In the plaza, Ash was about to have a long-awaited battle with Aomori.
Aomori sent out the seemingly harmless Ditto, which proceeded to defeat Ash's Pidgeot, Caterpie, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu in succession. In the end, it engaged in a battle of "acting skills" with the Electric Mouse, and both fell to the ground exhausted simultaneously.
"Aomori-san is so strong. Even before, Ash didn't lose this badly. Why does it feel like despite all his growth, he's doing worse than before?" Misty asked, puzzled.
"It's because Ash isn't the only one growing; Aomori-san clearly underwent a lot of training at the Saffron Gym as well," Brock replied. "Everyone is progressing, not just Ash."
"True. Others aren't going to just stand still and wait for Ash to catch up," Misty added.
Ash, faced with a fresh realization of his own abilities, couldn't help but feel discouraged. He pulled out his last Poké Ball and tossed it: "I'm counting on you, Charizard!"
"Roar!" As soon as Charizard appeared, it let out a roar and immediately blasted Ash with a massive Flamethrower.
"Sigh, I knew this would happen," Misty said, covering her face in exasperation.
Seeing this, Aomori smiled and asked, "Ash, have you still not tamed your Charizard?"
"No, no, this is just a special way of communicating between me and Charizard!" Ash said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, seemingly unfazed by having his face charred. "Isn't that right, Charizard?"
Charizard snorted, looking up at the sky and completely ignoring Ash.
"Charizard, please! This opponent is very strong. I need your help," Ash pleaded humbly. Charizard remained utterly unmoved.
"How can a Trainer be more submissive than their Pokémon?" Aomori shook his head and released his Shiny Charizard, which had just swept the previous match.
The moment the Shiny Charizard appeared, Ash's Charizard immediately felt the pressure. Its expression turned solemn as it stared at this fellow species member who stood significantly taller than itself.
"Charizard, show your little brother who the real Charizard is," Aomori instructed.
"ROAR!" The Shiny Charizard let out a thunderous cry, releasing its fierce aura without restraint. The intimidation factor was off the charts.
The smaller Charizard was startled into taking two steps back, but it quickly recovered, its face flushing red with indignation. Proud as it was, it felt disgraced by its own moment of retreat. The only way to wash away that shame was to defeat the enemy before it.
Without waiting for Ash's command, the smaller Charizard flapped its wings, took to the air, and charged at the Shiny Charizard, reaching out with sharp claws to slash at it.
The Shiny Charizard's mouth twitched into a contemptuous smirk. It raised a long, muscular arm and precisely pressed its hand against the smaller Charizard's head. This immediately halted the smaller bird's momentum; no matter how hard it struggled, it couldn't get closer, its short arms flailing helplessly in the air.
It tried to spin and whip its large tail, but the Shiny Charizard was a step faster, slamming its own tail into the smaller one and sending it tumbling across the ground.
"Charizard!" Ash yelled. "Calm down! Listen to my lead!"
But Charizard was blinded by rage. It saw nothing but the Shiny Charizard and ignored Ash entirely. Struggling to its feet, it spat out a massive burst of fire.
The Shiny Charizard countered with its own Flamethrower.
The two pillars of fire collided in the center. After a brief instant, the Shiny Charizard's larger flame gained overwhelming dominance, striking the smaller Charizard directly.
Boom!
Following a loud explosion, the smaller Charizard lay on the ground, unable to battle.
"The winner is Aomori-san!" Brock announced.
"Charizard..." Ash rushed over, touching Charizard's scarred body before recalling it into its Poké Ball.
"Ash, let's get them to the Pokémon Center for treatment first," Misty reminded him.
"Right!" Ash immediately sprinted toward the Pokémon Center.
"Charizard, good job. You get extra treats tonight," Aomori encouraged his Pokémon before recalling it. He then followed Ash along with Brock and Misty.
…
"Your Pokémon only have superficial wounds. After a night of treatment, they should be fine. Come back tomorrow to pick them up."
Inside the Pokémon Center, a pink-haired girl in a white coat spoke to a worried Ash.
"Thank you, Nurse Joy!" Ash finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Pika!" The energetic Pikachu comforted Ash.
Nearby, Aomori silently observed Nurse Joy. This was his first time meeting one of the beings listed as one of the "Ten Great Mysteries of the Pokémon World." The Joy and Jenny families definitely harbored big secrets, but Aomori didn't have the time to investigate.
The group stayed at the Pokémon Center. Since Aomori had an ID processed by Sabrina, he could stay for free. After dinner, they sat together to chat.
"Ash, simply humoring a Pokémon isn't a good way to handle things." Aomori pointed at his Shiny Charizard, which was currently devouring a meal. "When I first caught it, it was also unruly and refused my orders. But now?"
"Charizard, get over here."
With Aomori's calm command, the Shiny Charizard dropped its food and came "rolling" over eagerly. It even stuck its tongue out and rubbed its face against Aomori's hand like a loyal pet.
Ash and the others were dumbfounded. They couldn't reconcile this "derpy" version of the Shiny Charizard with the domineering beast from the battle earlier.
"So cool!" Ash's eyes sparkled. "Aomori-san, how did you do it?"
"Yeah, yeah! I want to know too!" Misty added eagerly, thinking of her own Gyarados.
Aomori patted the Shiny Charizard's head, telling it to go back to eating. "It's simple. You just have to be more dominant than it is. Every time it threw a tantrum, I fought it. Whoever wins gets to give the orders. After a few times, it didn't dare act out anymore."
"F-fight a Charizard?" Misty stammered. "Is that something a human can do?" The thought of standing before the gaping maw of a Gyarados made her legs shake.
"You don't necessarily have to win; you just have to let it feel your resolve." Recalling what he learned from Sabrina, Aomori continued, "There are many ways to build a bond with Pokémon. We need to choose different methods based on their unique personalities."
"That's a very insightful point," Brock said thoughtfully. As an aspiring Pokémon Breeder, those words gave him great inspiration.
"Alright! Tomorrow, I'll have a showdown with Charizard to let it understand my feelings!" Ash declared, his trust in Aomori absolute.
"Are you sure about this?" Misty still felt uneasy.
"Don't worry. With me here, Ash won't be in any life-threatening danger," Aomori said with a smile.
No life-threatening danger... so there's other kinds of danger? Misty grew even more worried. But once Ash made up his mind, not even a team of Tauros could pull him back.
…
In the middle of the night, Aomori opened his eyes and suddenly vanished from the room. Ash and Brock remained fast asleep, completely unaware.
Only a grey Pokémon emerged from the shadows near Ash. Its lantern-like eyes glanced at Aomori's empty bed before it retreated back into the shadows. It didn't notice that another pair of eyes was watching it from a dark corner.
Outside the Pokémon Center, in front of a large tree, Aomori looked up. "Come on down."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Three figures dropped from the tree, kneeling on one knee.
"Jessie,"
"James,"
"Meowth,"
"At your service, Aomori-sama!"
"Stand up, stand up," Aomori said with a smile. "It's been a while."
"It has!" Tears welled up in their eyes, and drool unintentionally leaked from the corners of their mouths. "It's been so long since that feast you treated us to. We've missed you so much!" As they spoke, their stomachs let out loud growls.
"I remember Team Rocket's benefits being quite good. Why do you look so gaunt and half-starved?" Aomori shook his head and pulled three large chicken drumsticks from his pocket. "Luckily, I hid some while preparing midnight snacks for my Pokémon. Here, they're yours."
"Thank you, Aomori-sama!" The overjoyed trio snatched the drumsticks and devoured them. In no time, the meat was gone, leaving only bones.
"I haven't had such a delicious meal in ages," James said, letting out a satisfied burp.
"Mm-hmm, so good!" Jessie licked every bit of grease off her fingers. "Can't let any of it go to waste."
"You guys, chicken bones are very nutritious too, meow," Meowth lectured, having swallowed its bones whole.
After finishing the "feast," they began to cry to Aomori. "Aomori-sama, all our funding has been spent on trying to catch that kid's Pikachu, but we haven't succeeded yet."
"Of course. If it were that easy to catch, I would have done it myself," Aomori said seriously. "This is a test from the Boss. Don't you dare give up."
"We definitely won't! We've spent so much on Pikachu; we can't quit until we get a return on our investment!"
"Good." Aomori praised them, then asked, "I heard there might be some trouble at headquarters recently. Do you know what's going on?"
The trio looked confused and shook their heads. "We haven't been back in a long time. We don't know what's happening."
"I see." Since there was no intel, Aomori brought up the topic of Ho-Oh. "I've learned through certain channels that Ash has the Rainbow Wing. He plans to go to Mount Tensei to summon the legendary Pokémon, Ho-Oh. When the time comes, I want you to coordinate with me to take Ho-Oh down."
"A legendary Pokémon?"
"Ho-Oh?"
"As expected of Aomori-sama, meow. Your targets are always so high-level."
The trio spoke with admiration, promising to cooperate fully. "With us there, we guarantee you'll capture Ho-Oh, sir!"
It's exactly because you'll be there that I can safely challenge it, Aomori thought with a secret smile. If he actually captured it, that would be a headache. It wasn't impossible that Arceus itself might show up. Capture the Llama too? Aomori wasn't that overconfident yet.
After finalizing the battle plan with Team Rocket, Aomori returned to his room.
…
Early the next morning, Ash retrieved his Pokémon from Nurse Joy and released them all in the yard.
"Pidgeot, Caterpie, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, I'm so glad you're all okay!" Ash smiled as his Pokémon gathered around him.
However, the healed Charizard ignored Ash and instead approached Aomori, pointing at the Poké Ball on his belt.
"You want another round with him?" Aomori asked.
"Roar," Charizard nodded.
"Wait a minute, Charizard!" Recalling his decision from the night before, Ash ran in front of Charizard and stared directly into its eyes. "I am your Master. I haven't agreed to this."
Charizard ignored Ash, keeping its gaze fixed on Aomori.
"Charizard, fight me instead! If I lose, I'll let you challenge Aomori-san. If I win, you have to listen to me. How about it?" Ash shouted, pointing right at Charizard's snout.
"?" Charizard thought it had misheard, even digging at its ear.
"You heard me right! Fight me, Charizard!"
Sensing Ash's seriousness, Charizard felt no shift in its heart and simply spat a burst of fire at him. Ash braced against the flames and lunged forward, hugging Charizard tightly. "Your fire doesn't work on me anymore!" he gritted through his teeth.
"ROAR!" Charizard thrashed its body, but Ash held on with a death grip. Failing to shake him off, Charizard was actually pushed off balance and nearly fell.
Getting frustrated, Charizard whipped its tail, striking Ash repeatedly.
"Charizard, I am absolutely not letting go, and I'm not giving up!" Ash said, enduring the pain.
"Ash!"
"Pika!"
Misty and the others cried out in worry as they watched the tail strike Ash over and over.
"Charizard, I know I'm still weak. It's natural for you to look down on me. But my desire to become stronger isn't any weaker than yours! You really want to beat that Shiny Charizard, right? Me too! I want to beat Aomori-san, beat every strong opponent, and become a Pokémon Master! So let's work together. I swear, I will make you the strongest Pokémon in the world!"
"Charizard... can you feel my resolve?" Ash's voice grew fainter as his strength failed. He finally let go and slid down from Charizard's body.
Just as he was about to hit the ground, a pair of strong arms caught him.
Ash opened his eyes and saw Charizard standing over him, tears streaming down its face.
It remembered. It remembered how it had been saved by Ash when it was so weak it had been abandoned by others. It remembered huddling together for warmth in the snow cave. It remembered all the days they had fought side-by-side.
"Charizard... are you willing to fight by my side again?"
"Roar!" (Yes, I am.)
————
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