On the Road Again

It had been almost a week of journeying, but finally Ash and Misty had arrived in Fuschia City, specifically the entrance to Route 19. They we're headed towards the Seafoam Islands and will be taking the Ferry at the Port.

The Ferry was rather large and a bit pricey, but not as grand as the St. Anne. Ash was in his room, his current roster were all out of their pokéballs. Ash saw it as a time to bond with them as he pondered over what Sabrina had told them about a week ago. He had gotten slightly arrogant, something he must avoid at all costs if he must progress as a trainer. There was no room for arrogance in the life of a good trainer.

His pokémon were the reason that he was where he was and he needed to focus on that. He closed his eyes as he sat stop his bed and began to meditate, something he hadn't done in a long time. He needed it right now as he focused intently.

Blaze watched his trainer as he meditated, he felt his tail flame diminish as he did so. He would make Ash the greatest trainer in this world. That was his plan. He would get stronger for the sake of his trainer. A small yip drew him out of his musings. Glaceon was looking at him with intent.

She barked, something that asked the fire type why he cared so much for Ash. Blaze made his equivalent of a smile as he acknowledged the ice type, replying with a growl that carried all his emotions, telling her that it was something she wouldn't understand, one of those moments that you had to be there to feel it.

Flashback: One Year Ago

After receiving his Charmander from Professor Oak, Ash had gone to a corner of the Ranch to speak with him. As he released the fire type, he nudged him with a hand holding up a treat.

Charmander looked into the eyes of Ash and was met with a pure gaze. Accepting the treat he sat down with the raven-haired kid as both enjoyed each other's company. At this point, Pyro, Red's Charizard flew over the ranch. It radiated power from his very presence.

Ash could hear Blaze growl the words Father. There was a few seconds of silence between the two before Ash spoke up. "Do you dream of being the strongest?"

Charmander turned to look at him as though confused. The little fire type tilted his head to the right as he inclined towards Ash. He made a light growl and Ash understood all too clearly.

"You're my friend. Of course I would understand my friend. But that's not important. Do you want to become the strongest in the world. That's my dream and I want it so bad. Dad says it's a great feeling and someday I'd love to get the thrill of it."

Charmander just continued staring. He growled again as he pointed at his dad. Ash smiled.

"That is possibly the strongest pokémon that the League knows. Can you imagine the amount of power he wields?"

Charmander was awestruck at this. He knew that his father was strong, but the way Ash spoke about it widened Charmander's mindscape to the level of strength that Pyro may just have.

"Charmander…" Ash said trailing off as he called the fire type's attention who turned to look at him. "You know… I'm your trainer now and it is my job to get you to that top. What say you? Do you accept?" Ash extended a hand towards the fire type as he said this. Charmander looked at the hand and tapped it slightly in acceptance.

"Do you know what this means?" Ash asked him.

Charmander inclined his head to say no before growling to ask. "It means that from today on we share a bond of friends… not just friends, best friends. That today we share the same goal to get to the top and relish it, and on this I promise to carry out this with the best of my abilities."

There was a growl.

"We'll travel to different places and train together."

Another growl.

"We'll get stronger and fight stronger opponents."

Another growl.

"We'll come out on top and be the best."

Another more excited growl.

"Yes, yes. There'll be food."

Both burst out laughing as that marked the start of a friendship unlike any.

The next day, Charmander challenged Pyro and was humiliated by him. He ran towards a forest behind Pallet Town with Ash chasing after him. When Ash found him, he was in tears. Ash sat down beside Charmander and calmed him down.

After calming down, Charmander accused Ash of lying. Ash chuckled when he caught on to what Charmander was saying.

"I understand you, but you don't get strong because you want to. You have to train to get there."

Charmander growled at him while making large gestures.

"No. That wasn't the training. Training takes time and effort and dedication. It doesn't happen overnight. We'll have to work for it."

Charmander's eyes widened in realization before nodding solemnly in understanding. It was at this point that Red stepped in to meet them.

Red congratulated Charmander for having the guts to challenge his father to a battle. Charmander seemed happy at that. Red proceeded to congratulate Ash for reprimanding Pyro for being too harsh. Before going away, Red turned to Charmander and whispered to his hearing. "You have potential. Help my son be the best."

After leaving, Charmander turned to look at Ash, the boy that reprimanded his father for being harsh with him. Charmander smiled, he would like this boy.

However, it wasn't until nine months later that Charmander's trust in Ash would truly increase. It was raining and Charmander was not around. After wondering where his pokémon had gone, Ash used aura sight to try and locate the fire type. After searching, Ash traced his whereabouts to the forest behind the ranch.

Ash went after him to find Charmander facing a Fearow. It was quite surprising because the location was a far deal away from the forest entrance. The nine year old immediately rushed in to protect his starter.

Fearow shrieked and attacked, slamming a beak into the ground as Charmander dodged the attack. Ash tried desperately to convince Charmander to run to which he replied that it wasn't his style. Sticking with his starter, they fought against the Fearow and Charmander ended up defeating it with a newly perfected Dragon rush. After the attack, Charmander's tail flame surged as he evolved to become a Charmeleon. He collapsed on the ground, exhausted and Ash was forced to drag him back to the house and nurse him back to health on his own. Since then, Charmeleon had sworn loyalty to Ash, something that he doesn't tell the boy.

Flashback End

Blaze smiled to himself after the reminiscing, something that Ash noticed.

"What is it Blaze?"

The fire type just ignored his trainer as he shrugged.

Ash in turn ignored his starter. "I wonder what we could do today," Ash said out loud. The boy was bored beyond the normal. They were on a ferry and that meant that they could not train, and Ash was struggling to keep up with what to do. However, a thought presented itself to him. "How about a bath?" Ash asked. His pokémon all turned to look at him before they burst into small talk as they considered it. After a while they all agreed.

"Okay everybody," Ash started in a comical manner. "Line up while I get the bath ready."

Well each room came equipped with a sizeable bathroom. And the bathtub was large enough to fit two grown men comfortably. Ash had no doubt that it could contain his pokémon, and so he began. He filled the tub about a two thirds with water. He brought out the different lotions that he had in his bag and placed them on the ground, alongside some grooming equipment.

"So who's first?" he asked. He watched his pokémon look at each other before Golduck stepped forward. The water type got into the bath and settled down, happy that he was at home in his element.

Ash faced the water type, gently scrubbing the shoulders of Golduck who seemed to be enjoying the scrub. Ash smiled as he looked at the Duck Pokémon. Ash had always wondered if Espeon and Golduck were related. They both had gems on their forehead that were roughly the same in colour.

"Golduck," Ash called, getting the attention of the Duck.

"I think it's time we up your training to the next level." Now this Golduck was interested in.

"It's about time you start using your powers to their fullest extent." Golduck nodded. "However, that's when we arrive at the Seafoam Islands."

After that, Ash continued in his cleanup of Golduck. He was happy with this moment. He needed to bond with his pokémon. Golduck quacked as Ash finished scrubbing him.

The water type instinctively got out of the tub and curled up into a ball on the ground. Ash smiled. He turned to the room to look at the rest of his pokémon. Before he could say a word however, Zorua stepped forward. She jumped into the bath tub and immediately soaked herself. She tossed and turned in the tub and splashed water on Ash's face. Ash smiled. He began to scrub her.

As he did, he remembered that he hadn't asked her if she wanted a name. "Hey Zorua."

The Dark type turned to him as she looked into his eyes.

"Would you like a name?"

A name. Now Zorua hadn't thought about that before. A name. She would like it. Then she wouldn't be like other Zorua, she would be… whatever her name was. She nodded her head.

Ash at this point, with a smile on his face, began to think of a good enough name. The first ones to enter his head were related to magic, something that pertained to Zorua's illusion ability. He shook his head against the thought and pondered once more.

"How about… Shade."

Shade. Was it a name she wanted. She shook her head.

Okay. So that was a know. "Ooh, Night."

She gave him a look and nodded happily. "Night it is then." And he went back to scrubbing her.

This entire bath time thing went on for about two hours as he went through each member of his team. He had enjoyed it, spending time like this, though things got a little messy when Blastoise got in. He refused to take off his glasses and continuously blasted Ash in the face with a water gun all the while posing as of taking pictures. It was hilarious.

Primeape was even interested in taking the bath. That was just great. The fighting type was warming up to Ash and the raven-haired trainer was thinking of involving him in more battles.

After he was done with their cleaning, he took his bathe too and collapsed on his bed. As he hit the bed, a thought entered his head. It was Team Rocket. It just hit him that he had no information on the dangerous organisation. He at least needed to know how they operated to take them on.

"Xceed," he called to his Xtransceiver. "Send message to James asking him the full details of Team Rocket and nothing should be left out." There was a ding that let Ash know that the message had been sent.

His entire team was lying down on the ground as they chatted amongst themselves.

Blaze was lying down pretending to sleep as Glaceon continuously asked him various questions. Blastoise and Golduck were sprawled out together in what looked to be an arm wrestling match. Ash swore he heard "six out of ten".

Riolu was… meditating. Ash was surprised, though it was to be expected. The fighting type had the desire to get stronger. After seeing Blaze fight the last few times, he just could not wait. Zorua was grooming herself. Clefable was with Emerald. Perhaps opposites do attract, Ash thought to himself.

Primeape was doing push-ups. Ash smiled. The fighting type didn't want to be left behind. During the journey to the port, he had lost a battle against Butterfree. It was close but he lost. He was pissed with himself and now he was during routines to help him get stronger. He was the leader of the Primeape before Ash caught him and now he wanted to be one of the leaders here.

Tyrunt was just lazing about. Ash wasn't much concerned about him as he didn't expect his evolution anytime soon. King's Species pokémon took time to grow. Gary was lucky his Arcanine only needed a fire stone.

Ash then diverted his attention to Scizor who was staring out the window, apparently lost in his thoughts, something the bug type rarely did.

Ash smiled as he awaited, James's message.

It came about an hour and a half later. It was a message. "Hi Ash… how's it going. Hope you are well. Love to battle you soon. By the way, I don't fully understand the intents of your message, but I understand you. Below is a video."

Ash tapped play and Xceed shifted into a wider holographic screen. It showed James. The lavender-haired trainer waved at the camera.

Ash was quiet after watching the video. His pokémon had watched it with him and so they had a rough knowledge on it's working.

James had stated that he didn't know the leader except that it was a lady. The lavender-haired trainer had also stated that Team Rocket had Admins. Administrators that lead a part of Team Rocket's manpower. The ones he knew where Proton, Petrel, Pierce and Archer. Proton was the Grunt Commander. Basically all the Grunts, including the Grunt Leader responded to him. So in an off sense, he was a military commander.

Petrel was the Admin head. He was the one that instructed the Admins and each one of them respects him because of his superior battling skills.

Pierce and Archer were front Admins. They carried out field work when the manpower is insufficient. They were the ones that handled business meetings first before the others were involved.

James had also mentioned that Team Rocket had about four special squads to carry out their tasks. They were the Xforce, a squad that performed Pokémon Capture Operations, just like what Sonia had done at Lavender Town. The Gamma Squad, that performed Recon missions, typically when Team Rocket wants to acquire something or take over an area. The Beta Squad that performed Spying and Escort missions. Ash understood that. Finally, the Alpha Squad. A squad of skilled assassins that were Admin level.

Team Rocket boasted a wide array of researchers and few scientists. Men that are very knowledgeable about the pretexts of the Pokémon world. Apparently undercover operatives weren't far from them either. They were everywhere. The Police, the Gyms, Companies, so long as it was anything that was of value to Team Rocket.

Then there was the source of income. A wide array of income sources ranging from poaching to illegal businesses.

Their leader knew what she was doing and damn was she good. The St. Anne was a major blow to the League, but Ash could tell one thing was for certain. They were not going to surface anytime soon. At least not now and the thought of their existence worried him greatly. A fight now would mean a loss for both sides something that Team Rocket was not ready to deal with so they resorted to petty crimes to make their name stand out. Smart.

The raven-haired trainer was now on going through his Xtransceiver to update a few things here and there. He would spend a week in the Seafoam Islands as there were somethings he had to work on.

He felt his back hit the bed as he looked up his team on the Xtransceiver. He was going to plan their training according to a plan that he had forgotten a while ago.

He currently had sixteen pokémon, an amount he pretty much agreed was okay at the moment. He had no plans on catching a new pokémon in the next year. This team was the one he would use to take on the Indigo League. Things would actually be tough from the next year, basically because the extra year meant more training and the fact that very soon all Gym leaders would be required to teach at least three students every year, yep… things would be tougher.

Koga had told him something and the Ninja had a point. Making use of a pokémon's body in battle was an energy-saver. It was hard to carry out, but if done properly, the pokémon would have more ways to use its skills in battle.

That was enough reminiscing he thought to himself. The weakest pokémon he had was definitely Porygon. Ash had to admit that he knew next to nothing about the species, but he wasn't going to just let it go to waste. He had left Porygon at the Corral but no doubt the Normal type wouldn't want to fight. He took out Dexter and looked up Porygon. He took a look at the Normal type's info as he fed his brain knowledge. Ash paused a bit as he took in the knowledge and formulated a training pattern, but first he had to figure out what kind of battle style it had. Then it was now a moment of teaching it the move psychic. The boy had discovered that Porygon had a knack for learning psychic moves. Another thing was speed. Ash loved pokémon that were fast… not necessarily restricted to moving. Even attack launching would suffice. He would have to work on that.

The next pokémon was Riolu. Yeah, he had Ash thinking a lot. Riolu needed to train fast and hard. It was hard training that actually causes them to reach their final stage. Riolu also had lots and lots of energy and he has displayed time and time again that he can be strong. Riolu was a diligent battler, kind of similar to Scizor but he didn't have defense to back him up. He had to be trained like a true martial artist, and in doing so, Ash had to learn some skills because Riolu was his aura partner, basically. So that was it… Riolu was going to work on his physical skills and power.

Emerald was sadly the next. Ash feared that he had neglected the dragon type. Well dragon types were pretty difficult to train, but Ash was amazed that he had tried with the dragon. He was still figuring out how best to maximize the dragon type's skill. He would work on the dragon type's movement. It wasn't as fluid as he would want it to be. The boy hoped that the training would be effective.

The next pokémon on his list so happened to be Zorua. She was strong enough to defend herself, but she wouldn't be able to take on stronger opponents. It had taken everything to fight Koga's Arbok and even then she had lost. He definitely had to work on her attack. She was fast so she just needed to be able to hit so hard that the opponent feels it. She would be focusing on refining her attacks.

Beedrill was the next. She was strong but she lacked the ability to hit hard. Hard as Ash wanted her to hit. She was strong but not as he wanted. She would be working on her attack power also, and then her defense. A solid hit from Blaze may just be able to put her out of commission. That was his problem with her defense. A well experienced battler would be able to exploit her with ease. He needed her to be able to take more attacks and also attack very hard.

Tyrunt in particular needed refinement behind his moves. He had the raw power to carry his moves but they were not technically sufficient to Ash's design. Another thing was that his power mostly stemmed from the fact that he has the King's Species gene and that was not good. Tyrunt needed to have his own power. He would b working on strengthening his moves and then refining his techniques.

Clefable was balanced well enough. Ash had at least made sure of it to a certain extent. He was worried though about her resistance to effective moves. That was something she needed to work on. He was confident enough to believe that Primeape would take her on in a one-on-one battle and win. He felt the need to teach her how to battle like a fighter and not just relying on her moves for the now. She had a lot of trouble outmaneouvering opponents and it would cost her in the long run.

Primeape was a head-on battler Ash could tell from his battle with Blaze. Even when he was on the defense, he did not back down. In order for him to do that he would need to build up some solid resistance. His power was high Ash could tell. Especially after the mega punch he nailed Blaze with. For now resistance would suffice.

Butterfree was just behind Volt and that was because he had a type advantage over him and his shiny gene. Butterfree had a nice grasp on his special abilities and Ash had to hand it to him, the bug type was good. Physically not so much and that therein lied the problem. For the training he would have Butterfree practice his physical moves enough for him to be able to fight with only physical moves.

Volt was… balanced to a point. He had speed and definitely been an electric type, he had accuracy to back it up. He had power, both physical and special. But he lacked defense. He's defense so far was reliant on him been a shiny pokémon. That needed to be fixed and he would be receiving a beat down to increase his physical parameters. If he hadn't been a shiny pokémon, most of his moves may have just been too much for his little body to handle. Blaze would help with that.

Ash's next pokémon was Golduck. Golduck was Ash's second fastest pokémon and definitely the fastest in water. Golduck needed to work on his evasion skills and he needed to utilize that streamlined body of his to become more fluid. It was considerably easy to work on and the Duck was going to do it.

Next came Glaceon who needed work on her ice moves. Ash wanted her to get more in tune with the element. He wanted to improve how fast she could form ice and if all goes well, she would be releasing them as fast as Blaze forms his flames. That and she needed to work on her physical parameters too. Something Blaze would help with… again.

Scizor would also be working with Blaze and he would be working on his resistances especially to fire. The bug type had attack power that Ash loved and if he could learn how to secrete the Light Metal hormones then speed was pretty much covered. What is left is to build his resistance, especially to flames and that is what he would be doing.

Venusaur and Blastoise would be working together. They were going to be tankers so seeing as Blastoise had learnt Blizzard. They would be going neck and neck with those. Ash wanted them to spar with grass and ice moves from both sides and they would have to tank it for as long as they can. That way their defense would build up, and especially Venusaur. The grass type would be more of a tanker than Blastoise because he lacked the general mobility. Glaceon would have to join in and Blaze too… maybe.

Blaze on the other hand would be working on all three forms of transportation. Aerial, ground and sea mobility. He had heard that the league would have different fields to make up more of a competition and he needed a way for Blaze to be able to handle it. He would teach the other but he had to start with Blaze who was his go-to for battles. In case he ever got attacked and his wings taken out he needed to be able to move on the ground or in water as the case may be. Blaze is much slower on the ground now as a result of evolution. Ash wanted his starter to be able to move with speed on the ground and that was going to be it.

That was the plan. He saved the notes in the Xtransceiver and lay down for a while

Morning had come and they had arrived at the Seafoam Island. A week of training would do them good here.

He and Misty soon began the trek to the Pokémon Center which wasn't very far off.

Seafoam Island is a tropical resort located South of Fuschia City and East of Cinnabar Island. A relaxation spot for trainers and pokémon alike with most people opting to go surfing. The Island had an abundance of water pokémon unlike any in Kanto.

Misty was excited. Water pokémon were flourishing everywhere. She planned on relaxing at the beach and having fun today. Ash's plan was different. He was going deep into the forest to train his pokémon, something that Misty understood, though she told him to come join her to relax a little bit later.

The raven-haired trainer just nodded as he made his way to the forest areas after signing up for a room. He bade Misty farewell.

After walking a fair amount of distance, Ash had arrived at a suitably large clearing that he could use for training. Ultimately he decided against it as he needed to find one that was close to a body of water.

After searching for another half hour, Ash finally saw a clearing that was close to a small lake. Nodding his head, he took off his backpack and released his pokémon.

"Okay you guys. We are going to be spending the next week training. I have worked out a training regime for you guys and we'll be sticking to it for our battle against Blaine."

Just like Ash, his pokémon were always so eager and responsive when it was time to train.

"Okay then, warm up yourselves while I get things ready. Everybody split up." The clearing was rather large so what he wanted to do could be easily accomplished.

He decided to scope out the area around his clearing a bit. While it would have been relatively easy for him to use the Pokémon Center's Field, he wanted to go all out so that he could avoid destroying the area. Sabrina had gone easy on him in their battle, given that she didn't use more advanced pokémon.

He was also pretty lucky in that battle. Blaine and Giovanni wouldn't have the same thoughts. Giovanni loved people who could challenge him and Blaine was a former Elite Four before he retired due to old age, handing over the position before settling in Cinnabar as a Gym Leader.

He called Blaze and got on the Charizard's back. He gestured to the skies and the fire type took off. "Now buddy. We're going to scope out the area a little bit, so that we don't run into unwelcomed company."

Blaze nodded as he took his time gliding so that Ash could get a proper view of the area. Ash could see the multiple clearings around the area. Seafoam Island was beautiful he had to admit. It had that vacation vibe to it.

"How's about we gather some berries?" Blaze nodded. He liked the sound of that. The fire type began to slowly descend to choose a spot for the berry gathering when he spotted something approaching, fast.

The Charizard ducked under the torrent of flames and roared. Without a warning he made way towards the direction, dodging past another one and sending an ear-splitting roar that seemed to shake the trees.

It was met by another roar that wasn't as powerful. He recognized the roar as that of a Charizard. A young one. Ash shifted his vision into Aura sight as he identified the threat. It was a Charizard like Blaze. "Move in. Don't attack."

Like a projectile, the fire type landed in the clearing issuing a threat to whatever was in his way. His eyes made for the Charizard and they narrowed. This was what dared to challenge him. How idiotic.

"What's the big idea?" Ash said to the Charizard and something funny happened. It looked at him as though in recognition. It knew him, or at least had seen him. "Stand down Blaze." Ash looked around the clearing. No one was there and there was definitely no way that this Charizard was wild.

"Zippo!" a voice called in a shout, followed by footsteps and then from the forest canopies stepped-

"Ritchie," Ash said as he saw the boy.

"Ash!" the boy said looking at his mate. "Good to see you!" he said as he ran over to the boy not even noting the huge fire type that stood behind him.

"Hey Ritchie," Ash said as he took the boy's hand, returning the extended handshake.

"How you been Ash? How's the life of a trainer? How's your journey? Beat any gyms yet?"

"Woah, slowdown," Ash said as he looked at the boy. Blaze chuckled as he growled to himself. The boy was just too excited.

"Sorry about that. It's just so good to see ya."

"Same here. I see you now have a Charizard."

"Yeah. He evolved a few days back."

"Nice to see that."

"Yeah and- wait is that your Charizard?"

Blaze was slightly taken aback. So the brunette hadn't noticed him since. The boy may just be looney in the head.

"Yep that's Blaze."

"That's Zippo. Say hi," Ritchie said to the fire type who had his eyes fixed on Blaze. He waved his hands as he acknowledged Ash and then turned back to stare at Blaze.

"Oh I know," Ritchie started. "How about a battle?"

"A battle?"

"Yeah. Charizard vs Charizard."

"I don't know. I mean your Charizard just evolved."

"I know but he's plenty strong. He might even beat Blaze."

Blaze was gobsmacked. That was preposterous. He growled.

Zippo smirked as he proceeded to do something stupid. He shot a flamethrower into the air as if to show off Blaze.

Blaze was about to respond when Ash intervened. "Stand down."

"Come on Ash just a one-on-one. Zippo's been looking for a good enough fight in a long while."

Ash turned towards Blaze, asking the fire type silently. Blaze was happy. His entire body expression was saying yes to the challenge. It was something that Ash feared.

"Fine I accept. A one-on-one."

"Yes. Zippo I choose you."

"Let's do this Blaze."

Both fire types made their way towards their respective trainers, staring at the opposition as they did so. Blaze was amused at the challenge to be sincere. He would knock Zippo down a peg or two.

"Don't you dare," Ash told him. "Restrain yourself." Blaze turned to Ash almost in a pleading look.

"I mean it."

"Are you ready Ash?"

"Yeah. Ready. Have the first move."

"Okay. Flamethrower."

Zippo with all eagerness shot a torrent of flames at Blaze, much like the one earlier. Blaze held up his hands to block but Ash stopped him.

"I want a little display of strength. Take to the skies and Dodge all his attacks. Let's psyche them out." Blaze was about to refute when-

"Just think of it as training. You're maintaining yourself in the air for long periods of time and don't act like you don't need it."

Blaze could not argue with that logic. He took off to the skies as he easily avoided the flames. Zippo responded by spewing another torrent of flames which much to his chagrin, Blaze dodged.

Ritchie quickly ordered a switch. "Fire blast." Zippo shot the orb of fire that slowly morphed into something bigger.

Blaze sidestepped to dodge the flames further irritating his opponent. Ritchie ordered a thunder punch from Zippo and the fire type launched itself into the air at Blaze. Ash smirked as his starter evaded the attack.

"Are you not going to attack?" Ritchie asked the raven-haired trainer.

Ash smiled. "If you get a shot in then I'll attack."

"Don't look down on Zippo. He's holding back."

"Please don't," Ash encouraged him.

"Your funeral. Zippo smokescreen and thunder punch."

Blaze watched in amusement as Zippo spewed a stream of smoke to mask himself, the last thing Blaze seeing been a spark of electricity.

He took in a deep breath and flapped his wing hard, clearing the smoke.

Ritchie was slightly shocked. "Mega punch."

"Fight back. No moves."

Zippo's right hand glowed white as he charged Blaze. The fire type responded by meeting Zippo head on as he ducked under the punch and headbutted the Charizard. Before Zippo could regain balance, Blaze slammed his tail into his head and climbed up.

Zippo shook himself as he landed to rest his wings. He had just evolved and hence they weren't strong. "Continuous flamethrower."

Zippo opened his mouth to unleash stream after stream of flames at Blaze who just danced around as he avoided the flames all the while in the air.

"Let's end this." Blaze flew down to level with Zippo who ran at him with an electrified fist.

"Meet him with thunder punch."

Blaze's hand became electrified as both he and Zippo clashed sending Sparks flying. Both pokémon took damage from the shock that jolted throughout their entire body, Zippo moreso than Blaze.

"Flamethrower."

"Flamethower."

Both flames clashed in a fight for dominance with Blaze's pushing through to nail Zippo in the face.

"Aerial ace."

Ritchie was surprised to see Blaze take to the sky, enveloped in a white light. He called out the only move that Zippo knew that could handle it. "Air cutter."

Zippo brought his wings to the front as he slashed the air as if in a cutting manner in front of him. The result was razor sharp air that slammed into Blaze.

The fire type took the attack head on before slamming into Zippo with aerial ace, sending the fire type into the ground.

He took to the sky again as he thought back on what happened. The Charizard had guts. Using aerial ace had left Blaze open to attack.

"Zippo use dragon rage."

The fire type had gotten up and had channeled his rage into draconic energy, sending it flying at Blaze who once again barreled out of the way as he launched his own back at Zippo.

"Dodge," came the command from Ritchie and the fire type jumped above the attack. "After him with metal claw."

Zippo's hand attained a metallic sheen as he charged for Blaze. "Flamethrower."

This time, Blaze responded with his own torrent of flames that slammed into Zippo and threw him off balance.

"Reinforced Dragon pulse."

Blaze opened his maw as he formed a dragon pulse that slowly began to be engulfed in flames. He sent it towards Zippo who was able to dodge the attack, but the small explosion shook him slightly.

"Dragon breath." Zippo charged the attack and launched it at Blaze who took the attack head on to display his power.

A powerful thunder punch slammed into Zippo and sent the fire type into the ground once again. Another one impacted the fire type once again for good measure.

Zippo was beaten but he was not out just yet. His tail flame burned brighter and hotter as Blaze kicked in.

Zippo shot off with renewed power and rage. He shot a flamethrower at Blaze who decided that it was time to not hold back.

Blaze shot his own torrent of flames at the attack. They exploded covering the sky with smoke. Zippo barreled into Blaze from the smoke sending both of them out.

Blaze held Zippo and turned so that he was above the fire type before launching him at the ground. He took to the skies and launched an even hotter flamethrower at Zippo's fallen form.

The fire type dove out of the way before shooting back at Blaze. Blaze smiled as his fists sparked even fiercer than before as he smashed s fist into Zippo's face. The impact rocked the fire type's skull.

"Recall him before Blaze does something far worse!" Ash yelled back.

"Nope. We're about to beat you. I am not."

"Recall him Ritchie."

"Nope. Flamethrower!"

Zippo's mouth opened up as a flamethrower made its way towards Blaze.

"That's it. Dragon rush."

Blaze shot out of the way of the flamethrower as his body became enveloped in draconic energy that coated his entire body. He blitzed through the sky as he slammed into Zippo. Ash swore he heard bone crack.

Ritchie paused himself as Zippo's limp body impacted the ground.

"Why did you not recall him?!" Ash shouted as he rushed to the aid of the fire type.

Ritchie wasn't having this. The boy made a bee line for Ash and shoved the boy away.

"Leave!" his voice was clear and frankly, Ash wasn't having it.

"Blaze." The fire type crouched low to let his trainer on and took off. Ash looked at Ritchie one more time before he turned away.

"I told him to recall him." Blaze just growled back at his trainer.

"I know. I know. It's just that it feels weird."

Blaze spat flames to his side and growled, something skin to a snicker.

"I know you don't care and frankly I shouldn't have any reason to either, but-"

This time the growl came quicker. "Okay fine. I'll focus on training."

Blaze set them down on the ground as he looked at his pokémon with proud faces.

"Let's get this show on the road."