Standing over eight feet tall, with hard, shiny, plated hide, Nidorant roared as he flexed his rock-hard muscles and stretched his long, pointed spikes. The pokémon, truly terrible in feature, glared indifferently at the opposing pokémon.
[Nidorant: The final evolution of Nidoking. Named for its tyrannical features, Nidorant is one of the largest pokémon in the world. Even legendary pokémon may be overcome by its intimidating stature and unimpressed posture. Very few trainers have been able to obtain and control Nidorant in the past. The first trainer recorded to have done so is Giovanni, the Viridian City Gym leader.]
Somehow, Ash had a feeling that Giovanni was not the first, but he shook of the feeling for jealousy. Kirlia, overcome by intimidation, ran back and begged to be returned. There's only one pokémon in my team that could stand up to this guy. I hope I make the right choice…
"Kirlia! Return!" Kirlia jumped and seemed relieved to be back in her pokéball. Nidorant yawned. "Charizard! I choose you!" Ash chucked a large pokéball onto the field, sending out the dragon-like fire pokémon. At 6' 9", even Charizard seemed a runt compared to Nidorant. Despite its size, Charizard's eyes flared at his opponent, intent on defeating this ultimate challenge.
"Charizard! Use Fire Blast!"
"Nidorant! Use Iron Tail!" The two pokémon got ready to attack. Lifting his colossal tail, Nidorant prepared to sweep Charizard off his feet. However, Charizard was already in the air, charging up a powerful blast of flames that seared into Nidorant's metallic hide, dealing great damage. Nidorant, however, seemed unperturbed. Charizard raged and sent an unexpected Fire Spin attack at Nidorant, which engulfed the giant pokémon in an inferno of skin-sizzling fire. Snorting loudly, Nidorant swiped away most of the flames with his tail.
"Good job, Charizard! Now, give him another Fire Blast, right in the face!"
"Nidorant! Give him a supercharged Zap Cannon!" Nidorant charged up, electricity coursing through his body. Charizard took advantage of his opportunity and fired off a Fire Blast right into the tyrant Pokémon's face, dispelling the built up energy back into the opponent's body.
"You have chosen well, boy." Giovanni nodded, "But now it is over! Nidorant! Use Armageddon!"
"Armageddon!? That can't be good!" Ash looked up, a fire in his eyes that only one truly destined to be a master could possess, "Charizard! Fly up high to avoid the attack! Then let loose whatever you've got!" Charizard nodded, and shot up toward the sky. Nidorant began glowing red and becoming extremely hot. Charizard continued to fly higher as sparks began to shoot out of Nidorant. Turning around, Charizard paused for a second, seemingly deciding what to do. Suddenly, he roared loudly, shaking the arena and forcing Ash to cover his ears. Then, he began to glow, brighter and redder than Nidorant was. Flames shout out of his mouth and burned brightly from his tail. Holding up his claws, Charizard began to gather energy and flames high above his head, ignoring the scattered blasts now speeding in every direction. Shaking off the few that hit him, Charizard now closed his mouth, but continued to gather energy above him. Nidorant then seemed to explode, sending millions of fragmented rocks and blasts of energy up at Charizard. Being so high up saved the dragon-like pokémon from the explosion, but many rocks cut his tough hide, and tore through his wings. Slowly losing altitude, Charizard waited. Soon, the explosion cleared, and rocks and dust began to shower down upon him. Slowly touching down onto the ground, Charizard rested his wings, still holding a huge ball of energy above him. Sighting his target, Charizard let loose the blast with all of his remaining energy, completely covering the tyrant pokémon. The blast was so bright that everything went white. When the light finally faded and the smoke cleared, Charizard was kneeling, shaking and sweating profusely. Nidorant lay, completely unconscious, on the ground; his armor-like hide was blackened and ashen from the flames and energy that hit him. Slowly, Charizard stood up. Reaching his full height, he spread out his wings, becoming as large as he could appear. Letting out a might roar, Charizard proclaimed his victory, and then completely blacked out.
"Well, kid," Giovanni climbed down the stairs as the platforms they stood on lowered, "I've got to hand it to you. You're the… first to ever defeat Nidorant. And, I think you deserve this." Giovanni walked up to Ash, handing him his own Feather Badge, which was larger and more delicately carved than the ones he handed out to most trainers who defeated his Gym. Turning to Nidorant, Giovanni held out his pokéball, "You fought hard. Return, Nidorant."
Meanwhile, Ash ran over to Charizard, "I knew I could trust you. I'll never forget how I first found you on a rock, stubbornly but loyally waiting for your trainer. Return, Charizard. It's time for you to rest." Ash held out Charizard's old pokéball, and watched as Charizard became a white form, then molded into the pokéball. Standing up, he turned to Giovanni. If only Brock, Misty, Tracy, and all of them could see this. And Gary. Especially Gary…
"Well, boy. I guess you'll be on to the Hoenn area now, am I correct?"
"Yeah. I guess. There's not much left for me here…"
"Then take this. You'll need it if you want to do well there," Giovanni handed Ash a mysterious stone. It was perfectly smooth, but sharp and rough at the same time. It seemed clack, white, gray, every color and no color, all at once. The only distinguished mark was a small, green four-leafed clover, which Ash was sure he had seen before…
"You know," Giovanni brought Ash out of his thoughts, "You could have made an excellent Member of Team Rocket. But that is not your path. I suggest you go and rest your pokémon now. It has been an exacting fight, for both of us."
Ash nodded and, turning, walked out of the arena, through the main corridor, and headed to the door. Taking one last glance at the gym, tears came to Ash's eyes. Well, I guess this is it. I won't be seeing Brock, Tracy, Gary, Mom, Prof. Oak, Misty, any of them, again…
Turning the knob, Ash walked out of the gym, heading to the Pokémon center.