Charmander

The front lines of the battle were not as hectic as an outside glance made them out to be; they were even worse.

The first thing Charmander and Torchic stumbled across as they made their way into the fray was an Infernape's severed head. Its eyes, glazed over with both fear and death, stared at the sky in an eternal unseeing. The sight of the head had caused Torchic to collapse to the ground in shock, but Charmander was able to hold her up. Seeing the head, though, he wanted to get sick. Such was the way of the war.

In the midst of the chaos, they came across Blaziken. The Senator had swung his orange and yellow leg upwards, smacking it against the lower jaw of an oncoming Blastoise. Dazed, the Blastoise took a step back, and in that moment, its fate was sealed. A smile crossed Blaziken's beaklike mouth, and he slashed out with his brown claw. The Blastoise's neck opened up, and blood ran from it like a faucet. The Blastoise fell as Blaziken, who's only armor was a golden breastplate, turned towards Charmander and his daughter.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" he shouted over the roar of the battle. "The front lines are no place for you two, especially since you're- look out!"

Charmander turned, readying himself as a Gabite launched itself out of the ground at him. Charmander swerved to the right to avoid its gaping, sharp jaws. It snapped at thin air, then turned, growling at him. Charmander faced it, his eyes not giving away anything that occurred behind it. Suddenly, there was a slashing sound. The Gabite's face took on the looks of realization and horror all at once. It fell, blood draining from the back of its neck. Torchic stood behind it, shaking a bit, but a fierce blaze in her eyes nonetheless.

The two of them turned their attention back to Blaziken. He was glaring at them sharply, though Charmander knew that he would be praising Torchic after the battle for having slayed the Ground Nation soldier. "Who told you to come up here?" he demanded.

"Heatmor," Torchic explained. "He wanted us to accompany him to the front lines."

"Well tell that brain-dead fool to stop putting novices in danger!"

"We can't," Charmander said. "He's dead."

"What?" Blaziken's eyes widened in shock as he absent-mindedly broke a Swampert's jaw with a kick of his leg.

"We were surrounded," Torchic said. "Gabite's, everywhere. He saved us, dad. He sacrificed himself for us."

Blaziken was silent for a moment. The world seemed to stop in those short few seconds that truly felt like eons. Charmander could easily observe the destruction of the battlefield. He could see Senator Garchomp within, fighting side by side with Senator Empoleon, the two of them helping each other as they continued to break further through the front lines. Ground and Water Nation, converging on the Fire Nation, a Nation not as strong as Ground and certainly not strong against the two enemies' combined forces. Ground Nation alone had some of the most fearsome soldiers, but to combine them with Water…

At last, Blaziken spoke. "He's given you a second chance a life," he said. Suddenly, a Gabite flew at him. He was able to knock it into the sand with a swift kick. There was a sharp snap, and Charmander knew that the kick had snapped the soldier's neck. Blaziken's eyes bore into Charmander and Torchic. "I suggest you take it."

Charmander looked over at Torchic, who was already looking at him. She nodded, and he nodded back. Charmander looked back up at Blaziken, meaning to ask him about his father. But Blaziken had already jumped back into the fray, clawing and kicking at soldiers with little armor on and whose weapons were only themselves. For a brief instant, Charmander wondered why some soldiers preferred to fight with swords while others were content with using themselves as weapons. But that didn't matter now, and it was stupid to think of something so trivial when there were more important things to deal with.

He turned towards Torchic as he began to run back towards the safety of the back lines. Then, he stopped. Torchic did too, looking at him quizzically. When she turned around, she saw what he saw. Her face lit up in horror. Charmander didn't know what to think. Was this the beginning of their greatest win? Or the start of their worst defeat?

Garchomp had begun to attack Empoleon. Water Nation troops were suddenly clawed at and pulled underground by the Ground Nation. Charmander saw Arcanine in the fray, his clouded eye visible and unblinking. He was surrounded by Ground Nation Gabite's, all of them scratching at the brave warrior as he continued to pull them off of him and grind them into the dirt. Charmander smiled, though his heart was still beating fast. He didn't want to see another Great Warrior lose their lives today.

"Look out!"

Upon hearing Torchic's voice, he swung his head around, only to have it instantly knocked back into the sand. The Gabite had come out of nowhere, flying at him like a torpedo. Now it stood, glaring over him. It seemed to have taken no notice of Torchic, who stood, shaking slightly, behind him. Charmander looked up at his attacker, the two of them locking eyes. The Gabite bent down quickly, meaning to bite Charmander's head off in a single chomp. But Charmander was ready.

A rippling jet of flame spewed from his mouth into the Gabite's. The inside of the Gabite's mouth caught, and it backed away, screaming and flailing, it's mouth ablaze. Charmander jumped up, seeing nothing but red and feeling nothing but determination run through his body. His heart was pumping fast, but his breathing remained steady as he ran up to the Gabite. He jumped into the air, his body flying freely through the sky for a moment. Then his teeth met flesh, and he yanked his head back.

A chunk of the Gabite's flesh left it, then left Charmander's mouth. Charmander landed on the ground, his teeth and lips bloodied, his mouth tasting like salt. The Gabite's mouth was still ablaze, but now it panicked silently. It stared at Charmander for a moment, and in its eyes was a mask of pleading. It didn't want help from him, though; it knew it was dead, and wanted Death to embrace it as quickly as possible.

Charmander watched, almost transfixed, as the Gabite's body slowly crumpled to the ground. It lay still, its head now ablaze, blood still running from its neck, a look of misery on what remained of its face. Charmander breathed in. "I killed him," he said.

"Oh, no," Torchic murmured.

Charmander looked over at her. She was looking past him, to the horizon. He looked in the direction she was. There was a line of organized chaos stretching down the desert. Now it was a three way battle; Fire against Water against Ground, all three of them clashing. But that wasn't what Torchic was worried about.

Beyond them all, coming from the left of the Fire Nation's forces, was a huge cloud made of sand. Charmander could hear the howl of the wind as the sand drew ever closer. It was quick, and he knew that, in just a matter of minutes, the entire battlefield would be blinded by the current of sand. He knew there was no time to escape to one of the transport vehicles; there was no time. They would have to brave the coming storm.