First Loss

Blaine wore a huge smile on his face. Someone who may have no idea what was going on in his head would have been confused because he just lost. Blaine was happy because in his eyes, the younger generation were coming up a lot better than he had expected.

In front of him was Rapidash's knocked out figure. He wordlessly returned the fallen form of his Rapidash as he watched Ash's Electabuzz carefully. He knew that it had power for sure and speed but its defenses were something that he felt could be exploited and he knew just the mon for the job. One that had power and defense.

He tossed a pokeball and out came the fire type eeveelution. It huffed deeply as flames flared around its nostrils and its eyes glowed slightly.

"Thunder punch."

Volt didn't waste much time as his arms immediately sparked up as he charged at Flareon's form.

"Hyper voice," Blaine whispered and immediately Flareon let loose a loud amplified sound from its small vocal chords. The sound was something a little louder than normal and was almost at the level that amateur Loudreds were capable of producing.

The sound waves slammed into Volt and forced Ash to close his ears, but it appeared as though Blaine was unaffected. Even Misty was on her knees as she clasped her ears shut.

"Toxic and fast."

Before Volt could even begin to recover, Flareon had already begun his move. Its throat took on a purple tint and it bit Volt on its left leg, pumping poison into its blood stream. Volt desperately tried to swat it off but Flareon was already done with the attack although there was a hint of electric shock as its fur stood on all ends. Aside from that it was okay.

"Are you okay Volt?" Ash called to the electric type seeing as he didn't look too good.

Volt turned back as he tried to give an affirmative to Ash.

Seeing that the electric type was okay, Ash called in his next attack. "Swift and thunder speed."

Volt smashed both hands together as it released star shaped energy attacks before he became cloaked in electricity. The stars circled Flareon before they moved in on it, slamming into the fire type but he held on tight as though nothing had occurred.

Out of the corner of its eye, it noticed Volt approaching and leaped into the air to avoid the attack.

"Flamethrower," Blaine called out.

Flareon's maw heated up and a stream of flames escaped its mouth and was heading straight for Volt.

"Defend with fire punch and attack with karate chop."

Volt's left hand became ablaze as he blocked the incoming flamethrower and his right hand glowed a bright white as his leapt towards Flareon.

"Iron tail."

Flareon's tail immediately stiffened as it became very hard and it came down on Volt. Iron tail and karate chop crashed but rather than being overpowering, Volt was knocked back down by Flareon. The electric type impacted the ground with a loud thud.

Ash was surprised by the outcome, majorly because Volt's physical parameters were high at least enough to be within the top five of Ash's pokemon but he just got overpowered by Flareon's iron tail. He knew that iron tail was grades higher than karate chop but there was the typing advantage he held and things just did not add up.

"I assume you must be wondering why Flareon overpowered your Electabuzz? You've got a keen eye Ash and that's something that many people need in this life. But having a good eye is one thing and having an eye that is backed up with experience is another thing."

Ash could pretty much tell that there was an advice hidden in those words but he couldn't make it out.

"Cross chop," Ash ordered.

Volt got up as his chop glowed but he wobbled slightly and Ash could notice that the poison was already coursing through Volt's body. The electric type had not had any defense training when it came to poison attacks, so Ash basically didn't know how good he would be in fighting the poison.

"Hang in there Volt," Ash said as he started thinking of what to do.

"Flareon quick attack into flamethrower."

Flareon yipped slightly before proceeding to go after Volt with a flaming maw. It got close to Volt and released the flamethrower he held in his mouth. Volt rolled out of the way as he avoided the flamethrower shot at him and got into a standing position.

"Thunder punch."

Volt's arm sparked up as he made his way towards Flareon but Blaine had other plans for the battle.

"Roll out of the way."

Flareon rolled quickly out of the way as the thunder punch landed and Volt fell again as he got damaged by toxic.

"Perfect," Blaine said as he smiled. Things were falling into place and he just had to hit the final nail on the head and this battle would be as good as his.

"Volt, are you okay?" Ash called to the electric type. Things weren't good and he knew that. If Volt fainted then he might have a little bit of trouble overhead. He knew that well enough and besides Flareon looked as though it had only been toying with them. Ash was called out of his musings by Blaine's voice. It looked as though he was about to end the battle right there and then.

"Flame charge."

"Whatever you do, avoid the attack," Ash called to the electric type, but Volt was still down on one knee and was panting heavily.

Flareon became wrapped in flames as it made its way to maul over Volt. Volt decided to place both hands in front of him to lessen the damage but the Eeveelution had other ideas. Flareon dashed quickly behind Volt and slammed into him from behind before proceeding to bathe him in flames until he was knocked out.

"That was a little harsh don't you think?" Ash said as he recalled the electric type.

"I don't think so. Your Electabuzz is plenty strong. His flames burn bright and that flame charge would not have knocked him out."

Ash frowned at that but he had to see truth in Blaine's words. All his pokemon were stubborn and none of them would have gone down without battered to the point of no return. Now, he had to bring out someone strong enough to even the playing field seeing as they were now tied.

"Alright let's do this," Ash said as he tossed a pokeball and released his Blastoise. The water type came out with a fierce growl. This was gonna be fun.

"Water gun."

Blastoise flexed its cannons and shot a small jet of water that fizzled as it left the cannon until it became steam. Ash clicked his tongue slightly not because he forgot but because even Blastoise's attacks needed to be more than his average before he could hit Flareon from long range, so this became a close ranged battle.

"Rapid spin."

Blastoise tucked himself into his shell and launched himself at Flareon.

"Tuck and roll. Follow up with smog."

Flareon folded its body in and rolled out of the way of the rapid spin and stood upright. It planted its feet as it released a cloud of poison from its mouth and held its breath. The smog slowly clouded the battlefield surrounding Flareon and Blastoise.

"Blastoise don't breathe that in."

"You know what to do Flareon."

Within the smog, Flareon was crouched on the ground as he slowly crept towards Blastoise. Once it was sure that it was within the vicinity of Blastoise, it leapt up with a flaming maw.

An aura sphere stood between Flareon and Blastoise and without any warning, Blastoise let the attack loose. It slammed into Flareon and sent it across the field.

"Nice one Blastoise," Ash said to the water type. "Hydro pump."

Blastoise slammed his left foot as he let loose the torrent of water at the fire type.

"Quick attack and iron tail."

Flareon became enshrouded in a white streak as it avoided the oncoming hydro pump and ran towards Blastoise with a tail that had now attained a metallic sheen.

"Protect!" Ash called.

"Stop and use heat wave around Blastoise."

Flareon stopped as it glowed a bright red and soon began to heat the surrounding areas immensely. Ash was slightly confused by this. Usually, heat wave was launched from the mouth but it was the first time seeing a Flareon use it.

By the time Ash realized himself, Flareon had made the air heated and everything seemed to be woozy. The heat from the volcano was easily withstandable by Ash and the others and the rest of their pokemon majorly because the Volcano was fairly dormant and it was some good distance away from their battlefield.

The Heat wave from Flareon seemed to have bolstered the heat and increased its intensity. Ash couldn't see clearly and he was willing to bet his bottom dollar that Blastoise wasn't faring well either, plus he was almost sure that Blaine was used to this and wouldn't mind the heat being raised in the slightest.

"Now, double team and flamethrower around Blastoise."

Blaine's plan was simple, he was going to disorient Ash and his pokemon, break their connection and finish Ash off.

The flamethrower attacks from Flareon served to further heat the air while Blastoise struggled to avoid them. There was always the chance that Blastoise could use rapid spin to try and clear the heat wave, but there was the chance that the spin would further heat up the surrounding except if done correctly. Another thing to note was that the spinning might just make Blastoise feel all the more woozy. It was a risk Ash wasn't sure he could take.

Hydro pump took a lot of energy to use and a weak water gun would do more harm than good and would just create a mist screen and make seeing all the more harder.

"Aura sphere to your right."

Blastoise gathered the energy in front of his cannons as he sent the sphere at Flareon, the attack slammed into the fire type and drew a yelp from the fire type.

"Figures that he would have noticed that."

As the aura sphere hit, it dispelled the remaining clones.

"Aura sphere again."

Blastoise shot the sphere again but this time Flareon was prepared and it avoided the attack and slammed into Blastoise with quick attack and knocked him over.

"Overheat," Blaine shouted.

Flareon huffed as its entire body soon became a glowing red. The atmosphere was being heated again and Ash was clear it would disorient Blastoise but he had an idea in mind.

"Hydro pump!"

Blastoise's cannons both unleashed a powerful torrent of water from within them as they merged into one and slammed into Flareon. It was mistaking that the fire type was knocked out, but there was a slight miscalculation on Ash's part.

The heat wave and the overheat and the flamethrowers had gotten to Blastoise. The kickback from the hydro pump had been the final straw. Blastoise tumbled as he was launched backwards and towards the edge of the arena and plunging into the lava below.

Ash hastily recalled the water type back into his pokeball. That was a close one for him and Blastoise and to an extent even Blaine.

They were now tied and had only one pokemon to be used each. Ash was certain that he must use his ace to win this match. He flipped his cap backward and tossed a pokeball unto the field. White light poured from it and the light condensed until a Charizard could be seen. Blaze roared and flicked a finger towards Blaine. He had been watching the match and he wanted to end it here and now.

"A Charizard…" he laughed loudly. "Damn that psychic woman. She was right as usual, but this is scary. Looks like I would have to use him." He stroked his mustache and took a pokeball from his coat pocket and tossed it.

The light from the ball condensed and revealed a bright red pokemon with yellow markings. It had flames on its tail and on its makeshift eyebrows.

It was a Magmar.

"Flame charge."

Magmar's entire being lit up in flames as it made its way towards Charizard. Ash noticed the potency of the flames that were emitted. It was on par with Blaze's or perhaps stronger. He couldn't tell to what extent but he knew that the Magmar line where very capable when it came to handling flames. To be honest, Ash wasn't sure if he would be able to pull out a victory on this one.

"To the sky and thunderpunch."

Blaze expanded his wings and took to the skies with a strong flap that cleared the heat wave in the area he was previously. While in the sky, his right hand sparked up as he flew towards Magmar. Fist and body clashed and a slight explosion occurred as both pokemon where launched backwards.

Blaine anticipated the outcome and was prepared with a counter. "Psychic."

Magmar's eyes glowed a bright blue as the psychic energy coursed through his body. He made a pushing forward motion and slammed into Blaze.

"Dragon pulse."

As he recovered from the psychic attack, an emerald sphere of draconic energy formed in front of his mouth and he sent if flying with a roar.

"Dodge."

Magmar threw his body to the side to avoid the sphere but failed to notice the dragon racing towards him. Blaze's fist was sparking as he drove it into Magmar's body and sent the fire type back.

"Aerial ace now!"

Blaze shot off, blurring out of sight as he made his way towards Magmar's recovering form.

Blaine knew better than to try and stop aerial ace, so he waited for the right moment to present itself.

"Dual Chop."

Magmar's claws glowed emerald as it waited for Blaze's attack to land. As soon as Blaze made a connection, Magmar slammed his claws behind Blaze's neck and sent him into the ground. The impact shook the ground a bit and Ash had to wince slightly at the impact.

"Thunder punch Magmar."

Ash watched as Magmar's hands sparked with electricity and he countinuously pounded Blaze into the ground with it drawing tiny cries from the fire type.

"Blaze! Aerial ace and get out of there."

Blaze tried but he could feel Magmar smashing into his wings alongside his body and face. Getting out was going to be hard but he wasn't going to let this get in his way.

His body soon got enveloped in draconic energy as he barreled into Magmar and escaped.

"Now triple pulse."

Dragon pulse followed dragon pulse and followed dragon pulse, all slamming into Magmar and sent it flying.

"Flamethrower."

"Flamethrower."

Both torrents of flames clashed against each other and fought for dominance, neither side giving in to the other until the flames couldn't take it anymore. An explosion of heat and fire filled the space between Magmar and Blaze and the heat around the area intensified greatly.

"This is turning into one hell of a battle," Blaine shouted from across the arena.

Ash nodded. He was getting into it too and he could tell that Blaze was too. He was going to go for a more strategic victory.

"Smokescreen."

From Blaze's maw came a huge cloud of smoke that blanketed the entire area of the battlefield.

"Magmar to yourself."

Magmar brought its hands close to itself as it waited for Blaze's attack.

It didn't take long before Magmar felt something barrel into it. It was Blaze and he was using dragon rush.

Blaine however, was prepared for this. Magmar slammed both feet into the ground as it held Blaze and powered him into the ground with a slam.

"Again."

"Combo punch."

Both of Magmar's hands glowed but with variating intensities as it once again proceeded to beat down Blaze with Ash being unable to do anything but watch.

Information Corner:

I don't know if anyone may be wondering how it was that Magmar was able to withstand Blaze's dragon rush. There are two reasons for this happening. The first is that Blaine has hard Magmar's physical abilities trained to a high level and the second is that the Magmar-line are known for having Vital spirit as a hidden ability.

While it means that the pokemon won't be able to sleep or fall prey to any sleep inducing substance or attack, it also means that they are a result more active because their senses have been heightened as a result of said ability. It actually makes it easier to go for longer periods of time and also react to things quicker.

A small crater had begun to form just below where Blaze was. Ash was worried for the fire type. He was taking a beating and Magmar didn't look like it was pulling any of its punches. He shuffled through his mind as he thought of a good enough strategy to use against Magmar.

"Blaze just focus on the flames."

He heard a roar followed by a slight wince. The fire type was attempting to get up.

"Just trust me on this one buddy. Only the flames."

Magmar continued his assault but this time Blaze wasn't reacting. His eyes were closed and he was almost devoid of life except for the path that his breathing had intensified. It was low but every time he breathed in, his tail flame would flare ever so slightly and this was what Ash was waiting for.

"Dual chop."

"Erupt now."

Going back to the same attack it had used earlier, Magmar was unable to notice the Charizard's eyes open in an instant. What followed was a very bright and powerful flamethrower that slammed into Magmar and sent it flying towards the edge of the arena and almost into the lava below.

Ash watched Blaze as he got up. His wings had been pretty much damaged badly. They were at a slight disadvantage seeing as Blaze wasn't very good on ground battles. He mainly relied on his wings and even if they had started training against this, they were not as good as other land pokemon.

Taking advantage of Magmar trying to pick itself up, Ash called out an attack. "Reinforced pulse."

"Swivel."

Blaine watched as a dragon pulse was set ablaze by Blaze and launched with amazing speed at Magmar. The Flame Body Pokemon was able to swivel just in time to avoid getting caught by the attack.

"Aerial ace."

"Counter."

"Flamethrower."

"Flamethrower."

Blaze shifted into the stand for aerial ace but on hearing his trainer's second command, he canceled and built up the flames within himself. A huge torrent of flames erupted from within him but Blaine wasn't a slouch on the uptake.

He had Magmar counter with a flamethrower of his own. Both attacks met and fought for dominance at about an equal distance between both pokemon. Neither side was giving in until an explosion occurred, engulfing the field in smoke.

"Blow the smoke away."

Blaze flapped his wings hard as he cleared the smoke to see Magmar coming at him with a thunder punch.

"Bulldoze."

Immediately, Blaze slammed his feet into the ground causing it to shake in an attempt to damage Magmar. Ash and Blaze were quick but Blaine was far experienced and in sync with his Magmar. As soon as Blaze slammed into the ground, Magmar jumped up and prepared for his next command.

"Belch."

A simple but effective command given the situation. Ash was beginning to wonder just where exactly Magmar was going to get something to eat until he noticed it chew its mouth.

"Oh no."

Magmar immediately let out a very disturbing sound accompanied by a stench-filled aura of poison energy. The miasma immediately overwhelmed Blaze and slammed into the fire and flying type nailing it in the face. It was an attack that Ash didn't anticipate and it appeared as though the damage done couldn't be ignored.

"Finish it with Thunder punch."

"No. Get up Blaze."

The pseudo dragon was dazed and looked to be blinded by the attack if his indiscriminate attempts at lashing out where anything to go by.

Ash could do nothing as Blaze was nailed in the neck with a thunder punch that was more lethal than it looked. He watched his starter fall for the first time in a real battle and he couldn't help the tears that made way to his eyes.

"BLAZE!"