Just as Aya inhaled to declare Toxicroak unable to battle, the frog Pokémon twitched.
Then, slowly, shakily, it pushed itself up from the ground.
Toxicroak staggered to its feet again.
Aya froze, the words dying in her throat. A long, shaky breath escaped her as relief flickered in her eyes.
It wasn't over yet.
That strange, impossible reversal might have caught them off guard once, but it wouldn't happen again. She didn't know how Ash and Charizard had pulled it off, but her brother, Koga, wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.
As long as Toxicroak could still stand, victory would belong to Koga.
Koga, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke, his tone low and cautious.
"That move just now… what was it? I don't recall Charizard ever being able to produce flames like that. It looked almost like…"
He trailed off.
Almost like Sacred Fire, the divine flame said to belong only to the Legendary Pokémon, Ho-Oh.
But such a thought was absurd. He dismissed it immediately.
How could an ordinary Charizard possibly wield Sacred Fire?
Koga glanced at the orange dragon across from him. To him, it still seemed like a normal Pokémon, one fighting far above its level only because of its Trainer's strange power. Without Ash's mysterious energy, this Charizard likely wouldn't be half as strong.
Yet… those multicolored flames from before had humiliated him. They weren't the flames of an ordinary Charizard at all.
Ash met Koga's gaze, his expression calm and unreadable.
"Is this really the kind of topic we should be discussing during a battle, Mr. Koga?"
Koga paused, then gave a curt nod.
"You're right. I'll ask you afterward. Toxicroak, Poison Jab!"
Once more, Toxicroak lunged forward, charging straight ahead with nothing held back.
But this time, its movements were slower, more strained.
That last exchange had taken too much out of it. Its stamina was nearly gone. It didn't have the energy left to use ranged techniques like Toxic or Swagger.
All it could do now was rely on sheer willpower to strike down Charizard and end this battle.
With a sharp hiss, Toxicroak's body blurred into motion. Its claws gleamed with dark violet energy, cutting through the air with a sinister whistle.
Charizard didn't dodge. Didn't even flinch.
It clenched its claws, and fire burst to life around its fist;
Fire Punch!
But this time, the flame was ordinary, plain orange-red, lacking the earlier divine glow.
Koga's eyes narrowed.
Why wasn't it using that fire from before? Was the multicolored flame a power Charizard hadn't mastered, one it couldn't summon at will?
No matter. If this was all it had, then in a head-on clash, Toxicroak couldn't lose.
In a blur of motion, Toxicroak closed the distance, its poisoned fist striking straight for Charizard's chest.
Charizard lowered its stance and swung its left arm sideways, catching Toxicroak's wrist mid-strike. The impact numbed Toxicroak's arm and threw its aim slightly off, the Poison Jab only grazed Charizard's shoulder.
And then;
The flames on Charizard's right fist suddenly erupted into seven dazzling colors.
Koga's pupils constricted; his breath caught.
That was it. That was the power. The same divine energy that had broken through Toxicroak's Sludge Bomb earlier.
He could feel it even from across the field.
The energy radiating from it made his heart tremble.
As a ninja, Koga didn't possess supernatural gifts like Aura or Psychic power, but his spiritual senses, honed through years of life-and-death training, were far sharper than most ability users.
And right now, those senses screamed that the rainbow blaze burning on Charizard's fist carried divine energy, a purity and intensity that transcended any flame.
The sheer quality of those flames more than made up for any gap in power.
That was why Charizard's earlier attack had torn through the Sludge Bomb like paper.
While Koga's mind raced, Charizard had already moved.
Its rainbow-flamed fist smashed forward, striking Toxicroak square in the face.
The impact distorted Toxicroak's features, the blow's force rippling through its entire body. The flames clung to its skin, burning deep, charring the flesh black.
Bang!
Whoosh!
BOOM!
Three sounds came in quick succession: the heavy punch connecting, Toxicroak's body hurtling backward, and the explosive crash as it slammed into the defensive barrier.
Tiny cracks spread across the supposedly indestructible shield before it quickly repaired itself.
Toxicroak slid down the barrier like a rag doll and collapsed on the ground, limp and unmoving.
This time… there was no getting up.
For a heartbeat, the entire arena was silent.
Even Misty and Brock were too stunned to speak.
Once could be called luck, or the opponent's carelessness.
But twice?
This was no accident.
Charizard had met Toxicroak head-on, and won.
Koga's face darkened, his composure finally cracking.
He hadn't expected that Poison Jab to land; Charizard's reflexes were far too sharp. He'd realized it the moment the first strike missed.
Still, he'd gambled on a counter, planning for Toxicroak to endure one blow and retaliate in kind, just as before.
Even if Toxicroak managed to land a single hit, Charizard would undoubtedly fall.
That was the true terror of a level gap.
You can hit me a hundred times… but I only need to hit you once.
That was the unspoken rule among top-tier Trainers, the principle Koga had always lived by. The higher-level Pokémon's single strike carried such overwhelming force that even the smallest contact could decide the match.
But now, that principle had just been shattered before his eyes.
Charizard's attack had changed, it wasn't just stronger, it had transcended. That one Fire Punch, burning with mysterious multicolored flames, had crushed an Champion-level Toxicroak outright.
The difference was like heaven and earth.
Koga had gambled everything on the assumption that Charizard couldn't reproduce the flames it had unleashed earlier, that the previous miracle had been a one-time fluke.
But unfortunately… he lost that bet.
And the price of losing was absolute defeat.
Koga let out a dry, bitter laugh under his breath.
"Ha… a joke like this really isn't funny at all."
He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply twice, and forced his composure back before turning to the referee.
"Aya," he said evenly, though his tone wavered at the edges, "announce the result."
Aya, still in shock, blinked before coming back to her senses.
"O-Oh! Right!" She raised her hand and called out, her voice trembling at first but soon ringing clear:
"Toxicroak is unable to battle! Charizard wins!"
Whoooosh!!
The declaration was like lighting a fuse.
For a heartbeat, silence, and then the entire Gym exploded with noise.
"HE LOST?!"
"Wait, what? Koga LOST?!"
"An Elite Four candidate, taken down by that kid?!"
The crowd erupted in disbelief, their shouts echoing off the walls.
No one could process what they'd just witnessed. The mighty Fuchsia Gym Leader, the man known across Kanto as an Elite Four candidate, had just been defeated by a young boy who looked barely old enough to vote.
And not only defeated, but in such an inexplicable way that even the live audience, watching every move from above, couldn't understand what had just happened.
The people watching the broadcast from home were even more dumbfounded.
Viewers across Kanto, Johto, and beyond gawked at their screens, muttering in disbelief.
"Has the world gone crazy?!"
"Is challenging across levels that easy now?!"
"Two whole ranks higher, are you kidding me?!"
If someone could battle like this, who would even dare fight them?
Meanwhile, at Professor Oak's Laboratory…
The Professor had dragged a large TV out into the backyard, where he and all of Ash's Pokémon were gathered, watching their Trainer's battle unfold live.
When the final moment came, when Charizard felled Toxicroak in a blaze of rainbow fire, even the normally composed Professor Oak couldn't hold back.
He jumped to his feet, laughing in pure astonishment.
"Well done, Ash!! You actually won this! If you don't take the Indigo Plateau Conference this year, who possibly could?!"
His voice rang with pride.
An Elite-tier Pokémon defeating a Champion-tier? Even Leon, the undefeated Champion, couldn't pull that off under normal circumstances!
Even with Dynamax, it wouldn't happen!
The level gap between the two tiers was supposed to be an unbridgeable canyon, one that no amount of luck, skill, or willpower could cross.
And yet, Ash had just bulldozed straight through it.
Professor Oak's eyes gleamed with emotion.
"That's my student… Pallet Town's very own genius Trainer!" he said proudly. "This year, he'll take the Conference for sure! If he can even battle against an Elite Four and win, how could he not claim the Champion title?"
He paused, then snorted dismissively.
As for Gary… Gary who? Never heard of him.
But as the excitement ebbed, Oak's scientific curiosity crept in. His gaze lingered on the replay of the flames on the screen, those rainbow-colored flames that had engulfed Toxicroak.
"Still," he murmured, frowning slightly, "those flames… they looked awfully familiar. Could it really be Sacred Fire?"
He chuckled at his own thought and shook his head.
"No, that's ridiculous. Sacred Fire belongs only to Ho-Oh. At most, Entei can use it because Ho-Oh revived it. But Charizard? No, impossible. It must be a new technique Ash and Charizard developed together."
He nodded to himself. "After the battle, I'll give that boy a call. He's full of surprises, that one…"
Cinnabar
Normally quiet and empty, Cinnabar Town's streets were packed shoulder to shoulder.
Everywhere, screens mounted on shops and lampposts were streaming the Fuchsia Gym broadcast.
People stood frozen mid-step, eyes wide, completely forgetting where they were or what they'd been doing.
And when Koga's Pokemmon fell, when the great Fuchsia Gym Leader actually lost, a collective gasp erupted through the crowd.
"Did Koga just LOSE?!"
"An Elite Four lost to a rookie?!"
"Holy Arceus, what kind of monster Trainer is that kid?!"
Somewhere among the gawking crowd stood Gary Oak.
His face twitched as he stared at the screen, his expression caught somewhere between disbelief and frustration.
"Monster, huh…" he muttered bitterly.
He knew exactly who that "rookie" was.
Ash Ketchum.
From Pallet Town.
The same day they had both set out on their journey.
Gary stared blankly at the TV, the words echoing in his mind like a cruel joke.
Every strike Ash landed was like a slap to his pride.
Every cheer from the crowd was a nail in the coffin of his self-confidence.
"Those… those colorful flames, what even were those?!" Gary muttered, his voice trembling with disbelief.
Had Ash really grown that far beyond him already?
Was the gap between them so wide now that even looking up felt pointless?
The realization hit him hard.
For all his effort, all his victories, all his pride in being Professor Oak's grandson, Ash, the boy he once dismissed as a naive kid, was now standing in a place he could barely dream of reaching.
He clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms.
"How the hell am I supposed to catch up to that?"
No matter how he turned it over in his head, the same feeling kept rising, a suffocating, helpless frustration.
Maybe it was time to just call it a night.
Maybe he'd wake up tomorrow and accept being forever second.
He let out a long sigh.
"Damn it… maybe I should just wash up and go to sleep…"
Meanwhile, far away on the Indigo Plateau, a dimly lit room glowed with the light of a single TV screen.
A woman with long, silky blond hair and wine-red eyes sat curled up on her couch, glasses resting on her nose, wearing nothing more than a thin robe.
Her gaze was fixed on the broadcast, her lips curling into a small, intrigued smile.
"Well, well…" she murmured, swirling the wine in her glass. "So the boy who defeated Sabrina has another trump card besides Gengar?"
Her voice was soft, almost musical, but the curiosity in her tone was sharp as a blade.
"An Elite defeating a Champion-level opponent… how interesting."
She leaned forward slightly, eyes gleaming with amusement.
"This kid… he might just become Kanto's Champion in a few years. And if he can break Cynthia's record…"
Her laughter was light, teasing, tinged with challenge..."then that would be truly fascinating."
Cynthia, the prodigy of Sinnoh.
Eighteen years old when she became Champion, the youngest in history.
If Leon was the strongest Champion, Cynthia was the youngest.
And given more time, she might even catch up to him.
Cynthia, the Sinnoh Valkyrie, the woman the world believed might one day dethrone Leon himself.
And now… this rookie from Kanto had caught the attention of another Elite.
Lorelei, the Ice-type master of the Kanto Elite Four, set down her wineglass and picked up her phone, her smile deepening.
"Looks like things are about to get interesting."
Lorelei thought for a moment, picked up the phone beside her, and dialed her friend's number.
Back at Fuchsia Gym.
Ash had no idea that half the world was now talking about him.
He exhaled slowly, feeling the heat of battle fade, and began to suppress the raging energy surging inside him.
Even though Charizard had defeated Toxicroak, it had reached its absolute limit.
Sacred Fire wasn't a technique one could simply use. For Charizard, it was like borrowing the flame of a god, and that kind of power always demanded a price.
Charizard's current strength shouldn't have been anywhere near enough to control Sacred Fire.
It had only been possible thanks to two things:
The incredible pressure of fighting Koga's Champion-level Pokémon, and
Ash's Aura Link, amplifying Charizard's energy beyond its natural limits.
Together, they had forced out the divine flame… but at tremendous cost.
Even for a Fire-type, that power was dangerous.
If Ash's Aura hadn't shielded Charizard's body, the Sacred Fire might have burned through it from the inside.
That last punch, that one brilliant, seven-colored strik, had been the last ounce of Charizard's strength.
Now, it couldn't even lift its arm.
Ash, still linked to Charizard through Aura, felt a deep exhaustion spread through his own body.
But when he withdrew his Aura from Charizard, the weakness vanished from himself, while Charizard, deprived of support, staggered and began to fall.
"Bang!"
Before the great dragon could hit the ground, a pair of steady hands caught it by the shoulder.
Ash stood beside it, smiling, his hair tousled, his breath ragged but his spirit blazing.
"Well done, Charizard, you worked hard." Ash grinned, giving Charizard a thumbs up.
...
Read upto 25+ chapters ahead @keepsmiling 818 P@reon