Chapter 78 Red Lotus Badge
"An Aerodactyl? What a lucky kid."
Blaine, as a Gym Leader in the region, had some inside information about the Grampa Valley establishing a Fossil Pokémon Sanctuary, and among those fossil Pokémon, there were indeed Aerodactyl.
"Arcanine, Fire Blast!"
Arcanine heard the command and spit out a cross-shaped flame attack.
"Aerodactyl, use Agility to dodge downwards, then use Wing Attack!"
Aerodactyl descended rapidly, sweeping past the bottom of the cross-shaped flame, and collided with Arcanine at an extremely high speed.
"Arcanine, quick, Dig to dodge!"
Arcanine rapidly scraped the ground with its front paws, dodging before Aerodactyl's attack arrived.
Fortunately, Blaine's Gym wasn't shoddily built; the battlefield was over ten meters thick. Otherwise, with Arcanine's size, if it dug down, the ground might have collapsed into magma.
"That reaction was fast. Aerodactyl, use Earthquake to force Arcanine out."
Aerodactyl slammed the ground, and a powerful Impact spread outwards from it. Arcanine, which was almost under Aerodactyl, instantly couldn't bear it and jumped out.
The Earthquake move's power doubles against enemies in the Dig state, so Arcanine took a significant amount of damage from that hit.
"This kid's Pokémon are really tough to deal with."
Blaine had never encountered a 'newbie' Trainer like Ash before.
"Aerodactyl, well done! Finish it with Dragon Pulse!"
Hearing Ash's command, Blaine quickly pulled out Arcanine's Poké Ball and shouted, "Wait, this round counts as your win!"
He quickly recalled Arcanine.
No way, even if Arcanine was at full strength, Blaine wouldn't let it take a Dragon Pulse head-on, let alone now that it was injured. If it took another powerful Dragon Pulse, it would at least have to spend a night at the Pokémon Center.
Nowadays, tourism on Cinnabar Island is so developed that the Pokémon Center is full every day, and he didn't want to trouble Nurse Joy.
Seeing this, Ash also recalled Aerodactyl: "Come back, Aerodactyl."
"Mr. Blaine, what's your next Pokémon?"
"What is the hottest flame in the world, the magma within magma, the fiery flame that moves within it?" Blaine posed a riddle.
"The hottest flame isn't necessarily your Magmar. My next Pokémon... it's decided, Charizard!"
Ash didn't wait for the Magmar from under the magma to appear before releasing Charizard.
"Oh, you clever kid. Magmar, come out!"
[Pokémon: Magmar]
[Attribute: Fire]
[Gender: Male]
[Level: Elite Initial]
[Ability: Flame Body]
[Aptitude: Quasi-Champion]
[Skills: Fire Punch, Fire Blast, Flame Vortex, Flamethrower, Sunny Day....]
Charizard's fighting spirit soared upon seeing a Fire-type Pokémon of the same level.
"Magmar, it seems your opponent can't wait. Go, Fire Punch!"
"Charizard, don't lose to it! We'll use Fire Punch too!"
Two pairs of flame-covered fists exchanged fierce blows, punch for punch. After several rounds of clashes, Magmar clearly couldn't withstand Charizard's flames. This was because before Charizard evolved, it consumed a large number of Fire Stones and wore Ho-Oh's Rainbow Feather, so its flames had long surpassed ordinary fire. Even though Magmar was active under magma year-round, its flames still couldn't compare to Charizard's.
"How does Ash's Charizard look even stronger than his Pikachu and Gardevoir?" Gary gritted his teeth.
Although he couldn't tell if Magmar was a quasi-Elite or an Elite, he was certain that this Magmar, as well as the previous Arcanine, far exceeded Gym-level Pokémon.
This also meant that Ash's skill level was above Gym-level, and the more Gary watched, the greater the gap he felt.
"Ash's Charizard is already Elite-level. Although it just entered Elite-level, its strength is completely on par with veteran Elites," Brock said.
Upon hearing this, Gary could hardly believe his ears. "How is that possible!?"
"It's true, Gary. You must have heard of Mega Evolution, right? The two gems on Charizard are the super evolution stones for Charizard's two forms," Misty also spoke up.
"Damn it, Mega Evolution is practically cheating!"
Gary was furious. He also wanted a super evolution stone, but it seemed they were rare in the Kanto region, and he hadn't found one suitable for him. The Pokémon he had that could potentially Mega Evolve were his ace Blastoise, and his Scyther, which hadn't evolved into Scizor yet.
Most importantly, the Mega Evolution battle system hadn't been truly perfected yet. The informed major powers could only secretly collect super evolution stones. Large-scale collection of Mega Evolution would be completely exposed, and in the struggle between major powers, the biggest losses would only be borne by ordinary citizens.
Seeing Magmar injured, Blaine's expression turned serious. He had still underestimated Ash's skill level. "Magmar, create distance and use Fire Blast!"
Magmar threw a heavy punch, forcing Charizard back, then moved backward, accumulating scorching flames in its mouth.
"Charizard, don't give it a chance! Use Flame Charge to rush in, then Thunder Punch!"
Upon hearing this, Charizard was covered in flames, and with a flap of its wings, it burst out at an extremely fast speed.
Seeing Charizard rushing towards it, Magmar clearly panicked.
Charizard's fist, enveloped in strong electricity, heavily struck Magmar's stomach. The accumulated flame energy in Magmar could only be spit out skyward.
Although the punch landed solidly, it didn't end the battle, but Thunder Punch did leave Magmar in a paralyzed state.
"Charizard, now! Finish it with Seismic Toss!" Ash gave his final command.
Charizard understood, grabbed Magmar's two arms, flew up with it, spun twice in mid-air, then dived down, using inertia to heavily smash Magmar into the center of the arena.
Magmar consequently lost its ability to battle.
The battle ended. Blaine recalled Magmar and walked up to Ash: "What is something deep and red?"
"I guess it's the gym badge!" Ash replied.
"Correct!"
Blaine took out a red gym badge. "Ash, your strength is impressive. Do you have a target for your next Gym?"
Ash took the gym badge and said, "Yes, I plan to challenge the strongest Gym in Kanto—the Viridian Gym."
Blaine patted Ash's shoulder: "A good goal. With your strength, you might even win."
"Mr. Blaine, I'll do my best."
Giovanni of the Earth, a Gym Leader with Champion-level strength. Without using Ancient Dragonite and Zapdos, Ash truly didn't have the confidence to consistently defeat Boss Giovanni.
However, if Giovanni used Mewtwo, Ash could try to recall Mew to fight on his behalf.
He still clearly remembered the transaction from five years ago, but if he summoned Mew, Ash's League Coin balance would drop significantly. That guy was not only a vagabond but also a top-tier foodie.
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