Charizard's Story
Chapter 17
"Pika?" Pikachu said in amazement.
"Tlllee…" Squirtle agreed.
"Bul, ba! Bulba, saur!" Bulbasaur said, panting. It had just caught up with them.
"Pikachu…" Pikachu said to Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur looked at the source of the light.
"Bulbasaur!!?" it asked in surprise.
Squirtle reached forward and tapped Charizard on the head. There was no response.
"Squirtle, squiirtle," said Squirtle. Charizard really reminded it of Ash.
"Pikachu…" Pikachu said. Squirtle had to be right.
"Basaur? Bulba?" asked Bulbasaur, hoping the others would have an answer.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said, motioning for them to step back. They did. Pikachu turned to Charizard. "Pi, ka, CHUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!" it yelled, zapping it with an electric shock.
"Ch-ZAAAAAAARRRRRRRRDDDD!!!!!!" roared Charizard, snapping awake instantly.
"Pika?"
"Arrr!" Charizard shouted angrily, "Chaaarr! Izaarrrdd!!"
"Pika, pika," Pikachu replied, "Pikachu."
Charizard huffed, and pretended as if it didn't owe Pikachu a thank you.
"Squirtle, squirtle," said Squirtle, "Squirtle, squirt?"
"…Zard."
"Pika pika," said Pikachu, "Pika, chu?"
"…Arr…"
"Kachu?"
"Char! Char, zard!"
"Pi?"
"Squuirrrtle," said Squirtle. It turned to Bulbasaur. "Squirt?" it asked.
"Bul…Bulbasaur. Bulbabulba."
Pikachu looked up at Charizard.
"Piika…Pikachuu?"
Charizard snorted.
"Ka!" Pikachu said angrily, "Pi ka chu."
"Zzaarrdd…" grumbled Charizard. It eyed Pikachu. Finally, it decided it might as well tell them a little. "Char, zard. Charzard char."
"Pika?" Pikachu asked in surprise.
"Bul, ba!" said Bulbasaur.
Charizard nodded. "Charizaard…" Charizard stared upwards dreamily. "Ch-aaarrr……Izz!?"
"Pika!?" asked Pikachu.
Charizard didn't answer. There it was. Again. "Zarrr…" it breathed.
"Pikachuu!!" Pikachu demanded.
Charizard glanced down at the tiny electric mouse. "Zard. Charrizaarrd!!"
It spread its wings and prepared to fly away again.
"Pikka!!" cried Pikachu. It leapt onto Charizard's back before it could fly away.
"Squiirtle!!" yelled Squirtle, grabbing onto one of Charizard's legs.
"Bul!" gasped Bulbasaur, seeing that it was going to be left alone again. "Bulbasauurrrr!" It used its vine whip and grabbed onto Squirtle.
At first, Charizard tried to shake them off, but as it realized that wasn't going to happen, it focused only on catching what it had seen in the sky. This time, it was going to catch it.
Charizard's Story
Chapter 18
It watched as the volcano gradually settled down. That was good. That meant Magmar had decided to relax again. The human and the Pikachu had probably disturbed it. The fact that it had attacked the human and the Pikachu had also probably disturbed Magmar. Charizard made a mental note to be more careful about diving into that mountain.
Charizard really loved to fly. It spent a lot of time showing off to Magmar, who obviously couldn't.
Magmar was like a parent to Charizard. It had taken care of it since it was a Charmeleon who had gotten lost and somehow managed to climb to the top of the mountain. Magmar had been out hunting, and at first, it had tried to attack Charmeleon. Luckily for Charmeleon, Magmar had been pretty lonely lately, and the thought of having another fire Pokémon to talk to was just what Magmar wanted. So it had adopted Charmeleon, and they lived on the top of the volcano together. Being so close to a pit of lava and magma had caused Charmeleon to grow stronger rapidly, and after a while, it evolved into Charizard.
Charizard scanned the ash that covered the ground below. It was times like this when Charizard was really glad it could fly. It sometimes wondered if Magmar knew what it was causing by throwing those fits. Charizard smiled. It was probably better not to mention it to Magmar. It was Magmar's way of releasing tension. Just before an eruption, Magmar was usually very grumpy and not much fun to talk to at all, but afterwards, it would apologize for the way it was behaving before and be very easygoing for the rest of the day.
Charizard looked up. It had thought it'd heard something. It sounded almost like a roar…
What the…?
…What was that!?
Flying towards it was what looked like another Charizard. There was something very odd about this one though. It had something blue and green hanging from its left leg, and there was something small and yellow riding on its back.
Charizard raised its altitude to get a better view of that weird Charizard. It noticed that after it had raised its altitude, the other Charizard raised its altitude too. Was it following it?
Charizard decided to test it out. It flapped upwards a little more, waited for the other one to do the same, then suddenly plunged into a steep dive. When it was just ten feet away from turning itself into a Charizard pancake, it spread its wings and caught the air, slowing it down immensely. It gently fluttered to the ground, then looked up to see what the other one was doing.
It seemed to have been really surprised. It sort of flew around in small circles, then dove after it.
Charizard laughed out loud. This other Charizard was really funny. Charizard decided it would really push this other Charizard to its limits.
Charizard ran into the forest.
Charizard's Story
Chapter 19
"Z-ARR!" growled Charizard.
The other Charizard had seen it! Why was it running away?
"Pi…Pika pika…"
Charizard grunted. Why did Pikachu & friends have to tag along? Couldn't they see it was busy?
"ZARD!"
Charizard dove in pursuit of its target. It had ran into the forest…on foot. Why? What was wrong with this Charizard? When you have the power to fly, what point is there in running?
Charizard crashed through the canopy, disturbing branches, trees, and its passengers.
"Bulbaa!"
"Squirt-!"
"Pi, chuu!"
"Chariz. Zard!" Charizard snapped. Why don't they just get off? Why did they have to follow it?
Charizard landed heavily, then shook off Squirtle and Bulbasaur. Pikachu was more difficult.
"Pika! Pikachu!" it protested.
"Izzaaarrdd!!" Charizard angrily breathed out a blast of fire, scorching the nearby trees.
"Pi…ka…" Pikachu said, shaking its head.
Charizard growled. It would make sure that Pikachu would pay. In the meantime, it ran after the other Charizard. It had left an easy to follow trail with its huge bulk.
"Squirt! Squirtlle!" called Squirtle.
"Bulbasaauurr!!" cried Bulbasaur. They were going to be left behind.
"Squirtle! Squirtlesquirtle!" Squirtle said to Bulbasaur.
"Bullba…" agreed Bulbasaur.
They ran after the Charizards and Pikachu.
Charizard's Story
Chapter 20
Charizard ran as fast as it could, with Pikachu still clinging to its back. Charizard would not give up. It would not give up. It would not…
"ZARD!"
Charizard yelped in surprise and jumped back.
"Pii! Ka!" The force knocked Pikachu to the ground.
The other Charizard had appeared out of nowhere. Now it was giggling at Charizard's fright.
"Zzrr…" Charizard growled.
"Char!" said the other one, "Charizard!?" It wanted to know why Charizard was following it.
"Izard?" Charizard asked in surprise, "Char…" It thought about that.
"Squiiirrtt!" called Squirtle.
"Bulbasaauurr!!" said Bulbasaur.
"Pi? Pika!" Pikachu said in relief. It was good to see its friends catching up.
Squirtle skidded to a stop when it saw that there were two Charizards.
"Squi…Squirt, squirtle?!" it exclaimed.
Bulbasaur stopped too. "Bul…? Bulba??"
"Pi! Pikachu!"
Ash's Charizard glared at them. It motioned for them to leave, and even blew some threatening flames out of its nostrils.
"Pikachu…" Pikachu said, disappointed.
"Squirtle, squirtle?" Squirtle asked Pikachu.
"Pikaa…" Pikachu sighed.
Charizard's Story
Chapter 21
Ash's Charizard turned to the other Charizard.
"Zard?" it asked.
"Char! Char, zard!" it replied accusingly.
Charizard was taken aback. It hadn't expected this other Charizard to be so rude.
"Izz? Zard?" it asked.
The other Charizard snorted fire.
"Char, char. Charizard." It crossed its arms and looked away.
Charizard seemed to recall that pose as being very familiar…Of course! Charizard had done that just before it had flown away from Ash.
Ash…That little…
Charizard pushed those thoughts out of its mind.
"Arr…izard?"
The other Charizard looked bored. It gave Charizard a questioning look.
"Char, char?"
"Zard!?" Charizard asked in surprise. Then it regained its composure. "Char……Charizard." It hoped that would please the other Charizard.
The other Charizard sighed as if disappointed.
"………Charizard?" it asked finally.
Charizard was suddenly very nervous. Why would this Charizard care whether or not it had a trainer? Why would that matter? And…Charizard didn't even know itself. Was Ash its trainer? It never listened to that human anyway. Besides, wouldn't running away make him not its trainer.
Charizard thought those things over. Was Ash its trainer…? Was Ash its trainer??
Charizard shrugged.
"Char! Charizard!" the other Charizard said decisively. Charizard either had a trainer, or it didn't. There was no in-betweens.
"Rrr…" Charizard thought out loud. Then it came up with a good come back. "Charizard!!"
The other Charizard blinked. Did it look like it had a trainer?
"Zard," it replied.
"Char…" Charizard was disappointed. Was it the only Pokémon in the world who didn't know whether or not it had a trainer?
"……Char charizard?" asked the other Charizard. It was taking way too long for Charizard to answer its question.
"Arr……" It glanced over at where Pikachu and the others were hiding in the bushes. "Char, zard."
It turned and pulled the leaves aside. Pikachu, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur stared up at it.
"Charizard?" it asked.
Squirtle and Bulbasaur groaned. That was the stupidest question they'd ever heard.
Pikachu just kept staring at Charizard. Why would Charizard doubt that? Why wouldn't Ash be its trainer?
"Pikapi…" it answered quietly.
Charizard stared back. Pikachu was so solemn. It just had this look that it had to be right. That Ash had to be its trainer.
Charizard stepped back nervously.
It turned to face the other Charizard, who had been waiting impatiently while that was going on.
"Char?" it asked, hoping that this time Charizard would have an intelligent answer.
"Char…" Charizard began, but it didn't know how to finish. What was the right answer?
Charizard stared at the ground.
There was only one way to find out.