Hi, FanFiction Members! I'm HollowKU, ready for the next chapter of this great fic, The Parallel Challenger! Last time, we saw the amazing power of Sceptile, making him gain victory thanks to that badass combo! Now, things will turn HOT, since Red's going serious now, and has summoned his Charizard once again, and has revealed that he can control his inner ability, Blaze!
Anyway, thanks to Omegaxis1, PokeMaster000, HikariGaijin, Peter Kim, ChloboShoka, REDxYELLOW, Lightningblade49, ampplaca1, XxL. and Lord Kaizer! And also to my dear readers as well! Reviews help authors to know how readers see the developing of the fic (and also give me a power boost to write faster XD). Besides, the end of humanity is this Friday, so a few reviews would cheer me up. Just kidding XD
Anyway, let's go to the fic!
Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger
Chapter 9: Powerhouse
"My Charizard can activate Blaze at any time."
After these words were pronounced by the Kanto Champion from the other dimension, everything went silent.
These words were constantly hitting everyone's minds. What Charizard just did was scientifically impossible. There was absolutely no way a Pokémon would just broke the natural course of the Pokémon line. It was completely new information for everyone, even for Prof. Oak, who even though he dedicated most of his life into the research of Pokémon, what Red just spoke was...unbelievable...
"He can activate Blaze...at will?!" Ash gasped.
"That's absurd!" Max yelled in disbelief. "No one has ever done that before! Not even the Champions of the other regions!"
"Yet it happened..." This was the reply of the champion. Max couldn't reply back at him.
"This is...beyond everything I've seen..." The most shocked one of everyone, Prof. Oak, was trembling at the idea of a Pokémon with such ability.
"That shouldn't astonish you so much. You, of all people, should know how that a Pokémon's potential has NO limits, Professor."
"..." Prof. Oak gulped. The young trainer was right, but it was still a shocking revelation.
"RAWRRRRRR!"
The moment was interrupted by the roar of the dragon-like Pokémon, who unleashed a Flamethrower into the sky and glared at Ash, showing that he was growing impatient and wanted to fight his next Pokémon.
Ash's POV
Ok, Ash. Calm down, calm down...
"RAWRRRRRR!"
What should I do?
This power...
...Blaze. He's able to use it at will…
How I'm supposed to beat him?
"RAWRRRRRR!"
Damn it...this is serious...
I have four Pokémon left...
Infernape, Krookodile, Charizard and Pikachu.
Infernape won't do much damage, since he's also a Fire-type, and his Fight-type part won't help, either.
Krookodile...is too soon for him. After that amount of damage he received in the last fight... I wanted him to observe his strategy from the battle with Sceptile, but that didn't work out...
"RAWRRRRRR!"
Pikachu was going to be my choice for battling Charizard before Sceptile offered to continue battling...but now that I think about it...even if Pikachu managed to defeat him, he would be weak for another battle...especially if Red decides to use his own Pikachu...
Charizard is still recovering...there's no way he could win against him in this condition. I need more time...
I can't afford to lose any Pokémon. We both have four Pokémon left. One Pokémon could do the difference...
What should I do? I'm nervous...
...I'm scared. Again...
I can't let this feeling take over me... I can't let it to consume me...
... ...
Normal POV
"So..." Red, who was just looking at his counterpart's movement, said. "Which is your next Pokémon?"
"..." Ash glared at him. The pressure of the battle was hitting him.
"RAWRRRRRR!"
Charizard roared once again. However, this time, his face looked angry. Impatient from the waiting, one could say. Suddenly, he charged at where Ash was, surprising everyone. Ash, who was still in his thoughts, didn't have time to react, as he saw the dragon-like Pokémon heading at full speed to his position. Ash closed his eyes, expecting to receive whatever Charizard was going to unleash. He stayed like that for a few seconds, until he finally dared to open his eyes. Slowly, he saw the Fire-type's face so close to him that he felt backwards. The Pokémon leaned more to see his trainer's counterpart directly.
"Something is wrong with Charizard..." Red thought while looking at his Pokémon. "He has never done this before..."
Ash was wondering why his opponent's Pokémon was looking at him so closely. It was like he was checking him. Analyzing him. Ash looked at the Pokémon right in the eyes, like trying to see what he was thinking. The moment this happened, the Pokémon stayed still, and replied the look. For a minute, they were just looking at the other. They didn't say anything, but at the same time, they did. The eyes revealed everything. For a moment, Ash was communicating with Red's Pokémon...
"RAWRRRRRR!"
Charizard grinned as he roared to the sky, he then looked back at Ash, who looked at him with a confused look. The Pokémon took flight and returned to his side of the field. However, he landed and faced his trainer, the Kanto Champion.
"What is it?" The trainer asked to his Pokémon.
"Rawrrr..."
"..." Red looked somewhat confused. "Is that what you want?"
"Rawrrr!" The Pokémon nodded to him.
"..." Red looked at the Pokémon and smiled. "I understand..."
The young champion searched in his bag and took out a Pokéball. It was pretty obvious what he was going to do now.
"Return..."
He raised the Pokéball and a red energy engulfed the dragon-like Pokémon, as he slowly merged with the energy, returning to the capsule.
"What the...?"
"Charizard understood you." Red said while looking at Ash. "He understood both your resolve and your fear."
"What does that mean?"
"He knows that you fear him...his power. Even since you knew that he could unleash Blaze, all your confidence and hope dropped to the floor." Red looked at Charizard's Pokeball. "Therefore, he refuses to battle you in a weak state. Like me, he wants to battle your Pokémon at its greatest, but they cannot give their all, if their trainer is not..."
"Red..."
"Don't get me wrong. I'm acknowledging my Pokémon's wish. He's the one giving you the opportunity, so you better use it right." Red said while taking another Pokéball. "You want to gain time for Charizard so he can be ready for another battle, right? So let's do that..."
With that being said, Red's Pokéball opened, revealing the first Pokémon he used in the battle: Snorlax. Though he looked tired and with a rough appearance from his battle with Ash's Snorlax, he stood firmly and waited for the opponent's Pokémon.
"Snorlax will be my next Pokémon, then." Red said while grabbing the brim of his cap and pointing at Ash. "So, which Pokémon are you going to choose?"
"I don't know what to feel. Was he giving me an opportunity or was it just pity?" Ash thought as he looked at the floor, kind of sad. "No, I don't have time for that." He shook his head. "Charizard did it for a reason. Like Red said, it's an opportunity, so I need to use it!"
Ash then looked back at the group of his Pokémon.
"Infernape, you will take this one." Ash said with a warm smile.
"Infernape!" The Pokémon nodded as he jumped and landed on his side of the field, waiting for the start of the battle.
"Ok. This battle will be between Ash's Infernape and Red's Snorlax." Brock took his stand as the referee once again. "Are both contestants ready?"
"Yeah!/..."
"BEGIN!"
"Infernape, use Flamethrower!" Ash ordered.
The Pokémon charged up a big amount of flames in his head, and then unleashed the attack, which was heading directly at Snorlax.
"Dodge and use Blizzard..."
Snorlax nodded and managed to dodge the attack. However, his face looked that it hurt moving like that after his previous battle. The Sleeping Pokémon then unleashed the ice-type move, freezing everything in his way.
"Counter with another Flamethrower!"
Infernape nodded and continued his attack, this time trying to stop the powerful attack coming from the enemy side. The Flamethrower clashed with the Blizzard, both being as powerful as the other one. After a minute, the attack finally stopped, making a big amount of fog that covered the entire battlefield, due to the snow from the Blizzard evaporating from the Flamethrower.
"Infernape! Are you ok?" Ash asked, since he couldn't see his Pokémon.
"Infernape!" It was his response.
"Body Slam..."
Red, who looked as calm as ever, ordered his Pokémon to attack at the ape Pokémon. A cry could be heard, as something came out the fog, who resulted to be Snorlax, who jumped to gain enough height to unleash his attack. When he reached a good height, he stopped and started to head down, going faster and faster.
"Infernape, dodge it!"
"Infernape?" The Pokémon couldn't see at all and what getting confused at his trainer's orders.
"Snorlax!"
The Pokémon reached his destination, colliding with the ground and making a big hole on it. Since the fog was still in the surroundings, it was impossible to see what actually happened to Infernape.
"Infernape!"
"..."
However, after a moment, the fog dissipated completely, revealing Snorlax sitting on top of Infernape. The ape Pokémon tried to free himself, but the Sleeping Pokémon was just too heavy for that plan to work.
"Infernape, use Dig! Now!"
The Pokémon managed to find an opening and, with great ability, managed to do a hole where he escaped from Snorlax's wrath. The normal-type powerhouse stood up and looked in his surroundings, trying to figure it out from where Infernape would appear.
"Now, Mach Punch!"
From under Snorlax, the ape Pokémon appeared at full speed and gave him a big uppercut right in the Pokémon's chin. Snorlax received the hole attack, as he was sent flying due to the power of the ape Pokémon.
"Follow him and use Flare Blitz!"
With a great speed, Infernape concentrated strength enough and jumped, going where the Sleeping Pokémon was sent due to his attack. He managed to pass him, and then started to be engulfed by a blue flame aura, as he collided with Snorlax, and started to head to the ground, both engulfed by the powerful blue aura.
"You can do it!"
Infernape roared as he took a boost in his attack, heading even faster to the ground. His head was colliding directly with Snorlax's belly. It was impossible for the normal-type to escape the attack. In his condition, he couldn't.
*CRASH*
Both Pokémon finally collided in the ground, adding the dimensions of the crater Snorlax already did in his attempt to defeat Infernape. The crash of the Pokémon created lots of dust that made it impossible for the contenders to check on their Pokémon's status.
"Infernape!" The ape Pokémon got out of the hole and jumped to his side of the field. Suddenly, he felt the recoil from the Flare Blitz. His face was in pain, but it eventually faded.
"Infernape, are you ok?" Ash asked to his Pokémon. The Pokémon grinned and nodded to his trainer.
"Snor...lax..."
Everyone could see that the Sleeping Pokémon headed outside from the crater with burns all across his body, along with all type of scratches. He returned to his side of the field, breathing heavily and barely standing. One could see that he wasn't going to last anymore.
"Ok, Infernape. This our last shot! Use Mach Punch!"
"INFERNAPE!"
The Pokémon charged at full speed where Snorlax was. The Sleeping Pokémon stood there, without moving a muscle. Even if he did, his body was way too damaged to actually counter the move. There were only seconds before the attack collided with the Pokémon.
"Let me show you the true nature of my Snorlax..." Red declared as he looked at his Pokémon. "Do it..."
Infernape reached his opponent and hit him. But something extremely weird happened. At the precise moment the punch made his impact, it was instantly repelled and Infernape flew to his side of the field, crashing with the floor. It was like he was the one who was attacked.
"Infernape!" Ash was concerned of his Pokémon's wellbeing.
After that, everyone saw as Snorlax started to be engulfed by a warm green aura, surrounding his whole body. The shocking part was that, second by second, Snorlax's scratches and burns started to disappear into nothing. After a minute, the warm aura dissipated, and Snorlax was fully healed.
Meanwhile with the others...
"He just healed himself? But that's not possible! Snorlax can't learn any healing attacks!" Max remarked.
"Wait...there is one attack..." Gary noticed. "But it doesn't make sense..."
"What is it?"
"Think about it. What is what a Snorlax do best?"
"Easy, sleeping. For something he is the 'Sleeping Pokémon'." Misty said. "Wait...did he just...?"
"Yeah, he did that...the only move that can actually ruin all your effort of damaging the other Pokémon..."
Returning to the battle...
"Rest." Ash muttered.
Snorlax smiled proudly as he took his battle position, and used his hands to call Infernape for another round, provoking him. The fire ape was starting to get pissed off.
"But how is that even possible? Your Snorlax didn't even snore!"
"That's because he didn't fall asleep..." Red replied.
"What?!"
"You could say that what just happened is my Snorlax's ability." Red started to explain. "Snorlax is one unique Pokémon. Due to his immense dimensions, his strength makes him a unique powerhouse in every team. However, he has weak points, like every Pokémon in existence, and his own one is his sleepiness. It's in his own nature to sleep frequently. Besides that, his speed isn't in the best shape, making him unable to dodge fast attacks. That's why I needed him to get over those weak points and excel in his abilities..."
"By making him stay in better fit, slowly his inner active and battler personality starting to get out more frequently. Eventually, when using Rest, his time asleep started to be shorter, and now he can wake up just after three seconds asleep."
"So you managed to overcome the flaw..." Ash cursed this ability. "But why did Infernape fly backwards like if receiving his own attack when he collided with Snorlax?"
"Damage is useless while Rest is active. However, if used correctly, the 'barrier' surrounding Snorlax can become like a 'Mirror Coat-like' move. To be precise, it would be like hitting yourself."
"That will be a really annoying problem..."
"Ok, this is taking too long. Let's continue." Red pointed out. "Blizzard..."
"Infernape, dodge and use Flamethrower!" Ash ordered.
Infernape dodged the ice-type move, as he unleashed his own move, hitting the Sleeping Pokémon right in the belly. However, it was clear that it wasn't as effective as the last time.
"Body Slam..."
"Receive it with Mach Punch!"
Snorlax jumped even more than at the start of the round. Like the last one, he reached enough height and started falling back to the ground. In his side, a light engulfed the ape's hand, as he took position, ready to meet the Sleeping Pokémon with his attack.
"Hpmh. Giga Impact..."
"Infernape, NOW!"
The added attack took Infernape by surprise, as he desperately used all his might to counter the Giga Impact. Both attacks collided, and were forcefully retaining their own power. The fire ape accumulated the pressure in his arm to gain a power boost, while Snorlax also put some pressure in the Giga Impact so he would overpower Infernape.
"Infernape, you won't overpower his Giga Impact! Deflect it to another course!"
The ape nodded and with his arm almost at its limit, he managed Snorlax to overpower his own attack. However, he used his Mach Punch right next to him so he would crash in another direction. Fortunately, the fire-type managed to evade the whole hit by a few inches, as Snorlax crashed to a near site. Infernape breathed heavily, as he saw his opponent doing the same thing. Both were really tired after that clash.
"Infernape, use Flare Blitz!"
The Pokémon, engulfed in blue flames, roared as he charged at full speed where his opponent was. His face was looking really angry, meaning that his sanity was slowly being broken...
"It's useless. Rest..."
Red ordered his Pokéon to do the cursed attack. The Pokémon obeyed and was instantly surrounded by the warm green aura. Infernape, who already saw that technique, roared even harder as he collided with Snorlax's body. However, it was useless. Snorlax's 'barrier' reflected the attack, making Infernape to fly backwards and colliding once again with the hard floor. Due to the immense pain he just received and after receiving the recoil of the Fire-type attack, he stayed on the ground, with his face showing only pain.
"Snorlax can keep it this up for many rounds." Red remarked as his Pokémon was fully recovered after the cursed move. "However, your Infernape can't even stand up due to the immense damage he provoked to himself."
"Infernape..." Ash started sweating.
"Anyway, let's finish this. Snorlax, Giga Impact..."
The Pokémon was engulfed by the purple energy, and charged at the fire ape, who was still lying in the floor and, even if he tried, he didn't manage to get up. There was apparently no more hope for Ash's Pokémon.
"Damn it...how I'm going to defeat him if he keeps healing himself?"
In the next chapter:
Ash: Infernape, NO!
Red: Hmmm? What's this?
Ash: What the...? Infernape, STOP IT!
May: His anger has consumed him…
Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger
Chapter 10: Clear Mind
Ash: What have you done?
Red: Instability of power can slowly turn into...madness...
So, that was Chapter 9 for you, my dear readers! Ufff! I need to catch a break. I have to tell you that this was a hard chapter to make, so I hope you liked it. Anyway, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope that you get to be with your loved ones (I know there's still some days until it, but I don't know if I will post the new chapter between those days.) Anyway, remember to review. It will cheer me up to know your opinions about the fic. See you in the next chapter, my dear readers! Hollow, out!