Volcanic Panic!
Following the SS Anne and PokePark incidents, Ash and his friends decided to take a day off and simply relax and destress. Though it'd be nice to relax for a longer period, time wasn't really on their side as the Grand Festival was fast approaching with only weeks until it began and two more Contests remained! Meanwhile the Pokemon League itself was a week further than that, meaning that Chloe had to grab another ribbon while Ash had to earn two more badges! Thankfully a Pokemon Contest would be held in Viridian City, the destination of Ash's potential eighth badge so they'd make it with time to spare! They just had to account for another incident just in case as they seemed to have a knack for getting involved in them lately.
Cinnabar Island had plenty of distractions to offer, not suffering in the slightest from them unintentionally destroying it's theme park. Though the beach ended up becoming the favored destination as Chloe and Brock both picked it for different reasons and it didn't take a genius to know why exactly Broke chose it!
"Ah, beautiful girls wherever I look!" Hearts filled Brock's eyes as his gaze kept flickering between various beach beauties. "Oh how could I possibly choose amongst them all?!"
"Excuse me but do you know where the ice cream truck is parked?" Brock turned his attention to a rather familiar looking blonde woman, dressed in a yellow and brown bikini that was clearly fashioned after Pikachu. A female Pikachu sat atop her shoulder, silently flicking her tail as her eyes wandered towards Ash's Pikachu.
"Oh wow!" Brock didn't seem to fully remember who she was, which made sense as it was years since they'd last met and he'd faced many challengers since then, but she did look familiar to him! "You must be the angel of my dreams, my name is Brock and I'd love to show you the way! Maybe we can even eat toge-Ugh!"
"Croagunk!" Croagunk jabbed his trainer in the back resulting in Brock falling to the ground while Yellow let out a startled yelp before silently tilting her head as she watched Croagunk drag his trainer off to some unknown destination.
"Wait... Brock?" Yellow blinked. She knew he moved on to better things when she faced off against his brother Forrest a few months back but she wasn't exactly expecting to cross paths with him out on the open road. "Well I'm glad he still has a way with Pokemon, that Croagunk of his sure seems to like him a lot!"
"Pika." Her Pikachu nodded in agreement and shot a silent look towards Ash's once more as interest began to fill her. "Pika..."
"Let's go Pikachu, I'm sure it's around here somewhere!"
"Pika!" The two raced off leaving Ash and his own Pikachu unaware of what just happened as they were busy checking the Pokedex for potential additions to their team. Just because they promised to relax didn't mean they'd stop planning!
"How about a Dragon type? It'd be useful to have one of those on our team!"
"Pika, Pikachu pika pika!" Pikachu anxiously flicked his tail towards Dratini's icon.
"Oh right, the only species within the entire region is extremely rare!" Of course there was Seadra's evolution but Ash wasn't as familiar with Johto's Pokemon, though that wasn't exactly an option either as the ocean was a pretty big place and they had limited time! "Maybe a Psychic type? I'm sure it shouldn't be too difficult locating an Abra."
"Pika." Pikachu shrugged before flicking his ear as the sound of approaching footsteps got his attention!
"Hm? What is it?" Ash turned to follow Pikachu's gaze and froze up as Chloe came into view wearing a blossom patterned two piece bathing suit. Chloe noticed his reaction and smiled to herself before taking a moment to admire his chest, he had certainly gained a bit of muscle during their adventure throughout the region though he wasn't anywhere near as jacked as Brock was! Chloe sure didn't mind though as she let out a sigh of content. Brock had disappeared somewhere, either chasing after a beautiful girl or dragged off by Croagunk to wherever it was that he took him so it was just her and Ash for the time being!
"Eevoi!" Eevee flicked her tail as she directed a comment towards Pikachu. Pikachu blushed and rubbed the back of his neck as he seemed to like whatever it was she said to him!
"Pikaaa... Pikachu pika pika chu pika!" Eevee hid her face behind her fluffy tail as her cheeks blushed dark red!
Chloe cast a quick look about and knew now would be the best time to tell Ash how she felt, it could be quite some time before they had another moment like this as there wouldn't be time to settle down and relax until the Grand Festival and Indigo League wrapped up! Team Rocket was nowhere in sight, she didn't even see the disguised Jessie, James or Meowth anywhere! Nothing would stop her from telling Ash, now was the perfect moment!
"Ash, I need to tell you something... something I tried telling you on the SS Anne." Chloe softly spoke as she fought against her nerves.
"Hm? Oh yeah, I forgot!" Ash lit up as he recalled her saying something before that Arlo guy blew a hole in the wall and held up the ballroom! "What is it that you wanted to ask me?" He tilted his head in a curious fashion.
"Ash, I lov-"
Boom! The ground began shaking beneath them followed by loud screams as tourists and locals alike pointed frantically towards the island's peak! Chloe silently followed their looks and let out an inaudible curse as black smoke could be seen rising out of the island's volcano while lava slowly began pouring over it's peak!
"The volcano, it's active!"
"I thought that thing was supposed to be inactive, you think the Gym Leader's okay?!" Another trainer anxiously asked.
"Huh? Why wouldn't he be safe?" Ash questioned.
"Don't you know? The Gym Leader hosts his Gym battles inside the volcano itself!"
Ash went silent for a moment before it hit him. "Oh right, the Gym Leader's a Fire specialist! That makes sense."
Sirens began going off across the island while Officer Jenny sprang forward and shouted into her megaphone. "Everyone get to the boats in a nice and orderly fashion, no need to panic! We need everyone to evacuate the island!" She waved her hand towards a boat docked a way's down the beach. "We can't fit everyone but more boats are on the way and will be here soon-Wait what's that?!"
A flaming rock resembling the head of an robotic Charizard blasted out of the volcano and sped towards the boat, crashing straight through it resulting in the boat sinking before anyone could get aboard!
"What now?!" A tourist anxiously asked to which Officer Jenny went silent as she honestly had no clue! Ash focused his gaze upon the volcano before turning towards Chloe.
"I don't recall much of 'normal' school but wasn't magma said to harden up if you get it wet enough?" Ash questioned Chloe.
Chloe's eyes went wide and she was quick to throw her arms around him, resulting in Ash's cheeks glowing bright red as she shouted. "You're a genius!" She quickly pulled away and turned her attention towards Officer Jenny. "Hey Officer Jenny, what if we had everyone who owns a Water type Pokemon use Water type attacks on the lava? Even if Rain Dance is all a Pokemon knows it'll still be of help as we'll need one big Rain Dance to cover up the entire island!"
"The girl's right," Yellow spoke up while casually licking a Neapolitan ice cream cone despite the panic. "If we all work together we can stop the lava before it reaches the town or the forest! We'll be saving a lot of lives, that of both people and Pokemon!"
"I'm not sure it's my call to make," Officer Jenny spoke, not taking them seriously as they were just children.
"Then consider it my call," Giovanni stepped through the crowd, dressed in his usual well dressed attire. "They may be young but they actually have a pretty solid plan and my Poliwrath is plenty strong enough to use Rain Dance at the volcano's peak, if everyone works together we should be able to calm down the volcano and bring things back to normal!"
Officer Jenny gave him a look before turning her mega phone back on. "Attention please, if anyone here has a Water type we'd greatly appreciate your assistance! We're going to try and calm down the volcano before anyone gets hurt!"
Thankfully Ash already had Kingler and Kabutops on hand so he went ahead and sent them out alongside Chloe's Omastar! Pikachu leaped down next to the three Water types as they burst out, flicking his tail in anticipation as he was eager to assist with Splishy Splash!
"Poliwrath!" Giovanni's Poliwrath began slapping his stomach as he burst from his Pokeball!
"You don't think the Gym Leader's hurt do you?" Ash was quick to question Giovanni.
"Blaine? Nah, he's out of town playing poker with some friends of his but he should be back soon!"
"Well that sure is convenient," Yellow remarked as she tossed a Pokeball into the air, releasing a Vaporeon. Eevee let out a coo of admiration as she gazed upon her evolution. Pikachu shot Vaporeon a harsh glare of jealousy, unaware that Eevee was simply stating her appreciation for her evolution and not a romantic admiration!
"Pika..." Pikachu growled out.
"Alright Poliwrath, leap up and use Rain Dance!" Giovanni ordered. Poliwrath was quick to leap up into the air before twirling about as he rhythmically slammed the palms of his hands against his belly as if he was playing the drums!
"Wrath, Poliwrath poli poli!"
Rain began pouring down upon the island, slowing down the lava and causing the thick black clouds to shrink and fade away as Poliwrath cooled down the volcano!
"Omastar use Surf!"
"Oma!" Omastar's tentacles twitched as a large wave began to form beneath him! Omastar rode the wave and brought it crashing down upon the molten lava, hardening it before it could reach the edge of town!
"Gyarados use Hydro Pump!"
"GYAAAA!"
"Huh?" Chloe turned and noticed a rather obvious disguised James as he was simply wearing an Alolan style shirt and cargo shorts along with a fedora and sunglasses.
James' Gyarados blasted out the powerful water blast, hardening up more magma as the rain powered up the various Water type attacks!
"Vaporeon you use Hydro Pump as well!" Yellow cried out.
"Kabutops use Brine, Kingler use Bubblebeam! Pikachu use Splishy Splash!"
"Kabu!"
"Cookie!" Kabutops fired off a powerful stream of water while Kingler shot out a series of bubbles as various other trainers joined in with their own Water type attacks. It took approximately a few hours but eventually everything calmed down, all the magma had hardened up and the volcano returned to it's inactivate state allowing for everyone to go back to their business if they so desired, unfortunately for Chloe the day was almost over and she didn't get a chance to tell Ash how she felt. The girl released a frustrated sigh before forcing a smile, nobody got hurt and that was the important thing! She'd just wait until the Grand Festival and Indigo League come to an end, there wouldn't be much time until then so why fight it? There would be plenty of time to find the right place and the right words once they wrapped up their respective goals.
Yellow stared after Ash and Chloe as they walked off and reunited with Brock who had been helping escort people to safety during the eruption as he had no Water Pokemon of his own. The three headed off towards a nearby diner while Yellow silently watched however rather than lingering upon the sighting of Brock, her mind was fully focused upon the strange attack that the raven haired boy's Pikachu had used. "Splishy Splash? In all my travels I've never heard of a move with that name... I can't wait to face against it and see how we fare against it!" Yellow clenched her fists as an excitable expression quite similar to that of our hero formed across her face!
"Pi Pikachu!" Her Pikachu raised her fist into the air as she shared her trainer's excitement!
"You sure it's safe heading up there after yesterday? What if it erupts again when we're all inside!" Chloe couldn't help but anxiously cry out as the three stood across from Giovanni the following morning.
"Ah I wouldn't worry about it, Blaine's an expert when it comes to volcanoes and believe me he'd know if it was going to erupt! He wagers that some careless tourist or local tossed in some rather large garbage and upset the lava, resulting in the volcano's activation! It should be fine and perfectly safe now." Giovanni explained before thumbing towards a path that led towards the volcano's peak. "Just head up there and you should meet the Gym Leader himself. I'd give you more information but I'm afraid my rank as Gym Leader forbids me from revealing anything about my fellow Gym Leaders!"
"No problem, thanks again!" Ash grinned as he and Brock began waving Giovanni off.
Giovanni flashed the three a light smirk before giving them a two fingered salute. "Good luck Ash, I look forward to our rematch." Giovanni turned and headed towards the beach where a sleek black helicopter could be seen waiting for him.
"So you've got a plan right?" Chloe questioned as they began walking up the volcano following Giovanni's departure. "I'm sure you're aware that the intense heat will get to most Pokemon? It is an active volcano after all."
"Pi..." Pikachu flattened his ears as he didn't exactly look fond of the idea.
"Of course, that's why Primeape, Tauros and Sceptile aren't here!" Sceptile was fairly obvious given the fact that it was a Fire type Gym while Tauros and Primeape's thick fur coats would make them overheat from the intense temperature! "So where are we meeting this Blaine guy anyways?"
"Why I'll get you there!" A man leaped down from the path above and flashed them a smirk. "I'm Blaine's assistant and I'll be giving you a pop quiz, answer correctly and you'll have an easier time in the Gym but if you answer poorly then you'll have a more difficult time going up against Blaine!" Chloe couldn't help but narrow her eyes as the man seemed to be wearing a rather poorly made wig and fake mustache, it was rather obvious the man wasn't who he said he was.
"A pop quiz?"
"Pika?" Ash and Pikachu shared a look before smirking as they gave each other a nod. It was something new but they were all for it!
"Go ahead and give us the questions!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"You're eager Bibarels, eh?" The man formed an amused smirk before firing off the first question. "Alright, the Magmarizer is an item that'll help a Pokemon evolve however it only works on a singular Pokemon, which Pokemon am I referring to?"
"Huh?!" Ash and Pikachu gave each other another look before shrugging. "Slugma?"
Blaine's assistant gave them a thumbs down and silently shook his head. "Let's try an easier question. True or false, Rhydon is a Fire type."
"That's false." Ash was quick to answer while Pikachu nodded in agreement.
The assistant formed a light smirk and gave them a thumbs up. "Eevee evolves into a Flareon when you give it an evolution stone but which one?"
"Fire Stone!"
The assistant slowly clapped his hands. "Well done, you got two of my questions right! However I have one final one that is a bit tricky! Two of these Pokemon have different appearances in regions far from here and you're to pick them out from the options I give you. Charizard, Ninetails, Rapidash, and Arcanine!"
Ash paused for a moment as he began carefully thinking it over inside his head. Surely it couldn't be Charizard as starter Pokemon didn't have regional forms as far as he knew. He recalled hearing Leaf gushing over how beautiful an icy blue Ninetails was some years back, perhaps Ninetails was one of those Pokemon? It came down to Rapidash and Arcanine as the final pick. He scoured his brain in the hopes of remembering potential clues or hints from Gary and Leaf but came up empty, surely it wouldn't hurt to just pick one at random and hope for the best? After all it wasn't as if it'd stop him from challenging Blaine if he got it wrong!
"Ninetails and Arcanine?"
Blaine's assistant shook his head while forming an X with his arms. "Sorry kid but the correct answer was Ninetails and Rapidash!"
Chloe quickly retrieved her Rotom Phone as curiosity struck over what this so called Rapidash form looked like. "Oooh, it's beautiful!" She gushed.
Ash and Brock looked over her shoulder as they too were curious. "Galar, eh?" Brock softly spoke. "Well I guess our chances of encountering one are pretty slim."
Blaine's assistant was quick to interrupt. "I hope you don't mind but Blaine's a busy man, end of the Pokemon League season coming up and plenty of Gym Challengers coming and going! Best we don't keep him waiting, oh and you'll be happy to know that due to you answering two of the four questions correctly you'll be facing off against four of Blaine's Pokemon rather than a full six on six battle!"
"Wait are you telling me if I got them all wrong I could have had a six on six matchup?!" Ash exclaimed before quickly hanging his head as he started wishing that he'd gotten them all wrong!
The assistant chuckled from amusement while silently shaking his head. "And if you answered them right then you'd only have to beat two of Blaine's strongest Pokemon! You see there's more to being a Pokemon Champion than just raw power thus Blaine enjoys challenging his trainers in a test of brain and brawn!" The man turned and guided them up the rest of the volcano before arriving at it's peak where a path leading to the battlefield could be seen!
"Wait a moment, I thought you said Blaine would be waiting for us?" Ash questioned as he noticed the battlefield was completely empty. "Nobody's here."
Blaine's assistant uttered out an amused chuckle as he grabbed at his Alolan style shirt before throwing it right off alongside his wig and fake mustache to reveal a balding old man whom ironically had an actual mustache beneath his fake one! His lab coat flapped in the wind while his arms crossed as a cocky smirk formed across his face. "Surprise, I was Blaine the whole time!"
"What?!" Chloe gave Ash and Brock a silent look as they let out audible gasps, having a rather unamused look as she looked back towards Blaine.
"That's right! Now I've heard all about you, Ash Ketchum so I assume you'll be wanting to cut to the chase and get things started?"
"You know it, I can't wait to begin!" Ash exclaimed as his fists clenched from excitement!
"Pi Pikachu!"
Blaine let out an amused chuckle as he took his place on the opposite side of the battlefield. "The rules here are the same as every other Gym, only the challenger may switch out their Pokemon and the battle will come to a conclusion as soon as one side is unable to continue. I'll start things off by revealing my first choice, Flareon let's go!"
"Flareon!" The Fire type Eeveelution cried out as he burst from his Pokeball!
"Eevoi..." Eevee's gaze fixated upon her Eeveelution.
"Kingler I choose you!"
"Cookie!"
"Superpower!" A light blue aura surrounded Flareon as he swiftly maneuvered across the field, charging straight at Kingler before lowering his head as he raced beneath Kingler's body! The Eeveelution then bashed his body upwards and sent Kingler flying through the air!
"Kingler aim towards Flareon and use Razor Shell as you descend!"
"Cookie!" Kingler aimed his pincers towards Flareon as he quickly began his descent, his pincers became coated in an aquatic blue veil as he slashed out at Flareon! Flareon went cross eyed before collapsing to his knees as his eyes were reduced to swirls!
"Wow, Flareon's out already?" Chloe gasped out.
"If I were to guess the force of the attack combined with Flareon's natural disadvantage against Water types proved to be too much for him!" Brock theorized. "Kingler was falling pretty fast after all!"
"Flareon return," Blaine returned Flareon to his ball and placed it back upon his belt. "Ninetails use Confuse Ray!" Blaine hurled another ball forward, releasing the yellow fox Pokemon. Ninetails stretched out her back and uttered out a soft beautiful cry as a blinding yellow light surrounded her! Kingler flinched and briefly opened his eyes before slowly opening them to reveal a dazed and confused look as miniature Torchic circled around his head.
"Cookie..."
"Kingler use Bubble Beam!"
"Cookie!" Though rather than fire out the bubble attack, Kingler was quick to slap himself with his pincers!
"Solar Beam!"
"Nine!" Ninetails opened her mouth and fired off a large beam of yellow solar energy at her opponent, taking Ash by surprise as the fox Pokemon utilized the attack without having to charge up!
"What?!"
"Cookie!" The attack knocked Kingler back and he collapsed to his side as swirls filled his eyes.
"W-What just happened?!"
"Pi Pikachu?"
Blaine let out a loud laugh and flashed the two a smirk as he pointed upwards. "You ever noticed how it's a lot warmer here compared to other parts of the region? Well that also has an effect on Grass and Fire type Pokemon, allowing them to utilize Solar Beam and other attacks without the use of Sunny Day or having to charge up!" Blaine explained.
Ash slowly nodded his head as it was starting to make sense. "Ah, I get it now! So your Fire type attacks hit harder too right?" Blaine merely smirked in response while Ash was silently grateful that he had chosen to leave Sceptile at Professor Oak's, the Grass type really wouldn't be enjoying it here! "Alright Larvitar, I choose you!"
"Lar, Larvitar!" Larvitar cried out as he burst from his ball, the Pokemon gazed up at Ninetails with a look full of confidence!
"You can do it, Larvitar!" Chloe cheered.
"Lar, Larvitar!" Larvitar flashed his mother figure a cheerful smile and waved at her before turning his attention back towards Ninetails.
"Confuse Ray!" Blaine swiftly ordered.
"Larvitar close your eyes and use Sandstorm!"
Larvitar closed his eyes and uttered out a cry as a thick sandstorm covered the battlefield, obscuring the view and making it difficult to see!
"Heh, clever." Blaine smirked. "Ninetails use Flamethrower!"
"Nine!" A large stream of fire erupted from Ninetail's mouth and soared across the field towards Larvitar!
"Block it with Stone Edge!"
"Lar!" Large stone pillars erupted from the ground in front of Larvitar, blocking the Flamethrower's path! Larvitar smirked before thrusting his arms outwards, sending the stone pillars rushing across the field where they'd slam against Ninetails! Ninetails grunted out as she was pushed across the field before coming to an abrupt stop as she neared the edge of the battlefield, she recovered with a quick shake of her head before racing back onto the field with a fierce cry!
"Extrasensory!"
Ninetails eyes glowed a bright golden color as a rainbow colored shot from her mouth and made it's way towards Larvitar, Larvitar let out a cry as the attack sent him flying through the air! Ash couldn't see a thing through the sand so it came as a surprise when Larvitar's heavy body came crashing into his chest, knocking the air right out of him as he fell onto his rear. Ash let out a grunt as Larvitar laid on his stomach, the Pokemon was still steadily breathing indicating he hadn't passed out yet. "Y-You good to continue, buddy?"
"Lar, Larvitar!" Larvitar enthusiastically nodded as he flashed his father a smile, hoping to impress him!
"Alright then, Larvitar get back in there and finish this with Stomping Tantrum!"
"Lar, Larvitar lar!" Larvitar leaped back onto the field and began stomping his feet as if he were putting on a tantrum resulting in large chunks of the battlefield splintering up before firing off at Ninetails! Ninetails flicked her head back and forth as she tried locating the attack through the thick sandstorm.
"Nine!" The fox let out a pained cry as the large rock splinter crashed against her head! Her eyes went crossed and her body started toppling sideways as she fell into a state of unconsciousness!
"Well looks like Ninetails is out!" Blaine returned Ninetails to her ball and was about to reach for a replacement when Larvitar suddenly cried out.
"Lar!"
"Larvitar, what is it? Did something happen?!"
"Pi Pikachu?!" Ash and Pikachu raced into the sandstorm to check on their younger teammate before a bright blue light shined through the sandstorm, temporarily blinding the pair! The sandstorm slowly began to die out allowing them to see a large gray-ish blue rocky shell form around Larvitar's body!
"Pupitar!" The newly evolved Pokemon cried.
Ash and Pikachu let out a quick cough as a bit of sand got in their mouths. "Y-You evolved! W-Way to go, Pupitar!"
"Pupitar!" It was difficult telling Pupitar's emotion now that his body was within a large rocky shell but his cry sure sounded pleased!
"Pupitar the Hard Shell Pokemon, Pupitar creates a gas inside its body that it compresses and forcefully ejects to propel itself like a jet. The body is very durable as it avoids damage even if it hits solid steel!"
Ash smiled lightly as he reached for Pupitar's ball. "You did great out there Pupitar, take a rest for now. We might need you later!"
"Pupitar."
"Rapidash, let's go!"
"Rapi!" Rapidash neighed out while raising up it's frontal hooves!
"Kabutops I choose you!"
"Kabu!" Kabutops clashed his scythes together as he burst from his Pokeball!
"Kabutops use Aqua Jet!"
"Kabu!" Kabutops' body became surrounded in an aquatic veil as he shot into the air like a rocket and swiftly moved towards Rapidash!
"Solar Blade!" Rapidash's horn glowed bright yellow as solar energy surrounded it, the horse slashed out at Kabutops as the prehistoric Pokemon moved closer and although Kabutops got in a hit it'd came at a price as Kabutops dropped to his knees before fully collapsing face first against the dirt as swirls filled his eyes.
"Kabutops!"
"Pi Pikachu!" The two anxiously watched on as Kabutops let out a groan of defeat.
Ash clenched his fists as he remembered that Kabutops had a quadruple weakness to Grass type attacks, sure he messed up but it wasn't his fault as he couldn't have known Rapidash knew that attack!
"Kabutops return, you tried your best and that's what counts! You'll have another shot soon," Ash placed the ball back upon his belt and swiftly reached for his final Pokeball. "Alright Charizard, I choose you!"
"Char!" Charizard let out a mighty roar and stretched out his wings as he burst out from his Pokeball before blasting a powerful stream of fire into the air!
"Incredible, that Charizard sure looks strong! I look forward to testing it's limits, Rapidash use Poison Jab!" Blaine enthusiastically shouted out!
The tip of Rapidash's horn turned a venomous shade of purple as he began galloping towards his opponent!
"Charizard fly over him and use Seismic Toss!" Ash shouted with a throw of his arm.
Charizard let out a roar as he took to the skies above, narrowly missing Rapidash's attack! Charizard swiftly dove and dug his claws into Rapidash's sides as he hoisted the horse Pokemon up into the air! Charizard then began spinning up and down in a circular motion causing the trainer's heads to spin as they watched, Chloe had to close her eyes as it started making her feel sick. Charizard then uttered out another roar as he soared towards the ground at mach speed before slamming Rapidash's body against the battlefield! Dust and dirt flew up, temporarily obscuring the view before fading away to reveal the defeated form of Rapidash who laid on his side as swirls filled his eyes.
"Alright Charizard, way to go!" Ash cheered.
Charizard let out an enthusiastic roar before firing another Flamethrower attack into the air!
Blaine flashed a light smirk as he returned Rapidash to it's ball. "I was right, that Charizard certainly is powerful... but let's see how it fares against my strongest Pokemon, Magmortar!"
Ash did a quick double take as a large bulky Pokemon that greatly resembled Magmar burst out in front of him! "Whoa, so that's Magmortar!"
"Pika..."
"Magmortar the Blast Pokemon, Magmortar takes down its enemies by shooting fireballs which burn them to a blackened crisp!"
"It sure looks strong," Ash's gaze flickered towards his Mega Ring before he quickly shook his head. "Charizard use Dragon Pulse!"
Charizard roared out as he fired off a multicolored dragon shaped energy beam! The attack struck Magmortar's stomach resulting in the Fire type uttering a faint grunt.
"Hyper Beam!" Magmortar aimed his cannon-shaped arms towards Charizard and fired off the familiar beam of yellow-orange energy!
"Fly up and dodge!" Charizard wasn't fast enough however as the attack clipped his wing, Charizard uttered a faint grunt as he landed back on the ground and rubbed his shoulder while Magmortar breathed heavily as he began charging back up!
"Charizard you okay?" Charizard smirked and gave his trainer a thumbs up. "Alright let's try this out once more, use Seismic Toss!" Charizard flapped his wings and took off into the air once more, maneuvering towards his opponent before latching his hands onto Magmortar's shoulder as he began lifting the Pokemon up into the air before proceeding to spin around in circles!
"Thunder Punch!" Blaine ordered with a smirk.
"Huh? What are you trying to do? They'll fall into the volcano!" Ash anxiously shouted out, his concern for his Pokemon overpowered his sense of logic.
Magmortar's fist sparked with electricity as he struck Charizard's stomach! The fire lizard let out a grunt of surprise before releasing his grip from Magmortar as both Pokemon went plummeting into the magma below!
"Charizard!"
"Pika pi!" Ash and Pikachu dove to the side and anxiously stared at the magma.
"Uh Ash? Charizard's okay, Fire types can survive touching magma you know." Chloe spoke up causing Ash to tense up before sweating as a nervous chuckle escaped his lips.
"O-Oh right, guess I forgot!" A splash could be seen as Charizard and Magmortar reemerged above the magma, glaring into the other's eyes as they prepared to finish this!
"Thunder Punch!"
"Flap your wings!"
"Char!" Charizard began flapping his wings without question, splashing up lava and sending it flying everywhere around the two Pokemon! Magmortar let out a grunt and covered his eyes, creating an opening for Ash and Charizard!
"Flamethrower!"
"Char!" Charizard roared out as he blasted Magmortar with a massive stream of fire! Magmortar let out a pained grunt as the flames blasted his body sending the Pokemon toppling over onto his back resulting in more magma splashing up before covering the Pokemon as he disappeared from sight!
Charizard raised his wings and roared loudly before firing a celebratory Flamethrower into the air! "Char!"
"Alright Charizard, you did it!"
"Pi Pikachu!" Charizard flew up to join his trainer while Blaine recalled Magmortar.
"I must say you certainly surprised me, I already heard about you from the others. Apparently you left quite the impression on a good number of my associates and I can honestly see why, especially after your actions yesterday." Blaine placed his hands into the pocket of his lab coat where he retrieved a red flame shaped badge. "This is the Volcano Badge, I hope you wear it with pride as you walk the path through Victory Road. It sure won't be easy!" Blaine chuckled before flashing Ash one final smirk.
"But best of luck, I look forward to seeing how you fare against the Elite Four assuming that you can make it that far."
Ash gave Blaine a smile before excitedly turning to face his Pokemon as he held up the Gym Badge to take his signature victory pose. "Alright, we got the Volcano Badge!"
"Pi Pikachu!"
"Char!" The two Pokemon posed alongside their trainer!
"I can't believe it, da twerp actually did it!" Meowth gasped out as the Rocket trio watched from their hiding place atop the volcano's peak.
"That means he'll be facing our boss soon... do you think he'll win?" James questioned.
"Oh don't be ridiculous, he may have gotten powerful over the past few months but he'll never stand a chance against the boss!" Jessie laughed.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet chimed in agreement.