CHAPTER 19

Ben caught his Pikachu as it jumped into his arms, Stephanie and Cory did the same. Hajime and his Magmar looked at each other before Hajime shook his head. Getting hugged by a creature that was the living embodiment of flames was nobody's idea of a good time.

Cory yelped in surprise as the Pikachu in his arms began to glow. The little electric mouse grew in his embrace to become a more substantial creature, it's bolt shaped tail lengthened until the bolt became much sharper and sat at the end of the length like an axe on a rope. The creatures ears broadened and grew curly hairs under the newly formed lobes. After a few more moment the glow died and the pokemon's features became distinguishable. It's fur had the shade of burned orange, rather than black tipped ears it sported fully coloured black, it's paws however had been tipped in black the same way its ears had as a Pikachu. The red cheeks had changed to yellow and the body had become more defined than the puffball like Pikachu it had been.

"Raaaaaiiiii" the creature yelped in surprise "Raaaiiiichuuuu!"

Everyone crowded around the creature to have a look, unfortunately the new pokemon still held the personality of Chatter the Pikachu, and Chatter never appreciated being crowded. Bolts of electricity struck all six of the people crowded around it and sent them sprawling with it's thunderous power.

First to his feet was Ben, having been electrocuted, burned and pummelled by pokemon several times in only a few painful weeks. Ben swayed as he pulled himself to his feet and moved to help the others, keeping well clear of the latest addition to Cory's team.

Hajime growled and shook his head, then shifted and kicked Cory "Hey. Recall the zap-rat you idiot!"

Cory recalled Chatter and looked at the poke-ball "That is some serious power you have there mate. I wouldn't want to be anyone who gets in our way" Cory bowed in apology to all the others as they glared daggers at him "You're all just cut that my Pikachu is more bad-ass than any of yours and evolved"

"Cory"

Everyone turned to stare at Delia and the girl shrank back before sucking up a breath and continuing "May...may I see the rock that you dug up?" Cory nodded and produced a rock from his pocket, a slightly transparent, dull crystal. The former lustre and radiance had died to such a degree that only the slightly lightning-bolt shaped discolouration convinced the others that it had anything to do with the former rock that Cory had pulled from the cave wall. Delia laughed "Well, that's brilliant! We found what we came for and lost it before we even knew what we had!" Delia looked around at the blank stares of the trainers then to Professor Hale who nodded "We came here to study evolutionary stones.

"Moon stones specifically, people say that certain pokemon will evolve only in certain areas, like Growlithe to Arcanine. The most common rumour is about pokemon suddenly evolving in Mount Moon, so we're here to find out if the fabled Moon Stone is the reason why!"

"Ahh!" Hajime interjected "Yes, one of my friends mentioned that his Nidorino evolved in Mount Moon, monstrous thing it turned into"

Stephanie muttered as she browsed through her pokemon index 'Poke'dex' as she'd began demanding her fellow trainers call it "There's no listing for your pokemon in here, I guess Professor Oak has never seen one before..."

"No doubt" Hajime replied proudly "I caught this guy in the volcano on Cinnabar Island and I've never seen one since. The local Gym Leader Blaine gave me my first pokemon" He held up a poke-ball "This is my buddy Rapidash, Blaine gives new trainers a choice of Ponyta, Grimer or Rattata, I chose Ponyta and so far we've won seven badges"

Ben made a 'tch' sound "At least you got elementals to choose from. Oak gave us a choice of Pidgey, Rattata and Caterpie"

Hajime nodded "Yeah, only losers choose the Rattata though" Cory, Stephanie and Professor Hale burst out laughing, little Delia missed the joke and Hajime lifted an eyebrow "Uh...Oh" He said "Sorry mate, I didn't count on that being the case"

"You two are mates now?" Stephanie piped up staring at Hajime in surprise "You were trying to kill each other a few minutes ago"

Ben and Hajime looked at each other before bumping fists "What's a little rough housing between buddies?" Hajime asked "Besides, you guys might be able to help me track down that Charizard. I'm positive the thing lives around here rather than at Cinnabar volcano...maybe it travelled there looking for a mate?"

Professor Hale decided to interject at this point and reminded them all that they were here to hunt for evolutionary stones.

"Bummer" Ben stated "I'd have liked to see a Charizard nest"

Professor Hale's face twitched, a small tweak that went unnoticed by all but Cory, and Cory wanted a baby pokemon.

"I wonder if something that big even makes a nest" Cory prodded "maybe it just makes a pit on the side of a cliff and drops the eggs there...what do you think Prof?"

Spencer Hale fought for control but the archaeologist's curiosity was getting the better of him, he knew Cory was prodding, but there was a Charizard, a BLACK Charizard at that possibly nesting somewhere on Mount Moon. Hale took a look at the five eager young faces and nodded.

"Let's go"

~ooo~

It took several hours to find a tunnel that travelled both up and out, several hours of pokemon battles with the rock monster Geodude and the menace of Zubats. Stephanie took a deep breath as they departed the cave, all of the trainers had made a point of bagging several pokemon from the caves, mainly Geodudes and Zubat, now all three possessed one of the cave's most common residents and they had been given a glimpse of how far above them Hajime was as a trainer. The blonde trainer's fire types made short work of even the rock type Geodudes.

Despite having owned a fire type for only a few short days Ben easily made a close friend of Hajime after showing him his pokedex entry for his discovery and naming of Flareon. Hajime allowed him to scan an entry of his own discovery the spitfire pokemon Magmar. Ben waved his pokedex at Cory and Stephanie, but scowled when Hajime allowed her to take an identical scan "Because she was a cutie"

Both Delia and Professor Hale grinned and the journey up the mountain side continued.

~ooo~

There was no nest, eggs or even another Charizard on the peak where they found the black beast. Hajime pulled a poke-ball from the left side of his waist and expanded it, calling out a massive flaming horse with blazing fetlocks and a sharp looking horn "Okay Rapidash, this fella has proved himself to be a toughie, so I'm gonna need your help" the Rapidash snorted and threw its head in a nod.

"Hold on a second" Professor Hale interrupted "Rapidash would be better suited to plains and open spaces than an area like this" He waved his arm to indicate the surrounding peaks and crags, as well as the massively steep drop off the side of the mountain "That Charizard is going to have it all over anything but the most agile and other pokemon with the ability to fly"

Hajime grinned "What makes you think my Rapidash isn't up to it? He's as sure footed as a Mankey, don't forget, this one's native to the volcanoes of Cinnabar...Rapidash AGILITY!" The blazing horse pawed the ground with a hoof and promptly vanished, leaving behind a cloud of displaced dust as the air sucked in to fill the void that the blazing horse had abandoned "TAKE-DOWN!" Hajime yelled and the black Charizard roared in surprise as the speedy Rapidash ploughed into it's side. The black monster shoved the white horse aside and spread its wings in preparation of flight, but Hajime anticipated this and was already giving the command for his starter to use Fire-Spin. The flames that shot from the horse's mouth weren't particularly powerful but they forced the Charizard to close it's wings to protect the delicate membranes that allowed it to fly. Hajime studied the Charizard as it wrestled with the flaming bonds, gauging its strength before he continued pressing the attack with a Body Slam.

Ben, Cory and Stephanie watched the seven badge trainer closely, it wasn't often that they got demonstrations from someone other than Professor Oak, and while Oak had reigned as Champion for a good reason it was beneficial for them to see different kinds of skilled trainers. Hajime claimed himself to be a fire specialist and he and his Rapidash proved it, once again slamming the black monster to the ground.

The Charizard struggled to rise, but two diamond hard hooves crashed into its skull and knocked it unconscious to the ground. Hajime pulled an empty poke-ball from the right side of his waist, a clever move that was not lost on Ben or Stephanie and expanded it before taking aim and pitching it at the unconscious monster. Size proved to be as much of a factor in ball capabilities as remaining fighting spirit as the ball wasn't rocked by the pokemon inside, but the light didn't dim for several minutes, indicating that the ball still struggled to contain the beast.

As the light dimmed a delighted Hajime raced over to collect the ball and his latest acquisition, he pointed the ball at his companions and smiled as though he'd just won the Indigo Conference Competition "Let the badassery begin"

Ben knew he had one of the world's most envious looks on his face, he didn't doubt for a second that Stephanie and Cory had only slightly better or slightly worse on their own faces, any trainer who couldn't see the natural power in both Hajime's Charizard and Rapidash should quit their journey and take up knitting.

Hajime pulled a super potion from his pack then ushered his companions back and summoned the Charizard from its poke-ball. The dragon-like creature glared daggers at him, ignoring the Pallet trainers as well as Hale and Delia, Hajime held up the spray bottle and grinned at the monster. Despite the fact that it stood a good couple of inches taller than he did the fire trainer refused to back down, even when the pokemon stuck its black nose in his face and snorted flames past his ears Hajime simply pushed his head forwards and bumped it on the Charizard's own, forcing the black dragon to step back. Thwarted, the beast snapped at Hajime and on receiving no flinch growled and stalked away.

Hajime bowed at the Charizard when it turned to face him once again "It will be an honour working with you" the monster barked in surprise then growled and flopped down, it's exhaustion getting the better of it. Hajime walked over and slowly presented the super potion spray bottle once again. The Charizard tensed and growled then visibly relaxed under the misting potion.

~ooo~

After treating the black monster Hajime returned it to its poke-ball and after sharing a few new entries to the trainer's pokemon indexes and his contact details with theirs called his Rapidash out. As he started to climb aboard Delia stopped him "Why don't you come with us?"

Hale nodded "Your pokemon would certainly ensure the safety of this expedition, and I'd be happy to pay you"

Hajime grinned "I'd love to hang around with you guys, but I gotta be in Pewter by the day after tomorrow, it'll take Rapidash a day to get there and I want to let my pokemon rest a day before I face the Gym leader"

"Why don't you just ride Charizard to Pewter?"

Hajime shook his head "You need to develop a real bond with your pokemon before you fly on them. I wouldn't ride Rapidash if I didn't trust him or he me and I wouldn't have taught Rhydon surf. Pokemon are like people, you can't just throw your faith at them and expect them to do the right thing. You have to become their friend and forge a bond"

With that Hajime yelled and his Rapidash stormed down the mountainside.

I can't be blaming inspiration on the late update, this one was all on me. I'm a HUGE Charizard fan and frankly I had to delete several paragraphs of pure gush, otherwise I'd have made an awesome pokemon sound like a freaking god...a beginner trainer seeing a Charizard for the first time would probably believe it's a god or legendary anyway, but Hale should know better and being the factmaster should have killed the mood.