I edited the chapter, and fixed an issue with the timeline. There are supposed to have been sixth months since Ash left not sixth months until the league, we still have a little less than a year to go.

Also I changed Ash's capture of Treeko to Bulbasaur.

If there are any issues with the chapter please let me know and I'll fix them.

World of Pokémon #10

It wasn't common for a rookie trainer to make it past being in the top 64 of their first conference. Should a trainer show enough promise to make it there in the first place. And only one has ever won on their first try.

He was a young boy, barely eleven years old and didn't talk much, either because he was shy or just choose to remain quiet. It was during Lance's predecessor reign twenty-seven years ago that the boy going by the moniker Red took the Indigo Conference by storm and battled his way to the top. Won the conference and challenged the Elite 4 and Champion Claire herself. No one knows what happened to the boy or what happened during his battle with Claire as by Red's request it wasn't broadcasted.

Was he still a trainer? Did he quit after experiencing his first loss to Claire? Did he even lose to Claire? Where did he go? What happened to him?

No one knew and the few who asked anymore rarely received an answer.

Cinnabar island was noticeable in the distance. After defeating Koga spent some time relaxing and training until he needed to move on, so Ash got his Pokémon and boarded a ferry to Cinnabar island.

Nothing came of his trip so far. He sent Bulbasaur, Charizard and Blast to the Corral for the journey since they wouldn't want to be cooped up on a boat for a few days. Also Blast and Charizard had been battling ever since the fire types evolution. He decided to let the professor handle the chaos and give himself a break, he needed it after all.

Looking out into the ocean Ash let out a content sigh. The fresh ocean air was nice, and it was especially nice to not have to walk all the way to Cinnabar, or swim rather. Letting a boat do all the work was much better.

He was one of the many trainers aboard the ferry, but he wasn't willing to go out onto the deck for a battle. Ash wanted to give his team the chance to relax. Not to mention, other than Pikachu and Umbreon it would be too dangerous for his team to battle on the small ship.

In the distance Ash could spot several Pokémon swimming through the ocean with a flock of Wingull flying over them. Cinnabar was also home to a large volcano as well as the best place in Kanto to find powerful fire types.

Ash held onto the side of the ship as a particularly large blast from the deck sounded out and caused the ship to lurch from the force. While he wanted to relax it would seem that the other trainers on the deck were feeling pretty lively.

Honestly, he was getting bored. Might as well watch the battles while he was here.

The deck of the ferry was large and had a standard Pokémon battlefield in the middle, there were sitting arrangements while one of the sailors oversaw the match.

On one side he saw a girl with pig tails staring intently as she commanded her Pokémon, an impressive looking Vaporeon, as it was shooting off water attacks left and right. While on the other end there was a boy around his age possibly younger who was frustrated with how the battle was going, it seemed his Growlithe was trying to dodge attacks while moving to close distance for a thunder fang.

Based on his own experience in battles Ash could tell that the girl had the win, not just for type advantage but because of the boy's battle style. The boy was far too aggressive and letting the water type dictate the battle's pace.

The Vaporeon shouted as it rushed forward toward the fire type with shimmering blue aquatic energy surrounding its body. Growlithe tried to move out of the way but the water types attack was too fast.

A resounding crash was heard when Growlithe was sent back toward the wall of the ship unconscious. The boy sadly recalled the Pokémon and with a nod to the girl he sauntered away.

"Who's Next!" Challenged the girl with both arms raised gladiator style.

Ash spent a second looking at the girl before spinning around and walking away. He didn't particularly want to battle an over enthusiastic trainer at the moment. Instead, Ash went to look for the boy who lost the battle.

It didn't take long for Ash to find the boy; he was looking at the ocean from the back of the ship. Ash didn't need Metang to understand what the boy was feeling, and he also didn't think twice before walking over to him.

"You know," Started Ash getting a jump of surprise from the boy who spun around to look at him. "That Vaporeon only had a slight edge in power, your Growlithe is definitely going to be a powerhouse."

The boy didn't say anything for a while as he looked down in thought before he frowned and spoke with a frustrated tone, "You say that but then I just got thrashed out there!"

The boy only got more frustrated as he continued. "I don't get it! Sure, there was a type advantage but that hasn't stopped me from winning in the past and this was far from an even fight."

Ash nodded, "You're right, you lost quite spectacularly." The boy glared but didn't interrupt, "But it was because of your battle style. Vaporeon are highly defensive and like to dictate the pace of a battle because of how sturdy and strong they are. Growlithe on the other hand are very fast and hit hard but don't have the best defenses, rather relying on speed to avoid. My mentor liked to say that having a style of battle is very important for a trainer, but even more important is knowing that each Pokémon have a different battle style."

'I don't think Professor Oak has expressly said that but he did yell at me after I told him about my both my battles with Koga and just my battle style in general, he said that I was foolish for doing the same basic style of battle despite having such wildly different Pokémon…' Thought Ash with a grimace, Professor Oak was more annoyed than angry but that didn't make it easier to hear someone he respected so much call him a moron seven times.

"I never thought of it like that." Muttered the boy to himself, "I'm Jason by the way, I have three badges." The now named Jason said with a small smile.

"Ash Ketchum, Nice to meet you." Ash said with a nod. "Five badges." He added on at the end.

"So, are you going to challenge Blaine?" Asked Jason.

"That's the plan!" Exclaimed Ash, "I was going to spend some time in the area maybe get in some training but I'm here to take on Blaine, yes."

Jason nodded and for a moment didn't say anything before smiling at Ash, "You've given me a lot to think about. I hope I'll see you in the conference!"

Ash gave the boy a thumbs up and proceeded to make his way back to the battle area at the front of the ship. The girl from earlier was using her Vaporeon to battle another girl's Clefairy.

The battle was looking…

A Clefairy!

Ash's eyes blew wide open at seeing what had to be the rarest Kanto Pokémon just casually battling right in front of him. He'd only ever seen a couple before now. A girl in the S.S. Anne tournament and one of his opponents in the Cerulean tournament. He'd asked the girl how she got such a rare Pokémon and apparently it belonged to her mother who gave it to her when she became a trainer. He didn't even bother asking the boy from Cerulean, it was obviously bought.

Despite having a Metang, Dragonair, and a Shiny Pidgeotto he knew that they were 'common' Pokémon, since many people used them at the higher level, elite trainers and the like. Even while traveling he has battled trainers with pseudo legendary Pokémon, many Dratini and Dragonair even the occasional Bagon. But Ash has only seen a Clefairy once and never in the wild.

The only Pokémon he has seen to rival Clefairy in rarity was his shiny Pidgeotto and Lance's shiny Dragonite, even then that was just because of the unique mutation they weren't special in any other way.

Ash immediately wanted to ask the girl how she managed to find let alone capture one of the elusive fairies. But he was shocked out of his thoughts when Clefairy used Metronome.

The move Metronome, Ash has heard a multitude of rants from both his mom and Professor Oak about that specific move and how it made no sense. He knew that the move metronome was special in that it was completely random in its effect, the only thing that wasn't random was that it could bring forth any move in the world.

There were even rumors of Clefable being able to control metronome to produce the move they wanted. Which was unfathomable on every level considering the ramifications of a Pokémon being able to do any move.

There was already a Pokémon that could use any move and its name was the Legendary Mew.

In his thoughts, Ash didn't notice that the Clefairy had managed to win the battle with Metronome bringing out a thunderbolt to finish off the water type.

With nothing holding him back Ash rushed to the girl with the Clefairy.

He must have made quite the sight running at her with wide eyes and nearly out of breath because when she noticed him, she leaned back with a surprised expression on her face.

"How? Clefairy!" No Ash that's not how talking works, try again. "How'd you find a Clefairy?" Nailed it.

The girl looked at him strangely and, in the silence, Ash took in the girl for the first time. She was his age if not older, she had long red hair and was wearing a Pokémon league shirt and biker shorts.

"Mt. Moon. She decided to challenge me when I was going through there and she's been a part of my team ever since." Answered the girl with a polite smile.

Ash nodded, he too had an interesting experience with Mt. Moon, Metang has been invaluable since joining him. He would be passing through there again to try and catch an elusive fairy.

"That's awesome, I bet you've had some ludicrous offers." Laughed Ash, he got a multitude of messages since the Cerulean City tournament for Metang, Blast and Pidgeotto.

Ash would be honest in that if he were one of those less sentimental trainers, then the millions he's been offered for Pidgeotto would have swayed him by now to give up one of his team members.

"Yeah, the daughter of the president of Silph contacted me nearly a dozen times right after I caught Clefairy, but she stopped after a while." She shook her head in thought for a moment, "They made some crazy offers but my Clefairy is family and you can't put a dollar sign on that."

"No, you can't." Ash smiled and nodded, "I'm Ash by the way, from Pallet."

The girl smiled, "Alex, I'm from Viridian."

Looking at all the trainers on the deck Ash got a thought, "What are you planning to do in Cinnabar? Challenge the gym?"

Alex nodded rapidly, "I want to challenge Blaine, I heard that he's only accepting challenges for a couple of days before he has to leave the island for nearly a month."

"A month!" Ash shouted in surprise, "That's crazy, I didn't think a gym leader of his level or a gym of this prestige could just shut down for a month!"

Alex shook her head rapidly causing her crimson hair to flail, "Apparently the gym isn't closing, and the league is bringing in a fire type elite trainer to take over. Which is why I want to challenge the gym soon; I don't want a win on some random elite I want to beat Blaine."

Ash could definitely see her reasoning and felt the same, "I'll do the same, I was planning on training for a week or two to be ready since this will be my sixth badge but I'm not missing my chance for Blaine." While he wanted to get a few new combos down he was confident in his team, especially Hydro who has shown some incredible power since evolving into Blastoise.

Shame that his Bulbasaur hasn't had much training time, he was at the coral and Ash had given Blast very specific instructions to train with Bulbasaur once a day. Hopefully the dragon listened and didn't decide to nap and attack Charizard the whole time.

Considering he didn't have Professor Oak calling him, Ash expected that they weren't going too crazy.

"Sixth huh…" Muttered Alex with pursed lips, "You must spend a lot of time training and traveling, this will be my seventh."

Ash tilted his head in thought, it seemed the month spent getting to Fuchsia City had put him back apparently. He had felt frustrated about forgetting to buy a bike now he just felt foolish. He could have beaten Blaine already and started working toward Sabrina.

"Yeah but we still have a long time until the league." Said Ash with a shrug, "So it's not like I'm hurting for time."

"True." Mused Alex, "But the eleven or so months that we have left isn't that long of time, my sister once said that it took her Lapras over a year to get their battle synchronization right."

"Lapras, does your family have some sort of lucky bloodline?" While not as rare as Clefairy they were extremely difficult to get considering they were endangered and heavily regulated. You needed some serious connections to get one.

"No!" Laughed Alex, "My sister caught her Lapras years ago, before all the regulations started in the Orange Islands."

"Fair enough." Ash said with his hands raised in surrender, "So any other crazy rare Pokémon on your team?"

Alex tilted her head at the question, "I don't know, what about you? You've seen my rarest."

With a nod Ash reached for his belt and unclipped a Pokéball. With a scream and a strong gust of wind Pidgeotto was released into the air, she circled them for a moment before landing on the side of the boat next to Ash who smiled at the shiny avian.

Ash looked over to see Alex's reaction who was in no other words staring at Pidgeotto with her jaw dropped and eyes wide open.

"How? Different!" Alex blushed and shook her head as Ash laughed, "I mean how did you get a Pidgeotto that's a different color?"

"Shiny," Supplied Ash with a smile, "And I just happened upon her, she's my first capture actually."

"Really!" Exclaimed Alex with a shocked expression. "And I have a lucky bloodline?"

Ash snorted and shook his head, "Pidgeotto is special for sure but genetically she is still a Pidgeotto, Clefairy is on another level of rarity. In fact, I have only seen one in person before."

"Well I'm impressed," Alex said with a smirk, "Other than Clefairy the only rare Pokémon I have that might impress you is this!"

From a luxury ball out came an impressive specimen. Large grey shell on its back with healthy blue skin and a dinosaur like head. Ash had never been this close to a Lapras before and this one seemed very well trained to boot.

"Wow, I'm guessing this one is related to your sister's?" Surmised Ash.

Alex nodded with a smile, "That's right I got Lapras here about three months ago. He's young but a fierce battler."

"I bet, Lapras are incredible Pokémon after all." Ash said and got a horn like call from the Pokémon in response, "I would love to battle you sometime, I have quite a few Pokémon that I think you'd like."

"Oh yeah?" Mused Alex, "Well since I have six badges and you have five, I think I'm a bit too tough for you. So how about we hold off on that until the Indigo Plateau."

Letting the taunt slide Ash shook his head with a chuckle, "Fine, but I'm going to watch you battle Blaine, I expect to see some crazy techniques from Lapras and Clefairy."

"Of course, and I say the same to you."

Cinnabar Island was larger and more crowded than Ash thought it would be. The peer that the ferry landed at had four other large ships and hundreds of trainers and tourists were about looking around at all of the stands and shops.

Further inland were the standard league buildings such as the Pokémart and Pokémon Center. Knowing that he needed to do a few things before heading to the gym Ash started to make his way to the Pokémon Center. He and Alex agreed to meet at the gym in an hour, so he had some time to get some things done.

Entering the center Ash gave his team over to the Nurse Joy and made his way to a booth to make a call on his Pokénav. First was his mother, he hadn't actually talked to her in—

"Three weeks!" Shouted his mom the second she answered the call, "I haven't heard from you in nearly a month I had to hear about your progress from Professor Oak the other day!"

Right, he may have forgotten to call her and was pretty burnt out after the lecture he got from the professor and decided to call it a day afterward.

"Sorry mom I didn't mean to take that long to call, promise." Ash said with a frown, "I meant to call you a week ago, but I didn't have the best call with the professor and called it a day and just forgot."

Delia rolled her eyes, "Yes of course, Samuel told me about that. I'll be honest Ash if he hadn't yelled at you, I would have. To think you managed to get sponsored by Samuel Oak and needed such a basic trainer tactic laid out for you."

Ash took a deep breath to try and keep himself from groaning and just decided to endure the rant. His win record spoke for itself and he was pleased with his progress so far and he wasn't perfect, sue him.

"Anyway!" Shouted Ash getting him mom to stop her rant, "I was calling to check on you and see how everything is back in Pallet."

Delia's eyebrow twitched but she didn't get mad about being interrupted, a moment passed, and she cheered up. "Everything here is great! How have you been?"

Another deep breath and Ash smiled, "Fine, training and traveling. Forgot to buy a bike in Celadon and I plan on battling Blaine in about an hour."

Delia smiled at the mention of their long time home, "Well you should be able to buy a bike at the Pokémart and I know that you can beat that old hot head. Who do you plan to use?"

Ash frowned in thought, "Hydro and Charizard for sure, both have made it very clear that they want to take on the gym, Charizard has his sights set on Magmar." He finished with a smirk.

"I think you should use Pidgeotto she's very agile and has to be very close to evolution." Said Delia with a smile before looking curious, "How's that egg?"

Ash opened his backpack and took out the egg case, "Fine I think it's close to hatching, every night I polish it and it's been getting warmer and warmer."

Delia smiled at the egg, "I found out what Pokémon that is, I can tell you if you like."

"No thanks," Ash said with a shake of his head, "I want to be surprised but I have an idea of the type of Pokémon."

"If that's all I think I will let you go, I want you to call me when you get back to the mainland at the latest!" Delia said seriously before hanging up.

Ash smiled and shook his head then dialed Professor Oak.

The elderly professor smiled when his face appeared on the screen, "To what do I owe the pleasure, Ash?"

"I want to transfer Pikachu and Umbreon for Blast and Charizard." Explained Ash, he felt bad about sending them away, but he was going to need both Blast and Charizard for the upcoming battle.

Oak nodded, "I have them in their balls already. I will say that they have been quite rambunctious, especially your Dragonair who has been working nonstop since arriving."

"I figured he would, he was the one to train with Charmander the most and seeing him reach his final evolution before him must have hurt his pride." Ash felt bad that Blast felt this way because his dragon was likely going to be the last one on his team to reach their final stage.

Dragonite was one of the toughest final evolution stages to reach in the world, it was why wild Dragonite were so rare considering it took years for a wild Dragonair to reach the level necessary to evolve. Even Metang would evolve quicker since it was based on control and mindset rather than sheer power.

Oak nodded gravely, "I will say that your Dragonair is on the right track to evolve, he has the mindset down all he needs is more training and practice and Charizard is giving him all he wants. I wouldn't separate them if you can help it, they seem to both want to help Dragonair evolve."

"I'll keep that in mind." Muttered Ash happily it was nice to know that the days of Blast being antisocial were behind them, "Anyway, I want to go ahead and transfer them to you. Any tips for Blaine?"

Oak hummed to himself, "Blaine was an elite four for over a decade and many said he had the potential for champion, but he never went for it. With that in mind you're likely not going to out battle him and likely won't surprise him, especially at the sixth badge level when he doesn't need to hold back as much. He will use a Magmar and Ninetails for sure other than that I don't know."

Ash frowned in thought, "Understood I'll do my best."

Pleasantries were said as Ash and Oak transferred the Pokémon before ending the call. With his desired team Ash had a few more things to get done before heading to Blaine and meeting up with Alex.

Pokémart, the global Pokémon League supply store. Much like supermarkets that exist nationwide, Pokémarts have a similar design everywhere in Kanto as well as access to any items a trainer could realistically need while on the road.

Inside of the Cinnabar Pokémart was a wide assortment of potions, Pokéballs, camping equipment, ready to eat trainer meals, and last but not least bicycles. Grabbing a red one Ash rolled it over to the check-out desk.

"Hello!" The man at the desk said as Ash walked up to him, "I see you managed to save enough for the coveted bicycle! You've chosen the red rocket model with electric propulsion technology to increase speed, great choice!"

Looking at the bike Ash tilted his head in confusion, he thought it was a regular bike and he chose red because it was his favorite color.

The man didn't notice Ash's confused face and continued to type into his computer, "Your balance comes out to 15,000 even!" The man looked excited by the amount and Ash had the sudden suspicion that the man got paid off commission.

Pushing that aside, Ash's eyes widened in shock at the price, that was nearly double the price he was expecting! While he hated the thought of spending that much on anything, he wasn't exactly tight for cash at the moment, so throwing caution to the wind he went with it.

"O-Ok, I've got that," Ash presented his Pokédex to transfer the funds.

The man typed into his keyboard, waited a moment, then smiled at Ash. "All set, and the red rocket model comes with an instruction manual and user guide that have been sent to your trainer inbox. Also, you have a one-year factory warranty, if you wish to upgrade to a five year or lifetime that will be an additional charge."

Ash shook his head, "Thank you but no thank you I think I will be fine."

Outside of the Pokémart Ash looked over his new bike, to him it looked like a nice new racing bike with a comfortable seat and all terrain tires. But on closer inspection Ash noticed that on the handlebars there were a couple buttons; a power button a green button with a box on it and the right handle looked like it could rev similar to a motorcycle.

Tilting his head to the side Ash frowned and pressed the green button. The bike glowed bright for a moment before changing in size until it was the same size as a briefcase, it was red and black and on the handle was the green button that instead of a box had the image of a bike on it.

"Huh." Ash smiled down at the case with a smile before expanding it back into a bike.

"Let's test this sucker out."

"This thing is awesome!" Cheered Ash as he hopped off his bike in front of the gym, pressing the button on the handlebar to compress the bike down to a case.

Ash stuffed it into his backpack and walked into the gym. Inside was the standard Pokémon League gym décor; a help desk without anyone there, several couches for trainers to wait in, a couple televisions showing the PLN and pictures depicting different fire type Pokémon on the walls.

"Ash!"

Turing to one of the chairs he noticed Alex getting up to come over to him. She looked confident and ready to tackle the gym. Ash nodded to her and started to make his way over to the big doors leading to the gym arena.

"Here we go," Muttered Ash when Alex made it next to him, "This is one of the toughest gym leaders in Kanto."

Alex gulped and nodded, "I'm ready, are you?"

"Probably." Shrugged Ash.

In all honesty he was more prepared for this gym battle than he was for Erica and Koga. For Erica the battle was right after the S.S. Anne incident and he just wanted to get back into the swing of things as soon as possible. Koga he was just too overconfident and ended up losing. This time he had weeks of training since Koga and time to think about all of his Pokémon and how to utilize them even better than before.

Alex rolled her eyes, pushed open the doors and started to make her way into the arena.

The gym arena, much like the other gyms, was decked out to give the gym leader a home field advantage. Large rocks and boulders with lava flowing from the walls and surrounding the battlefield. The gym was built into the volcano that sat at the epicenter of Cinnabar Island and as such the room was incredibly hot.

Ash knew that Blaine was a scientist as well as elite trainer and was likely the one who was able to create a gym inside of a living volcano without having an absurd amount of deaths every year. Based on the shimmer around the lava he suspected some sort of psychic barrier or hard light shield that were common in Pokémon coliseums.

At the center of the arena were two men, one was elderly and had a hiking outfit consisting of cargo shorts and a short sleeve flannel shirt. The other man was a Pokémon League referee in uniform and looked as if the conversation he was having with the old man was the most tedious thing he'd ever been a part of.

"Ah! A couple of challengers!" The old man shouted from the other side of the room. "I haven't had a challenge in ages!" With that the old man roared in laughter.

The referee let out a slow exasperated sigh, "Sir, you had a challenge thirty minutes ago."

The old man looked over at the ref with a confused expression before brightening up, "That's right!"

His cheerful attitude didn't change as Ash and Alex approached, "Now which of you is going to be first?"

"I will!" Shouted Alex before Ash could open his mouth. Ash whipped around to look at her with an amused smile on his face and a raised brow.

Blaine brightened up, "My such vigor! I love it! How many badges do you have little lady?"

"Six." She answered with a stiff nod.

Blaine closed his eyes and nodded, "I see, so this is going to be a five on five, normally at this level I would say a full six but my Rapidash isn't in top condition. Now you, young man, how many badges do you have?"

"Five." Ash said with a relaxed smile. He found that if he projected confidence, he started to feel it inside.

"Very well, we will have a full six on six after my battle with the lass here." Nodded Blaine before looking at Alex strangely. "How many badges do you have again?"

Alex opened her mouth but wasn't able to voice anything, Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath while the ref did the same but slower and louder.

"Sir she has six, the boy has five." Deadpanned the ref with his eyes closed.

Blaine looked at the girl with a raised brow and a frown. He didn't say anything before turning to the ref.

"Speak up son I couldn't hear you!" Blaine roared getting a jump out of Ash and Alex.

The ref stepped forward and looked toward Ash completely disregarding Blaine's outburst, "There is a waiting area in the main section of the gym, you can watch the battle on the television in the lounge."

"I can't watch from here?" Asked Ash confused.

The ref shook his head, "No the arena isn't suited for spectator's nor is there a spectator area."

Ash nodded before turning to Alex, "Good luck!"

Alex thanked him with a nod but was still focusing on Blaine, seeing that he was just distracting her Ash moved to the exit to get a seat in the lounge.

From behind him he heard the tell-tale sounds of Pokémon being released from their Pokéballs causing him to rush toward the lounge so he could watch the battle.

Just like when he entered the lounge, it was empty and on the main television was a broadcast of the battle happening in the arena.

Alex stood with both her hands in fists as she commanded her Poliwrath against Blaine's Arcanine.

Ash was impressed with the size and coat of the Arcanine, while every one of its species he's seen have been beautiful this one was clearly taken care of by a world class trainer. The coat was glossy and fluffy and the size of it was well above average easily the same height as Blaine himself.

Nearly fifteen years as an elite four was clearly shown in Blaine's battle style, Ash hasn't seen the older man call out many commands unless Poliwrath got the upper hand and then it was quickly escaped and countered. This showed that his Pokémon had incredible instincts and have battled with Blaine for a very long time to know what Blaine wanted them to do even without being ordered.

A well-placed Ice Beam took away Arcanine's footing allowing Alex to take down the fire type with a powerful Hydro Pump.

Ash smiled at his friends win and waited to see what other Pokémon Blaine had at his disposal, the man didn't look too put out by his loss and casually recalled his Pokémon while releasing another.

Blaine released a powerful looking Torkoal, it was a turtle like Pokémon that had a steady stream of steam being released from its nostrils with every breath it took. Torkoal were interesting Pokémon in that they were one of the few that had no other stages, no baby stage or next evolution, they were always Torkoal, with that however came a stable powerbase and a reliable Pokémon that many wanted to capture for their teams.

Alex didn't seem too concerned and kept out her Poliwrath. Ash wasn't sure if it was because her water type had the strength to continue or if Alex was just letting Poliwrath go until it dropped.

As he watched the battle continue, he noticed that Blaine had switched up his style and was taking a more involved approach. He was calling out commands rapidly and by the look of it, was quickly overwhelming Alex with his Torkoal's solid defense and fire manipulation.

It didn't take long for Torkoal to finish off Poliwrath with a powerful Fire Blast.

Fire Blast, if Ash recalled correctly was one of the high element trio, alongside Thunder and Blizzard. They were the three moves that, while incredibly popular, were rarely mastered by Pokémon. In the research he's read by Professor Kukui, the world's leading expert in Pokémon attacks, it said that mastering of any of those attacks can raise the Pokémon's ability with the element thereby increasing overall damage and fine control.

Ash was in possession of TM's for all three of the moves and planned to teach them to all of the Pokémon who had the ability to use them. While it could take weeks if not longer to fully master the moves, he would be happy to just have the option of using them in battle with reliability.

Alex had released a Rhydon that looked like it was fully capable of taking down the Torkoal. With the advantageous typing Ash was sure that she at least was in a better position than Blaine.

Blaine and Torkoal continued their strategy of mid-range combat of fire attacks and physical attacks up close such as Take Down and Bulldoze. Unfortunately for Blaine, Rhydon was just too physically superior and was able to brush aside all of Torkoal's attacks and respond with attacks of its own that were wearing down the fire type.

Ash felt the ground shake from Rhydon's Earthquake and nodded when Torkoal fell to the ground unconscious.

And with that, the battle continued, with Rhydon taking down Blaine's Magcargo and Flareon before falling to Charizard. Ash was honestly impressed with Rhydon's power and was shocked that Alex hadn't gotten the necessary equipment to evolve it into Rhyperior, he was sure that the department store sold them although he didn't know the price.

With Charizard's appearance the battle took a turn towards Blaine's favor. With the fall of Rhydon came the fall of Electrode and Clefairy. Knowing the last Pokémon in her party, Ash was excited to see Lapras take on the Charizard. Even though the water and ice Pokémon had complete advantage over Charizard, Blaine's beast was clearly not going down from type disadvantage alone.

A roar from Charizard started the battle and Alex started screaming out commands that were swiftly followed by Lapras. Charizard rarely landed on the arena, preferring to keep the battle at a distance and using its air superiority to its advantage.

Frowning in thought Ash pulled out his Pokénav and tried to think of how he was going to tackle Blaine. He had Hydro, Blast, Pidgeotto, Snor, Charizard and Metang. Ash knew that Metang was his most technical battler but the disadvantage in type was getting Ash nervous after watching Blaine battle Alex. Thinking it over Ash transferred Metang for Pikachu, while not the most defensive Pokémon he had, the agile mouse had some incredible power behind it and wasn't inherently weak to fire and could be a game changer. He knew that Umbreon would be upset that she didn't get to battle but she was going to shine bright against Sabrina alongside, hopefully, Metagross.

While he was taking care of his team Ash noticed that a very weak and charred Lapras was looking over an unconscious Charizard with satisfaction. Ash reared back in shock and blinked a few times; he didn't even see the end of the battle.

Getting up Ash rushed over to the entrance to the arena and nearly plowed into Alex.

"A-Ash! I can't believe it! Did you see that! Lapras managed to take down Charizard with an Ice Beam mid-flight!" She seemed truly ecstatic with her win and was grinning wildly.

Ash matched her grin and nodded happy that he knew how the battle concluded.

"It was amazing and that Rhydon is very impressive! I'm surprised you haven't evolved it."

Alex looked sheepish at that, "I want him to evolve but I was waiting until after my eighth badge to make sure he's as strong as possible before he becomes a Rhyperior."

Ash rocked his head back and forth in thought, he could see the logic in that, "Well to each their own, wish me luck I have a feeling this won't be easy."

"It won't be and good luck!" Cheered Alex before rushing over to the couch to get ready for his battle.

Making his way back to the arena Ash took a calming breath and stood in his designated square. Across from him Blaine was attaching Pokéballs to his belt while the ref was smoking a cigarette while he waited to begin the battle.

"Those are really bad for you man." Said Ash getting the attention of the ref.

The man just shrugged and let out a plume of smoke, "Being a ref in this gym has more danger than this cigarette and honestly, they're one of the few things that get me out of bed these days."

Ash nodded before turning back to the ref in shock, he didn't say anything and just shook his head. Blaine however looked at the ref strangely, not saying anything, but Ash swore he saw a twitch of the old man's lips.

"Well kid what are you here for?" Shouted Blaine before looking over at the ref, "What's he here for?"

The ref took a long drag before tossing his finished cigarette into the lava and quickly lit another to take a second drag, once he was done, he turned to the old gym leader, "He's a challenger, five badges, six on six, right now."

Blaine frowned, "How many badge- Oh very good you knew my questions before I asked them!" Cheered Blaine before turning thunderous, "How the hell are you inside my head!? Are you one of those blasted psychics!?"

Ash wasn't sure what was happening anymore and decided to just release Pidgeotto who appeared with a scream that overpowered Blaine's yelling and succeeded in getting the attention of everyone in the arena.

Smirking at his success Ash called out to Blaine, "I feel like we should get started, I doubt you both want to sit in this room all day!" He certainly didn't, considering the room had to be well over 100 degrees. Pidgeotto screamed out her agreement and Blaine went from elderly man not entirely sure where he was to an elite trainer with a manic grin on his face.

Blaine released his first Pokémon a large ape like Pokémon with brown fur, it had white tuffs around its head and covering its chest and legs. Instead of hair it had flames flowing off the top of its head. It had a grin on its face and was in a fighting stance.

"Infernape!" Called Blaine from the other side of the arena, "He's from Sinnoh!"

"Oh ok." Muttered Ash with a roll of his eyes, the information didn't help much it was obviously a fire/fighting type and likely quite agile. Strange that Blaine went headfirst into a disadvantageous situation, but Ash wasn't going to argue.

Neither Ash nor Blaine started calling out commands and were both looking at the ref who jolted when he noticed them staring, "Oh right." The man flicked his cigarette and cleared his throat, "This is a 6 on 6 battle with substitutions, no time limit! Begin!"

"Hard Right! / Sky Upper Cut!" Shout both Ash and Blaine at the same time.

A scream and a screech were the Pokémon's answers as they sprang into action.

Pidgeotto took off with magnificent speed nearly blurring across the arena as her right wing began to glow with a normal/flying/steel energy combination. On the ground, Infernape started running toward Pidgeotto with its right fist overflowing with energy.

The two Pokémon sped toward each other with magnificent agility. Ash narrowed his eyes to try and follow their movements so he could see the moment that they both clashed to see who came out on top.

The instant of impact an incredibly loud boom resonated throughout the arena, it was as if a train ran into a steel wall. Ash winced at the sound and turned away from the shockwave, the heat from the room making it difficult to breath for a moment until everything settled.

Looking up Ash noticed that both were looking injured, but neither were going down any time soon. Infernape had an injury on the left side of its face where Pidgeotto's attack landed while Infernape's attack seemed to have hit center mass on Pidgeotto's chest.

"Flamethrower!" Called Blaine.

"Arial Ace!" He needed to lean into her strengths, focus on her speed and type advantage. Sometimes a straightforward approach was the right one and from what he's seen of Blaine, he was a passive battler in the beginning.

Infernape took a deep breath and from its mouth came a strong stream of fire that at the epicenter was a stream of white-hot fire. Pidgeotto blurred into motion bypassing the intense stream of fire, while Infernape and Pidgeotto had similar speeds likely equal, Aerial Ace was a special flying type move that further increased Pidgeotto's speed while using it.

While Ash was capable of seeing Pidgeotto's body he wasn't able to see both of her wings. They seemed to disappear due to the speed in which they moved. Infernape, still trying to catch up to Pidgeotto had only just managed to register that she was about to attack him. Ash could hear Blaine calling out orders, but he couldn't make out what he was saying. Same could be said for Infernape as it didn't get a chance to move before it was tagged by two simultaneous blades of wind.

Ash winced when Infernape's neck snapped to the side from one of the attacks. While not the strongest attack, Aerial Ace was similar to Swift in that it never missed when used properly and Pidgeotto was a highly skilled user of the move making it quite deadly. With the type advantage Ash only nodded when Infernape fell to the ground unconscious.

Pidgeotto screamed in triumph while circling the arena. Ash watch her continue to cry out in success until she exploded with ivory energy that made it impossible to see what was happening. Ash's face broke out in a massive grin as he watched his first capture reach her final evolutionary stage.

From the blinding light immerge his golden bird. She was noticeably larger than before with large and very sharp talons. Her plumage was now mostly light brown while the top half of her wings were dark brown, and her back and chest was dark brown as well. The feathers flowing from her head were a golden and shown with dormant power.

Ash watched in awe as Pidgeot circled the arena with blinding speed and a cry that pierced the ears of the three humans in attendance. The ref looked on with a light in his eyes that was absent before during the battles while Blaine looked on with an academic interest in the bird while Ash was just ecstatic that his Pokémon had finally reached her final stage.

"Amazing!" Cried Ash and in response Pidgeot screeched while she dived toward the ground, seconds before impact both of her massive wings shot out and halted her decent allowing her to gently land on the rocky surface of the arena right next to Ash.

Ash smiled and rubbed her beak getting a coo from the large bird.

Blaine silently pulled out his next Pokéball and released his second team member. Ash was honestly caught off guard by Blaine's second choice. It was a small floating red energy that was surrounding a small portable oven. Ash could make out red eyes over the door of the oven while the energy manifested two long arms with claw like hands.

Ash narrowed his eyes and pulled out his Pokédex to scan the Pokémon.

Rotom, the Plasma Pokémon. With a body made of plasma Rotom is able to permeate various kinds of electrics devices, causing all sorts of problems.

'Looks like it's inhabiting an oven so I will say - considering this is a fire-type gym - it's an electric and fire type Pokémon. Electric if I take the plasma into account at least.' Mused Ash as he took in the new Pokémon. Looking at Pidgeot he frowned, while her final evolution didn't change her too much Ash wasn't going to put her into a disadvantageous battle right after her evolution.

"Return Pidgeot!" A squawk was the only thing Pidgeot could cry out before she was put back into her ball.

Reaching back to his belt he felt around for his next Pokémon. Ash smirked for a moment and released Pikachu, electric vs electric was going to be a battle of speed and precision rather than all out power. Knowing that he was at a disadvantage due to his inexperience as a trainer, Ash hoped that his Pikachu's ability would help bridge the gap between he and Blaine.

"I'm surprised!" Called Blaine, the sizzling and popping of the lava and fires around them making it hard to hear at this distance. "I would have expected you keep out your Pidgeot, especially after evolving!"

Ash shook his head grimly, "I don't want her to get hurt right after evolving, I have read some terrible things that happened because the Pokémon wasn't used to their new size or weren't able to heal properly from battling too soon."

Instead of being disappointed at Ash's choice Blaine looked happier than before, "I commend your choice, Pidgeot is no longer allowed to battle but if we both exhaust our five other Pokémon then you get the win for having one more that could battle. Fair?"

Ash nodded thankfully, that was better than he was expecting, "More than fair!"

No more words we said between them and both Pokémon jumped into action without words from their trainers.

Pikachu blitzed forward in a zig zagging motion carefully avoiding blasts of heat from the Rotom. Ash winced from the attacks, the already stifling heat further enhancing the Rotom's attacks causing Ash's side of the field to further raise in temperature. Taking a deep breath Ash pushed aside the discomfort to focus on the battle.

"Iron Tail!" Commanded Ash.

Pikachu didn't vocalize his affirmative but sped into action. Rotom continued its barrage of heat-based attacks with the occasional bolt of lightning to mix up the attack tempo. Pikachu didn't let the electric attacks bother him and primarily focused on avoiding the full brunt of the heat attacks. But with the nature of the battle arena it was impossible to close distance without taking damage.

Nearing the Rotom, Pikachu's tail exploded with silver metallic energy that hardened the lightning bolt shaped appendage. Rotom's red plasma body began to brighten as it built up energy, Pikachu didn't bother trying to avoid the attack and just pushed forward toward Rotom.

The building energy in Rotom manifested in a condensed blast of incredibly hot air that hit Pikachu full force nearly destabilizing his Iron Tail, thankfully, Pikachu was tough enough to push through the pain and land a devastating Iron Tail dead center on Rotom.

"Back off and Thunderwave!" Called Ash needing to try and stun or slow the floating Pokémon.

Pikachu didn't even need a moment to shift from the steel energy to his natural electric to attack with a Thunderwave. Unfortunately, Rotom was an electric type as well and responded with a Discharge attack. The powerful wave of lightning overpowered and destroyed Pikachu's Thunderwave and pushed forward, impacting Pikachu.

When the attack landed Pikachu grunted but didn't look pained, thankfully he managed to push his tail forward and his Lightning Rod ability enabled him to eat the attack with no damage. Ash frowned and called for a switch in tactics, Pikachu responded with a cry and moved into action.

Rotom continued with its earlier strategy, manipulating the excess of heat in the arena, enhancing it with its fire type ability and supplementing it with fast and precise lightning blasts. From what Ash could see the heat wasn't very hard hitting but after a while Pikachu would be exhausted if he didn't find a way to finish the battle soon.

Rotom once again charged up energy but this time it was blue and crackled as it built in power. Even with the excess of fire and lava around them Ash could smell the ozone and feel the static of the upcoming attack.

"Take the attack and move into Thunder Gavel!" Commanded Ash, if the upcoming attack was as strong as it seemed to be then it would be enough to power the Thunder Gavel and hopefully hurt the Rotom enough to end the battle or make it so Ash could switch to save Pikachu in case he needed the electric type later.

The blue energy surrounding Rotom coalesced into a small orb that sparked with barely controlled power. Ash didn't recognize the attack, but he was sure that Pikachu was one of the only Pokémon he had that would survive the attack.

Pikachu was rushing forward at a blinding pace that was nearly impossible to follow while Rotom hummed with power. The room flashed a pale blue as the attack from Rotom was released at Pikachu. The condensed ball changed in a condensed beam of crackling plasma that completely cut through all of the rocks and boulders in its way toward Pikachu.

Ash winced in worry as the rock around where they were pierced by the attack started to melt from the heat of the plasma beam. Pikachu, with confidence that surprised Ash, flipped forward toward the attack and with his tail ignited with the steel type energy of Iron Tail and let the attack hit his tail. With his control over lightning and the skill he achieved from mastering Thunder Gavel, Pikachu used the unnamed attack to super charge his tail with lightning.

The surrounding area where Pikachu was getting hit by the attack filled with static and Ash felt the hairs on the back of his neck and under his hat stand on end.

Pikachu stumbled for a moment before shooting forward, his tail alit with arcing golden electricity while Rotom quickly began to charge with energy once more. This time the floating plasma Pokémon was charging red hazy energy that Ash was sure was fire based.

With Thunder Gavel ready and Pikachu within striking distance Ash could only watch as his Pokémon raced toward the Rotom. On the other end Rotom's image became hazy as more and more time passed as it was allowed to build up energy.

Pikachu jumped forward and swung around to attack. Rotom didn't try to move and merely continued to charge its power. As Pikachu entered the hazy field the lightning around his tail dimmed significantly but he was still able to attack.

With a thundering boom Rotom was hit by a devastating Thunder Gavel. The floating Pokémon, the instant it was hit screeched in pain and the energy it was building up around itself exploded in a fiery blast.

Ash called out in worry for his Pikachu who was knocked onto his back and was trying to climb to his feet. Thankfully, the Thunder Gavel was enough to finish off the Rotom who fell to the ground unconscious. After a few more moments Pikachu succumbed to his exhaustion and passed out, with a sigh Ash recalled him. He was very pleased with Pikachu's win but was annoyed that Ash only managed to tie the old man.

Blaine didn't skip a beat and with childlike joy sent out his next Pokémon. This time it was a Pokémon he was very familiar with. A large and healthy Houndoom stood staunchly in front of Blaine ready and waiting for the battle.

Ash was down Pidgeot and Pikachu, but he was going to make sure that he would win this battle.

The stone floor of the arena cracked under the weight of Snor as he was released. Ash smirked at his large normal type, he was a reliable powerhouse that could tank hits and respond with devastating strength.

Blaine and Houndoom looked at the large Snorlax with narrowed eyes before they sprang into action. A powerful Flamethrower was sent at Snor who raised an arm to take the hit and with a snarl the attack was taken without much damage.

"Defense Curl then Earthquake!" Ash ordered. Snor quickly went to fulfil his order and crouched low and started flexing his muscles that shown with white energy. Snor then followed up with a heavy stomp to the ground that caused the arena to quake and the stone floor to tremor under the force of Snor's Earthquake.

The super effective move caused Houndoom to stumble. "Flamethrower, Will-O-Wisp, Fire Blast!" Called Blaine and Houndoom barked in response as it rushed to follow through.

Snor raised both arms in front of himself to mitigate the damage of the Flamethrower. The enormous stream of white-hot fire crashed into Snor who roared in response to the pain and responded with a Hyper Beam that cut through the flames and raced toward Houndoom.

The large dark dog Pokémon jumped away from the powerful beam of energy as fiery energy condensed and shimmered within its jaw.

"Yawn then Earthquake again!" Ash ordered. Snor didn't have to think long and opened its massive jaw and let out a large and long yawn that sounded out throughout the arena. Houndoom shivered but didn't lose focus on his attack.

Before Snor could cause another earthquake Houndoom fired the shimmering energy orb that hit Snor on his massive stomach. Ash winced when the area started smoking and Snor groaned in pain from the burn.

Snor, now angered from the status effect roared as he jumped into the air and kicked both legs into the ground to cause an even bigger Earthquake than before. Houndoom stumbled and fell under the intense vibrations and was unable to respond with Snor rushed forward with a crackling Thunder Punch.

Houndoom was blasted back toward Blaine from a lightning enhanced right hook and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Very nice Ash!" Cheered Blaine as he returned Houndoom. "How will you respond to this?"

Blaine's next Pokémon was a large flaming weasel-like Pokémon, a terrifying Typhlosion roared as it made its appearance in the battle. It was easily over six feet tall and the flames surrounding its neck like a scarf were white at the center showing just how strong its inner flame was.

Snor grunted at the appearance of the fire type but didn't back down. Ash knew that Snor was going to be knocked out after a while thanks to the burn inflicted by the Will-O-Wisp so he was going to us Snor to cause as much damage as he could. While his ability of thick fat would lessen the damage of incoming attacks the Will-O-Wisp put Snor on a clock.

"Earthquake then Hyper Beam!" Ordered Ash knowing that this was going to be the end for Snor. The large normal type didn't waste any time stomping into the ground to create another Earthquake.

The effects came and the arena once again shook as the field was destroyed further but Typhlosion was jumping from one boulder to the next to mitigate the damage of the super effective move. Right as the quake ended, Typhlosion closed distance at a speed that Snor couldn't hope to match and slammed into the large Pokémon with a glowing right-handed punch that knocked Snor off balance.

Ash winced at the punch, it looked to be a fighting type move which would explain the effectiveness of the attack. Snor got to his feet and growled at the fire type.

"Thunder Punch follow up with another Earthquake!" Ordered Ash. Snor, thanks to weeks of training with his elemental punching attacks, he was able to charge up his fist with crackling electric type energy without any issue.

Ash was aware that Blaine was now actively calling out attacks but with the roar of the battle and the ambient noise of the arena he was unable to hear what Blaine was saying. But Typhlosion sped into action charging toward Snor as its body exploded with hazy fiery energy.

"Wait till it gets close then punch the ground! Follow up with Hyper Beam!" Called Ash. Snor grunted in agreement and as Typhlosion got closer Snor went from punching toward Typhlosion to punching the ground in front of himself.

Stone debris exploded from the point of impact flying in all directions hitting both Typhlosion and Snor. But unlike Typhlosion, Snor was able to brush off the attack and charge up his strongest attack.

Typhlosion recovered from the attack and fired off a white-hot Flamethrower to try and interrupt Snor's attack. Ash held himself back from calling out to Snor in worry but knew that his friend was able to withstand the attack, albeit at this point in the battle Snor was more injured than Ash would have liked to take an attack like this.

From within the fiery hellscape, an orange beam of energy broke through and with devastating force the attack slammed into Typhlosion knocking it off of its feet.

"That was amazing Snor!" Cried Ash with a massive grin on his face as he recalled the massive normal type. With the stamina drain from the Hyper Beam and the burn he received from the Will-O-Wisp Ash was hesitant to continue using Snor unless necessary.

Blaine chuckled and smoothly recalled his unconscious Johto starter then released a magnificent Ninetails. Its golden coat shown beautifully in the orange glow given off from the lava, its head was held high and all nine of its tails swayed behind it as it waited on its master's command.

Despite having seen them before Ash was always impressed by the majesty of the Ninetails.

Also, Ash knew that after this was the Magmar that Blaine was known for so he would wait to call upon Charizard and decided to go with Hydro. His starter roared on release and fired twin streams of water into the air that exploded into steam on contact with the ceiling of the arena.

"Hydro Pump!"

Ash barely finished calling out his order before Hydro leaned forward and fired two highly pressurized streams of water from his back. Ninetails didn't even hesitate when faced with the powerful water attack and jumped into action, the area in front of it shimmered with translucent pink energy that formed a solid square.

The Hydro Pump crashed into the barrier and was instantly returned at Hydro with equal force. Ash frowned at the impressive use of Reflect as his starter withdrew into his shell to take the powerful attack. Ninetails didn't stop there and blitzed forward, as its speed increased the arena was filled with copies of the fire type.

"Rapid Spin and Hydro Pump!" Ordered Ash, it was their best move at the moment. Hydro would be safe inside of his shell and would constantly blast powerful streams of water in every direction hitting everything around him. As excepted Ninetails was clipped by the pressurized water cannon and lost focus on the Double Team.

Before Ash or Hydro could follow up with another attack the Ninetails charged and released a swirling orb of green energy that exploded on impact with Hydro's shell. Ash frowned when he heard the grunt of pain from his starter and realized that it was an Energy Ball.

"Water Rush Skull Bash! Finish with Hydro Pump!" Called Ash, he needed to make sure that he finished the battle before Ninetails could charge up another attack. Blaine across from him called out orders but Ash was unable to hear what was being said.

Hydro withdrew into his shell and blasted extremely powerful streams of water to propel himself forward toward Ninetails. Instead of moving to dodge, Ninetails lowered its head and allowed the attack to hit it. Instead of a cry in pain Ash watched as the Ninetails in front of him shattered into sparkling glass.

Ash cursed when he realized that Ninetails knew Substitution and spun around to try and find the fire type. At the far corner of the arena Ninetails was looking as if he was howling while all of its tails curled and pointed toward its mouth as it charged energy in front of its snout. Light from the arena coalesced into a swirling yellow orb that caused Ash's hair to stand on end as he screamed out orders for Withdraw and Protect.

Ninetails didn't wait any longer and fired the devastating Solar Beam that left shockwaves at the speed it traveled toward Hydro. Ash raised his arms to brace for the impact of the attack. Hydro followed his orders and withdrew into his shell as hard white energy condensed in front of him and hardened into a perfect sphere around the water type.

The Solar Beam fought the Protect attack for a second before the beam of sunlight broke through and slammed into Hydro blasting him through several of the rocks.

"Hydro!" Cried Ash. He watched nervously as Hydro slowly pulled himself to his feet, while not down from the attack Hydro wasn't doing great and Ash knew that he needed to end the fight.

"Ice Beam then finish with Hydro Pump!" Ash ordered, Ninetails would be too sluggish to avoid the ice attack since Solar Beam took out a lot of stamina even from grass types so Ash was sure that Ninetails was going to be hurting for enough time to lose the battle.

Hydro didn't waste time and opened its massive jaw and charged the frosting ivory energy before firing a thin beam of subzero energy at the fire type. While ice wasn't going to severely hurt the fire type it would freeze the area around it to make it difficult to move away from the follow up attack. From the twin shoulder canons came two powerful streams of water that crossed the arena in seconds before slamming into the Ninetails with tremendous force, the water exploded on impact soaking the entire side of the arena bathing the room in steam.

"That was amazing Hydro!" Called Ash getting a roar of thanks from his starter before Ash recalled him with Blaine doing the same with his Ninetails.

Blaine didn't reach for another ball, he only grinned wider. "You've done amazing so far! Your Pokémon are well trained and powerful! Let's see how they handle Magmar!"

No Pokéball was thrown but after Blaine said the Pokémon's name the lava behind Blaine started to churn. From within the molten rock emerged a true beast of a Magmar, large and dripping with lava. As it landed on the arena floor the water left over from Hydro's last attack instantly evaporated, the Magmar roared out a tongue of white-hot fire.

"This may seem like an odd choice but…" Ash said as he threw out his Pokéball, before he was fully released and still covered in the red energy of the Pokéball a ground shaking roar sounded out in the arena as Charizard emerged onto the battlefield. "…He really wanted to battle Magmar!"

True to form, Blaine's already large grin widened further as he gazed upon the flying fire type. Similarly, Magmar was stomping and snarling at Charizard as the challenge was clearly accepted by trainer and Pokémon.

Both Charizard and Magmar sent out white-hot Flamethrower that clashed in an explosion of heat that dwarfed anything that has happened so far in the battle. Ash's eyes watered but he strained to watch the battle continue.

"Get in the air! Flamethrower then Wing Attack!"

Charizard roared and with two powerful flaps of his wings shot into the air. The arena had a high ceiling, but his mobility would be hindered by the enclosed space. Magmar didn't stop his attack and continued blasting Charizard with powerful Flamethrowers.

With a mighty roar that resonated in Ash's chest Charizard met Magmar with another clash of fire that exploded between the two of them. The already stifling temperature of the arena raised higher and while the attacks canceled each other out Charizard followed up with a Wing Attack that slammed into Magmar's chest knocking it off balance but not off its feet.

Magmar didn't allow Charizard to fly away and grabbed him by the arm while it charged up a crackling Thunder Punch. By instinct Charizard fired another Flamethrower that Magma ignored as it slammed the lightning coated fist into Charizard's chest getting a roar of pain.

"Twister! Then Dragon Claw!" Ash ordered seeing that Charizard wasn't going to be able to free himself. Charizard raised his head and roared as draconic energy swirled around both him and the Magmar.

While not the most powerful attack Magmar was forced to release Charizard who immediately followed up with another attack. Both of Charizard's claws lengthened with shimmering white energy that created foot long claws. Magmar, still disorientated by the Twister couldn't avoid the twin slashes from Charizard and for the first time roared in pain.

Magmar responded by rearing back and slamming a hand onto the ground that shook the arena for a moment before the area right beneath Charizard erupted with Lava. Charizard flew up to avoid the full brunt of the damage but was still caught on the right leg. Charizard didn't acknowledge the pain if it hurt him and proceeded to circle Magmar for a moment before attacking with another Wing Attack.

Unlike last time Magmar didn't take the attack without trouble and stumbled back for a moment.

"Flamethrower then Dragon Rage!" Ordered Ash seeing the opening. Magmar weren't the fastest of Pokémon but were brawlers and Ash knew that while the fire attacks weren't doing too much damage they were chipping away at the Magmar's stamina.

Magmar, still reeling from the Wing Attack took the full brunt of the Flamethrower and while he wasn't too hurt it slowed Magmar down enough for Charizard to charge a swirling orb of golden draconic energy. Once the orb was as big as Charizard's head he released the attack in the form of a violent beam of draconic fury.

Ash smirked at the attack; it was evidence of Charizard's constant training with Blast. While he would never tell his prideful dragon, it would seem that Charizard has surpassed Blast at the moment. Charizard just had more power at his disposal than Dragonair and that dynamic wouldn't change until he evolved into Dragonite, when it got to that point Ash was going to be giddy to watch the two dragons duking it out to see who was superior.

Magmar roared in pain as the attack burned into its chest. The roar went from pain to primal fury as its fiery body brightened and exploded with an aura of fire as it built energy. Ash wasn't sure what the attack Magmar was charging but knew that being far from it wasn't a bad choice.

"Back off and fire another Dragon Rage!" Warned Ash.

Charizard growled at having to back off but listened to Ash and rapidly flew away as he charged up another Dragon Rage. The swirling orb of golden energy grew in front of Charizard's mouth and was released at Magmar.

The living inferno known as Magmar didn't acknowledge the incoming attack and allowed the crimson fiery energy to top off before, with a thunderous roar, it was released in an omnidirectional wave of fire that scorched every surface in the arena. Ash, Blaine and the Ref were saved from the deadly Overheat attack by the barriers around the arena but the same couldn't be said for Charizard who was hit by the wave of fire causing him to fall to the arena floor with a cry of pain.

Ash grunted in annoyance at seeing his fire dragon's pain but pushed that down to focus on the battle. "Smokescreen then Dragon Claw this is it Magmar is going to be weak after that attack."

Charizard pulled himself to his feet, too tired to fly back into the air with the same enthusiasm as before. Magmar across the arena was panting heavily as it tried to recover from the powerful fire attack. Ash assumed that the move must be new as it didn't usually require that much rest.

Knowing that he was close to winning, Charizard started to run forward as black smoke built within its maw before billowing out covering Magmar's entire side of the arena with thick black smoke. Ash could still make out a red dot in the smoke and knew that it was Magmar trying to remove the smoke but didn't have the strength to overpower the attack.

Charizard's claws were enhanced by the draconic energy once more as he charged toward the thick black smoke to reengage Magmar. Charizard's wings flapped behind him to further increase his speed and charged into the smoke leaving Ash's vision.

Knowing that the battle was close to the end, all Ash could do was trust Charizard to finish off Magmar on his own.

From within the smoke Ash could hear a roar from Charizard and saw a stream of fire break through the smoke. Roars sounded out from the smoke before a crash was heard, after the crash the smoke started clearing.

Before he was fully visible Charizard let out a primal roar that resonated in the stone arena making Ash feel as if the very earth was trembling under Charizard's power. Ash didn't feel any fear or apprehension at the display and rushed forward with a massive grin tackling his once timid now large proud fire dragon with a hug.

"That was amazing! You did so well!" Cheered Ash, Charizard leaned down and bumped his snout into Ash.

"Truly Magnificent!" Laughed Blaine not upset in the slightest by his loss, "I haven't had a battle between fire types in a long time! That Charizard is something special."

Charizard flexed his arms smacked his chest proudly while Ash laughed and looked down at the praise. While he worked on Charizard's skill and learning of new strategies and moves, a lot of his improvement has been from constantly battling with Blast since becoming a member of his team.

"Thank you. He trains hard every day." Replied Ash with a smile. "I will say that ever since I told him of your Magmar he demanded to be the one to battle him."

Blaine laughed at that, "Fire types, especially powerful ones, are very prideful and love to test themselves against other fire types. Even more so for Charizard, as they have draconic genes."

Both Ash and Blaine recalled their Pokémon and the ref walked over, "Congratulations on your win, I won't disqualify you for running onto the field since you had won by then." He said with his same apathetic tone.

Blaine side eyed the ref for a moment before tilting his head slightly, "Who are you again?"

Instead of answering the question the ref just started walking away muttering about transfers before he walked out of the arena entirely.

The second the doors closed behind the ref Blaine let out a roar of laughter that got a flinch of surprise out of Ash as he looked at the older gym leader in confusion.

"Oh man-Oh man!" Sputtered Blaine through his laughs, it continued for a while until he calmed down enough to talk. "The league forced him on me three months ago and he is just a black hole of fun. The first thing he said to me was a comment about how he needed to baby sit the elderly! Now the only fun I get anymore is messing with him by acting senile! It's so much fun! He started smoking a few weeks ago!"

Ash blinked a few times as Blaine started laughing again and just nodded and decided to wait until he was done so he could get his badge and move on.

"Anyway," Said Blaine as he wiped a tear from his eye, "I have two things for you. First is the Volcano Badge – well done by the way – and this TM."

Blaine extended his badge and a TM that Ash took gratefully, "Fire types are way more than just flamethrowers and as you've noticed I've incorporated heat manipulation into my battling. This is a TM for Overheat a powerful fire type move that should help you on your travels, don't let that Charizard relax or he may not reach his potential. I can tell that it's a special one!"

"Thank you again!" Ash said as he waved and left the arena.

In the lobby he was nearly barreled into by Alex who looked at him with a large grin. "That was some battle, Ash! You have some incredible Pokémon, which was your starter?"

"Hydro, my Blastoise." Answered Ash fondly at the mention of his partner. "He keeps them in line although Charizard has started to throw his weight around along with my Dragonair Blast."

Alex nodded, "That's some line up and your Snorlax, Pikachu and Pidgeot – congratulation on it evolving – all looked great!" She said with a smile, "My starter is actually my Lapras she was a gift from my sister."

"What other Pokémon do you have?" Asked Ash, she didn't seem the type to only catch a team of six.

Alex smiled as she gave her answer, "I have an Onix, Arcanine, Victreebell, and Golbat."

"Solid lineup." Commented Ash, "So what do you plan to do from here?"

"Well the only gym I haven't been to is Viridian so I will head there, I don't really need to do anything else and after that train and travel until the conference. You?"

Ash hummed, "I was actually going to take a few weeks to train before tackling Sabrina and Giovanni. I want one of my Pokémon to evolve first as it will be a powerful player against both, also I haven't been home since I left for my journey."

It would be nice to see his mom in person again and actually spend time in their new home. Also having all of his Pokémon together would be a nice change of pace and give him a chance to get some more one on one time with Bulbasaur. The more he thought about it the more he liked the idea of heading home.

Alex nodded at that and took a deep breath, "Well then, I will see you at the conference Ash and good luck till then!"

Ash didn't say anything in response but extend a hand for a shake that she happily took. With that they parted ways, Ash to the Pokémon Center to have his team and especially Pidgeot checked on and to find a quick way home to Pallet.

While it wasn't cheap, paying for a teleport to pallet through the league was definitely the way to go. He had gotten all his Pokémon looked at by Joy then called about the service, he'd heard about it before but never wanted to use it since part of being a trainer was the traveling but at this point, since Cinnabar was an island, it was better and easier to just teleport there and the league Alakazam didn't even seem troubled by the trip.

Pallet town was just like he remembered, rolling hills and houses spread out by large encompasses of land and at the top of the larges hill was a large two-story home with a windmill behind it. Professor Oak's home/lab.

It was nice to be here to spend some stress-free weeks to train and relax at home.

"Heya Ashy boy!"

End Chapter.

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter it was a lot of fun to write!

I changed Treeko to Bulbasaur while writing chapter 11, I already edited chapter 9 and this one to reflect that change. Luckily, Treeko hasn't been a big part of the story yet so the change won't be felt too hard.

Side Note: People have been bringing up the black card from a few chapters ago and that Ash didn't buy 'enough' with it. The black card wasn't about Ash getting everything he could ever want - even though he get everything he needed at the time - it was about how Silph dealt with problems. They just throw hush money at their problems and move on.

They don't care about what happened, they only want to cover it up.

Also, I mentioned earlier that TM's can't be made permanent unless you have the proper clearance for such a thing. Steven was one who let Ash get the permanent TM's back in Cerulean. I'm not pulling this story out of my ass and writing as I go, I have a general plan even if it may not seem like it.

So sit back and drink a cold one and give it a read don't worry so much!

TM's on hand: Fire Blast, Blizzard, Focus Blast, Hyper Beam, Thunder, Teleport, Thunderbolt, Overheat. All one use.

Ice Beam, Flamethrower, unlimited uses, bought through Steven Stone.

Hydro/ Blastoise:

Move Set: Tail Whip, Tackle, Water Gun, Rapid Spin, Withdraw, Water Pulse, Scald, Ice Beam, Brick Break, Protect, Iron Defense, Ice Punch, Skull Bash, Hydro Pump.

Pidgeot:

Move Set: Sand Attack, Peck, Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Gust, Steel Wing, Roost, Brave Bird, Aerial Ace, Twister.

Combo Moves: Hard Right: combo of Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Steel Wing.

Umbreon:

Move Set: Leer, Tackle, Quick Attack, Agility, Iron Tail, Moonlight, Confusion, Dark Pulse, Bite, Thunder Fang, Dig, Toxic, Confuse Ray.

Combo Moves: Blitz Tail: Combo of Agility, Quick Attack and Iron Tail.

Blast/Dragonair:

Move Set: Leer, Wrap, Thunderwave, Twister, Dragon Rage, Agility, Iron Tail, Aqua Tail, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Dragon Rush, Dragon Dance.

Metang:

Move Set: Take Down, Confusion, Metal Claw, Psychic, Psyshock, Flash Cannon, Earthquake, Meteor Mash (not mastered), Zen Headbutt, Rock Slide.

Pikachu:

Move Set: Tail Whip, Thundershock, Thunderwave, Growl, Quick Attack, Agility, Iron Tail, Electro Ball, Thunderbolt.

Combo Moves: Blitz Tail

Special Moves: Thunder Gavel: Charging a Thunderbolt into Pikachu's body at the same time as Iron Tail, then releasing the electrical energy at the exact moment the steel type attack strikes for a powerful hammer strike.

Charizard:

Move Set: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Smokescreen, Dragon Rage, Flamethrower, Metal Claw, Dragon Claw, Fire Punch, Twister, Wing Attack.

Snor/Snorlax:

Move Set: Defense Curl, Yawn, Rest, Body Slam, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Hyper Beam, Giga Impact, Thunder Punch, Shadow Ball, Earthquake.

Bulbasaur:

Moves Set: Tackle, Growl, Vine Whip, Growth, and Leech Seed

Ability: Overgrow, Chlorophyll .