We are a Team

Dedicated to Alex Warlorn for inspiring me to write this!


He heard them approaching before seeing their silhouettes within the ruin hall. Their footsteps echoed through the tunnel and around the wide chamber of ancient stone. Patiently, he waited and watched the shadowed figures draw near.

Then he heard excitement as one of them noticed his presence. Their walk became a run and it was not long until they entered the chamber filled with natural light coming from the cracks above. From the first glimpse of the first being, he knew immediately who it was. It was that human child he once accompanied.

Just from the sight of the dark-haired boy made him absolutely angry.

He let out a resounding roar to warn the human of his nature. His bellowing cry stopped the human and the other.

The happiness on the child's face had become one of confusion. He snarled dangerously when the human took one step closer.

The boy froze, frowning heavily at the flame-tail's reaction. Softly, the child spoke his name, making him glower fervently.

Realization dawned upon the human's features. An apologetic frown soon adorned the boy's face.

Slowly, the boy reached behind him and then held out his hand to show the familiar object in his grasp; an empty Pokeball.

It was once his Pokeball.

Charizard was furious. How could the child foolishly believe that he would willingly return so easily?

The boy had been weak – it was his fault for running away and abandoning Charizard during the chaos that struck the world.

A coward; pathetic; Charizard would not return until the human could prove his worth.

The flame-tail stomped his right foot on the ground, sending a century's worth of dust flying around. He roared viciously and beckoned the child in challenge.

The boy was agape with shock, his grip tight around the empty Pokeball. It was not long until the human finally understood the circumstances of his past mistake.

A firm, determinate expression soon fell upon the human's face. His familiar gesture of adjusting his ridiculous hat indicated his readiness for battle. He reached down to his belt to return the empty Pokeball to its place and grabbed another.

Throwing the red and white ball, the human called forth the creature that resided within.

Out in a flash, a small blue turtle appeared with a joyous cry. It flailed its arms in excitement but when its red eyes fell on its opponent, it stopped its childish dance. Squirtle, the Pokemon Charizard had always deemed weak, stared at him in silence. It did not tremble from the flame-tail's presence like it always had, slightly surprising the winged Pokemon.

Instead, Squirtle was quick to form the same expression as the human and prepared for battle.

Charizard narrowed his gaze, quite intent on how much the small Pokemon had grown from a frightened weakling to a strong-willed being. The trials the trainer and the Pokemon endured must have strengthened them.

So how much stronger have they both become? Charizard wanted to see.

The human suddenly stopped the other that accompanied him, the one Charizard hardly took notice to. It was another child, one shorter in stature. He could sense a strange ambience surrounding the yellow-haired boy. The child was not a normal human – the flame-tail was certain of that.

He had no worries about the strange one for the human trainer held the smaller one back. A quick shake of his head and a smug grin was all that was needed to assure the yellow-haired boy that the battle was meant for the trainer.

The small child nodded briskly and stood back.

Returning to the field of battle, the dark-haired human pointed at Charizard and grinned.

The flame-tail snorted and lowly growled. It was time to battle!

When the human issued a command to the blue turtle, Charizard took into the air and flew high within the chamber. He was out of Squirtle's attack range and easily avoided the turtle Pokemon's water attacks.

Water… It may be his weakness but he was not afraid of it. Folding his wings, he dove down towards the turtle and spewed flames from his open mouth when he flew over. He quickly flipped around in flight and dropped to the ground to witness his fiery blaze.

Squirtle was unharmed, having dodged his line of fire. It waved and grinned, taunting him for his miss. Growling, Charizard stomped his foot angrily and ran towards the annoying turtle. He used his wings to propel his large body quickly across.

Just as he drew near, the water Pokemon followed the human's command and leapt away from the winged beast's fiery breath. It followed with a stream of water aimed directly at him. Unable to dodge, Charizard brought his wings forward to shield his body.

The watery stream was unbelievably powerful. It had drenched him and nearly knocked him backwards. Grunting with effort, he braced the attack fully.

Squirtle had truly grown over such a short period time…

The flame-tail spread his wings and roared angrily to flare his body temperature. Water evaporated off his orange scales in the form of steam and he was soon dry. His blazing eyes fell on the smirking blue turtle.

He stomped forward in a rage and instantly closed in on the smaller Pokemon. But the water creature was a quick one; Squirtle ducked low to avoid his clawed swipe and countered with a headbutt to the gut.

Winded, the greater beast staggered back and was soon reeling from another strong water strike that soaked his entire front. The moisture prickled his hot body like needles. He had no choice but to take into the air to distance himself from the annoying turtle.

Circling above, he was glowering angrily at Squirtle. The small creature was proving to be a formidable opponent. He had underestimated it…

Once more, he dove at the waiting turtle, aiming straight for it. The trainer ordered it to dodge, expecting Charizard to spew flames the moment he opened his jaws. Charizard internally sneered, the human was wrong.

The flame-tail swerved at the blue turtle and snapped his powerful jaws around Squirtle's hard shell. He quickly landed and focused on crushing the squirming water Pokemon.

He heard the human gasp before ordering the turtle to withdraw into its shell. It abided and withdrew its head and limbs into its tiny shell. Charizard reared his head back then threw the turtle hard into the ground. It clattered along the ground and Charizard chased after it.

Squirtle rolled to a stop and managed to peek out of its shell before hiding back inside when the larger Pokemon stomped his foot on top of it. Charizard roared at the creature, mocking its cowardice. He slowly applied his weight onto the tiny shell, hoping to force the turtle out of its defense.

What he got instead was an angry Squirtle spraying water out of the openings of its shell. Stinging water struck his grounded foot and harmfully wetted his flaming tail. He jerked away in pain and flew far back from the water spewing turtle shell.

Enraged, Charizard lifted into the air and soared close to the ground towards the water Pokemon popping out of its protective carapace. The human shouted a command to turn its attention to the advancing Pokemon.

It was too late for Squirtle to follow with the attack the trainer had asked for; Charizard had already unleashed scorching flames in its direction when it finally saw where he was. A sudden scream to withdraw into its shell was the trainer's counter command for the turtle.

Quickly hiding once more into its shell, Squirtle was powerless. His hot flames consumed the tiny carapace in a fiery inferno, bringing a vengeful feeling of satisfaction. The fire subsided and left was a charred shell that pitifully moaned. Panic was evident in the human trainer's voice as he uttered a cry. The boy called back the injured turtle and immediately summoned another Pokemon out.

Ivysaur, the plant Pokemon Charizard respected in terms of strength.

Ivysaur had been lost as well, separated from the human trainer just like Charizard. The plant-beast however, did not hold a grudge against the child and had longed to return to the boy. Ivysaur's display of loyalty and devotion was the cause of Charizard's decision to leave the grass Pokemon on its own.

So the plant-beast had finally reunited with the boy. Its proud devotion shone in its eyes as it faced the flame-tail.

It was foolish of the human to pit a grass Pokemon against the fiery-beast. What was the child thinking?

Grunting, Charizard prepared for battle. He would make short work of the plant-beast.

When the boy shouted a command to Ivysaur, Charizard flapped his wings to quickly lunge forward. Broad blades of leaves were sent in his direction. He stomped one foot down on the ground to launch up into the air in haste to evade the sharp blades.

Just as he flew over the four-legged creature, Charizard released his fiery breath. His flames rained down on the Pokemon but it had quickly dodged upon the human's command.

Charizard wanted to swerve around in flight to perform the same action but he was suddenly pulled downward and slammed into the dusty ground. Vines had unknowingly tangled around his left wing and foot. He was released from the green appendages shortly after crash-landing. Barely was he up when he felt something heavy ram into his side.

Snarling in pain, Charizard was knocked far back before recovering from the attack. He twisted in the air to land on his feet.

Already, Ivysaur had landed its attacks on him. Charizard was outraged by that.

Furious, he glared at where he expected the plant-beast to be but saw only the trainer and the yellow-haired child.

Where had Ivysaur gone? Had the boy called it back?

The dark-haired human was watching him with eyes that were filled with sorrow.

It was when the human pointed at him did he realize that Ivysaur was still around. He heard the boy shout the attack before he saw it coming straight at him from the side. Bathed in a ray of sunlight shining through a crack from the ancient ceiling was Ivysaur propped on its two front legs. A blinding beam of solar energy had been released from its budded flower.

Too late to react, Charizard could only watch in gut-wrenching dread as the golden ray drew near.

Searing, hot pain enveloped him as white and gold flashed before his eyes. Soon, shadows took hold of his vision and all that he could remember thinking was how strong the child had become…

He wasn't sure how much time had passed. When he came to, he heard a rumble of voices that slowly became distinct as his mind cleared away the haze. A gentle coolness surrounded his body, easing away the pain of his injuries.

Peeking open one eye, he noticed a wavering blue field around him that caused him to jerk awake. His sudden movement made someone yelp in surprise, dispersing the strange blue field.

He glanced to the side and saw that small child with the yellow-hair down on the ground, appearing to be frightened. Squirtle and Ivysaur were near, both relieved at his recovery. Then, the trainer appeared beside the other child, reaching a hand to help the younger one up.

A grateful but nervous smile showed on the timid child's face as his dark eyes shifted between the flame-tail and the taller boy. Charizard focused mainly on the human trainer who looked at him sternly.

He could not help but smirk at the human, the boy had truly grown in his skills as a trainer. To wander the dangerous ruins in search of him and to defeat him in battle altogether… Charizard truly respected that.

He stood tall and proud and let out a resounding roar that made the yellow-haired child shiver. Then, he bowed his head low before the human who defeated him.

The trainer blinked at him, his eyes slightly widened. He reached down behind him. Held out in his hand was an empty Pokeball. The boy glanced at it then at the flame-tail in anticipation.

Charizard snorted but nodded, bringing a wide, happy grin on the human's face.

The human had proved his worth, Charizard accepted his defeat. Not just the human but the others as well.

Grunting, Charizard faced the water turtle, acknowledging its newfound strength. It had been a well-fought challenge against such a small but powerful being. Squirtle flailed its arms and beamed a joyous smile at him, no longer was it the scared turtle afraid of his presence.

Then, he nodded at Ivysaur who smirked. He snorted at the floral creature, annoyed by the fact that it had bested him battle despite the advantage he had over it. He still respected Ivysaur though. The plant-beast was a formidable fighter against all odds.

A team once again. He had no regrets. He knew that the human had been searching for him ever since he was lost. There was no other reason for the boy to travel so far across the land riddled with vile monsters.

Silently, he watched the boy share his happiness with the smaller child and hid a smile. Knowing how important he was to the human was enough to make him stay forever.


A/N: My intention from the beginning was to actually make the main story revolve around Pokemon Trainer and Lucas. However, it turned out completely different! This focuses more on Pokemon Trainer and his relationship with his Pokemon. I hope you liked it!

This will be a two-part piece. I will add a scene that mainly focuses on the friendship between Lucas and Pokemon Trainer and his Pokemon.

Thanks for reading and please review!