three could be kind and helpful as well. He didn't think they belonged in Team Rocket. Jessie, James, and Meowth were bad guys, but they couldn't be truly evil no matter how hard they tried. There was too much good in them.

Inside Charicific Valley, Liza opened the gates and peeked out, seeing Charizard still sitting in the lake. "It's got a lot of heart." she whispered to Charla before she closed the gates again.

Charizard felt something shaking behind him. He turned to see that Ash was shivering and became concerned. The night was cold, even to Charizard, so it had to be worse for his young trainer, especially since Ash was standing in water up to his chest. Plus, Ash looked so exhausted that Charizard feared he'd collapse. "Ash, get on shore before you freeze or drown." Charizard ordered, despite the fact that Ash wouldn't be able to understand a word he was saying.

"Hey Twerp, your Charizard told you to get your butt out of the lake before you freeze or drown." Meowth yelled down to Ash. Surprisingly, the sleeping members of the group weren't awakened by Meowth's shout.

"I-I'm f-fine, C-Charizard." Ash replied stubbornly, though his teeth were chattering. "I-I w-want t-to s-stay w-with y-you."

Charizard glared at Ash, annoyed. Why was his trainer being so stubborn? Did Ash think that Charizard was so weak that he couldn't even stay awake by himself? He debated on sending a Flamethrower Ash's way, but decided against it. He was too cold and tired to argue with his trainer right now. He turned around and pointedly ignored Ash. If Ash wanted to freeze to death, that was his problem. A wave of guilt hit him at that thought. 'Ash is just trying to help you. a little voice taunted. And like always, you're throwing his kindness back in his face. Charizard shook his head, mentally telling the little voice to shut up. It did, but though Charizard still snuck little glances back at Ash, just in case.

As the night wore on, both Ash's exhaustion and his shivering grew worse. Team Rocket, keeping an eye on the duo, noticed Ash's eyes were beginning to close. "Hey, Twerp, you gotta stay awake too!" Meowth yelled, throwing a small rock at Ash. But though Meowth meant well, he didn't stop to think that throwing a rock at a fragile human might not be such a good idea.

Ash yelped as the rock struck his head, making him stumble backwards. Unfortunately, there was a steep drop-off in the lake close to where Ash had been standing, and when Ash stumbled backwards, he fell off it and plunged into the deep end of the lake. Team Rocket screamed in horror. They hadn't meant for that to happen!

Charizard turned at the sound of the splash just in time to see his trainer disappear under the water. He didn't resurface. "Ash!" Charizard screamed, ducking under the water to save his trainer.

Underneath the water, Ash struggled to surface, accidentally swallowing a mouthful of water. The water was freezing cold and pitch black. Which way was up? Panicked, he thrashed, desperate for air.

Underwater, Charizard looked frantically for his trainer. He quickly spotted him thanks to his excellent night vision and wrapped his arms around Ash's waist, hauling him to the surface. Cradling his trainer in his arms, Charizard gently whacked Ash's back several times, helping him clear his lungs of water. Ash coughed up water and opened his eyes, looking up at his Flame Pokémon. "T-Thanks, C-Charizard." Ash whispered once he got his breathing under control. Charizard nodded.

Ash was shivering violently and cold to the touch, which scared Charizard. Charizard hugged Ash tightly, holding him to his chest in the hope that his body heat would warm his trainer back up again. Charizard climbed out of the lake, flying up the stairs past Ash's sleeping companions and up onto a safe spot on the cliffs, continuing to hold his trainer, looking down at him in concern.

Team Rocket ran down to the duo, concerned. "I'm sorry, Twerp!" Meowth exclaimed. "I meant to wake ya up, not knock you out!"

"I-It's o-okay." Ash murmured. James grabbed a blanket from his backpack and threw it to Charizard. Ash looked at them gratefully. "T-Thanks. Y-You k-know, y-you g-guys a-are t-too g-good t-to b-be e-evil."

Team Rocket looked at each other in confusion. "Huh?" James asked.

"I think the twerp's brain is frozen." Meowth stated.

Jessie looked at the twerp's friends in annoyance. They were all somehow still sleeping despite the ruckus. She grabbed a megaphone from out of nowhere. "HEY!" She shouted through the megaphone, making Charizard jump and nearly drop Ash. "YOUR FRIEND JUST NEARLY DROWNED AND YOU GUYS ARE STILL SLEEPING LIKE LOGS! GET WITH THE PROGRAM AND HELP HIM!"

Misty, Brock, Pikachu, and Togepi leapt to their feet and ran up to Ash and Charizard. Brock quickly stripped Ash of his soaked shirt, vest, and pants, making Ash protest weakly, embarrassed at being seen in only his boxer shorts. Charizard quickly wrapped the blanket around Ash, scooping him up and holding against his chest again and Ash relaxed, cuddling closer to Charizard.

"How did this even happen?" Misty asked. James explained and Misty looked at Ash disapprovingly. 'You could catch pneumonia! Why did you do that?"

"I-I j-just w-wanted t-to h-help C-Charizard!" Ash replied softly, still shivering. Charizard felt a pang of guilt in his chest. After everything Charizard had done, Ash still cared about him enough to risk himself just to help him.

Charizard spotted a fire pit and shifting Ash to one arm, started to gather dry wood to build a fire. Brock and Misty saw what he was doing and began to help him. Even Pikachu and Togepi gathered some small sticks. Once the pile was big enough, Charizard cast a Flamethrower at it, igniting the wood. He lay next to the fire, still cradling Ash in his arms. Pikachu curled up on Ash's other side.

Slowly Ash's shivering subsided, and he fell asleep. The others fell asleep again as well, but Charizard remained awake despite his own exhaustion, watching the raven-haired child he was holding in his arms. He had come so close to losing Ash today, and that terrified him. Why had Ash risked himself for Charizard like that? Ash had braved exhaustion and freezing water just to make sure Charizard was safe, and this wasn't even the first time he had done something like this.

Charizard remembered when he had been frozen by Tad's Poliwrath because of his own stupidity and how Ash had stayed awake, rubbing Charizard to help him regain his body heat, rubbing his hands completely raw. Charizard had woken up at one point in a panic, trying to use a Flamethrower, which failed. Ash had calmed him down, even promising to let Charizard use a Flamethrower on him once he was better. Charizard closed his eyes, remembering the kind words Ash had spoken, how Ash had reminisced about meeting Charizard as a Charmander, admitted his mistakes, and spoke of his dreams to one day battle alongside Charizard once again. A tear fell from Charizard's eyes as he looked down at his peacefully sleeping trainer. Anyone else would have given up on him long ago, but Ash never did.

How many times had Charizard hurt his own trainer? He couldn't even count how many Flamethrowers he had shot at Ash since he evolved for the first time or how many times he had attacked Ash over some perceived slight. He had been too damned arrogant and proud of his own power to care who he stepped on, even if it was his own trainer. He had become just like his hated former trainer, Damien, only caring for power, and shunning all acts of friendship and loyalty.

He remembered the day he had evolved into Charizard. He hadn't helped his own trainer when they were surrounded by Kabuto, Kabutops, and Omastar and in serious danger of being seriously hurt or killed. And even when Ash had been carried off by Aerodactyl, he had only cared about beating it, not about saving his trainer. He remembered the hurt in Ash's eyes as he was struck by one of Charizard's Flamethrowers and realized Charizard had only evolved to beat Aerodactyl, not out of concern for his trainer. I almost helped Aerodactyl kill Ash that day. Charizard realized, lowering his head in shame. At least I retained enough conscience to catch him and bring him to safety or I might have lost him…and the last thing he would have remembered was how I didn't even care enough to protect him.

Charizard pulled Ash closer, careful not to wake him, and hugged him gently. "Ash, after everything I did to you, how I attacked you all the time and didn't listen to a word you said, after I made you lose the Pokémon League because of my damned arrogance, and even nearly got you killed a few times, how can you still love me?" he whispered. He didn't hear Meowth quietly translating Charizard's words to Jessie and James.

Suddenly, it seemed something had unlocked in Charizard's mind. Memories flooded through him; a strange island filled with clones and an angry Psychic Pokémon determined to destroy the world named Mewtwo. Charizard saw himself fighting his clone, once again refusing to listen to Ash, despite the immense danger they were all in. He was captured by Mewtwo and his trainer was the one to free him, to free them all. Then he was fighting his clone again, both evenly matched and slowly killing each other. Pikachu was the only one that refused to fight. Then the worst memory came. Ash, diving between Mewtwo and Mew's attacks, and being turned to stone. He remembered thinking, "No! Please…no. Ash, please don't die!" Everyone began crying and Charizard cried the hardest of all.

And then the miracle happened. The tears healed Ash, brought him back to them. Ash's sacrifice, his love for all Pokémon, touched Mewtwo's heart and the clone stopped the fighting, taking his clones away. But before he left, he wiped their memories, Mewtwo's strange way of protecting Ash from the horrors of that day, Charizard somehow knew.

Again, tears pricked Charizard's eyes. This had happened only a few weeks before the Pokémon League. Charizard wished he could have remembered, could have been the Pokémon Ash deserved. But he couldn't change the past.

However, the future was something he could change. He looked down at his trainer. "Ash, I know you can't understand my words, even if you were awake to hear this. But I am so, so sorry for everything. I was stupid and arrogant and I made far more mistakes than you ever did. I put my ambitions ahead of you and I never should have done that. I can't undo all the times I've hurt you, but I will do my best to make it up to you. I'll become the best Pokémon I can be for you. I may not have shown it, but you mean the world to me and I will not let you down again. I know I will still probably make mistakes but I promise I will never hurt you again. This is my vow to you, Ash Ketchum."

"What's Charizard muttering to the twerp?" James asked as they watched the scene from a short distance away. Meowth was crying as he translated Charizard's words to his friends. Soon all three Rockets were crying as well.

Charizard glared at them. "Do you mind?" he growled.

"We're sorry, but it's just so beautiful!" Meowth sobbed.

Charizard rolled his eyes and turned back to his trainer, glad the Rockets' blubbering hadn't woken the child. Charizard curled around Ash and was soon asleep as well.

…...

The rays of the rising sun shined in Ash's eyes, awakening him. He found himself covered in a blanket, Charizard curled around him and holding him close. The memories of the night before came back to him, and he smiled at Charizard, hugging him and then carefully wiggling free, trying not to wake Charizard up or lose his blanket.

Ash grabbed his spare set of clothes, ducking behind a statue and changing. He then went back to Charizard, sitting beside him. He suddenly thought of something. He had ruined Charizard's vigil, and his chances of getting back into Charicific Valley. "I'm so sorry, Charizard…" Ash murmured.

Hearing this, Charizard opened his eyes and looked at him in confusion. "Huh? What for?" he asked, putting a paw on Ash's shoulder.

Ash looked into Charizard's eyes, seeing a softness he had only seen once since Charizard evolved, the time he had been knocked out by Team Rocket's drill after the battle with Tad. Though Ash couldn't understand the Pokémon language, he could read his Pokémon pretty well. "I wrecked your chance of getting back into the Charicific Valley last night. I'm sorry." he said again.

Somehow, Charicific Valley didn't matter that much to Charizard anymore. Though he still wanted to become stronger, last night had changed his priorities. There was something that was much more important than becoming the most powerful Charizard around, and that something was Ash. "Ash, it's not a problem. I'm just glad you're safe." Charizard said warmly, nuzzling Ash.

"Rise and shine, rise and shine!" Jessie's voice called through a megaphone. The Rockets were in another one of their machines; this one a robotic boy holding a net. Brock, Misty, Togepi, and Pikachu leapt to their feet, asking what was going on. "What the heck?!" Charizard asked. Were those three up to their old tricks? He had stupidly thought last night after they had helped Ash that they were beginning to change their ways. Apparently not.

The robot began slamming into the steel doors and Charizard flew down to aid the other Charizard in the valley, leaving his trainer at the top of the cliff. Something strange was going on. This plan was weak, even for Team Rocket.

"Just as we predicted, Jess." James said, smiling. The three Rockets had thought up the plan to help their fellow loser get back into Charicific Valley last night, and now they were carrying it out.

"Charizard should be landing any second now." Jessie added, seeing Charizard coming up on them and blocking their path to the valley.

"It's behaving just as we thought it would." James continued.

"It's trying to protect its fellow Charizard." Jessie said. Charizard shot a Flamethrower at the machine. "It's going to destroy us!" Oddly enough, this was said with a smile.

"Isn't that great!" Meowth continued gleefully.

"You have to admire that Charizard." James commented.

"It's scrappy, just like us!" Meowth cheered.

"I hope you reach your goal, Charizard." James said.

"Your friends will be impressed because we're blasting off again!" Jessie cried. The machine exploded and Team Rocket went flying.

Charizard saw them smile at him as they blasted off. Then it hit him. They had faked the break-in, just to help him succeed. He shook his head. He could never understand Team Rocket. One minute they were villains, the next, they were helping them….

Ash and his friends ran down the steps towards Charizard. "Good job protecting the other Charizard, buddy." Ash said warmly. Charizard rolled his eyes. Then Ash realized what was really going on. Team Rocket's defeat had seemed just a little too easy. "Did they fake…" he started. Charizard nodded.

The gates to Charicific Valley suddenly opened, startling the group. Inside, Liza and a bunch of Charizard were watching them, Liza clapping. "You can train with us now if you like." Liza said, stepping forward. Charizard gaped at her.

"Now Charizard's okay because he beat them?" Ash asked in confusion.

Liza rolled her eyes. "ANYBODY could beat those three."

"Especially since they weren't actually trying." Charizard muttered to himself.

"Then why the big change?" Ash questioned.

"Because its proven it wants to be great. Don't you agree?" she asked the other Charizard. They roared in approval.

"Charizard, you can stay if you want." Ash said. "I-" He was cut off by Charizard placing a paw over his mouth.

Charizard smiled and shook his head. "I know where I belong, and that's with you." He picked up Ash, placing him on his back. He'd never refuse again if Ash asked him for a ride.

"Are you sure? I know getting stronger is important to you." Ash asked. He was relieved that Charizard wanted to stay with him, but he didn't want to hold Charizard back from his dreams.

"Last night, I discovered what was truly important." Charizard replied, nodding to his trainer's question. He'd train hard and get stronger, but he wanted to do it by Ash's side.

"I'm proud of you." Charla said suddenly, surprising Charizard. "I saw you last night." He blinked at her in confusion. "You were too focused on your trainer to see me when I peeked out through the gates. I know you will become strong, because you found your reason to become the best you can be." She nodded to Ash.

"I'm sorry for being such an arrogant jerk." Charizard told her. "I've learned my lesson on that. My mistakes nearly cost me dearly, and I'm lucky I had the chance to change before something tragic happened."

She smiled. "I hope we meet again someday."

"Me too." Charizard waved to her, then took off, Ash clinging to his neck.

Brock and Misty hurried after them. "Hey, wait for us!" Misty yelled. "We're part of your group too!"

Charizard either didn't hear them or didn't care as he flew with Ash on his back, his trainer laughing in happiness. He knew he had made the right choice by picking friendship over power. The lessons he had learned that night would stay with him for the rest of his life.

And to think it all happened because of one little decision.

Yes, yes, I know. It's way mushy. It's so fluffy it makes marshmallows feel like rocks. Please review, even if you're complaining that this story is way too mushy!