Hi, FanFiction Members! This is HollowKU, ready for the next chapter of 'The Parallel Challenger'! Last time, the battle took its natural course again, with Ash's Infernape taking on Red's Espeon. Although the Fire ape tried hard (even with his body all damaged from the previous battle), and even pulled out tricks like the famous Counter Shield, he was unable to match Espeon's speed and psychic abilities. Krookodile, who was now fully recovered after the beatdown from the first battle with Red, took Infernape's place after his defeat and with great skills, managed to defeat the Psychic Eevee evolution. With two Pokémon left, Red summoned Charizard once again as his next Pokémon.

Thanks to JJWalker, Pokémon Guy 84, miclimp, Trainer Theta, Omegaxis1, HikariGaijin, DrakenSword0z, lucarioADV, ChloboShoka, Nom, Starlighz, ragebuster59, Rinoreiri Murino Hitsuzen, Red should win (This guy knows what he wants in the end of this fic XD), Starlight Constellation, Kilala-lover-forever, DracoBlitzen, sceptile rocks, WhiteKnightDragon, GhostyRose, by Sapphire and Tied to Machines-I'm One for the reviews. And also thanks to all of you who are reading the fic =)

Oh, and for doing advertisement, I would REALLY thank you if you checked out my friend Rinoreiri Murino Hitsuzen's Lost and Forgotten. His story is really good and mysterious! However, his efforts are getting unappreciated, so it wouldn't hurt if you checked on his story, and leave him one or more reviews if you can. You won't regret it. If you're an Eevee fan, and like dark-plot fics, THIS is the fic you've been waiting for.

Well, with no more interruptions, the chapter =D

Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger

Chapter 12: Pride

"Rawrr..."

"Krooko..."

The pressure was felt all around the environment. For the moment, the silence was filling the battlefield, with both opponents glaring at each other without any muscle of their bodies. Once again, both Pokémon were forced to clash with each other, but this time, it was personal...

...at least it was for the Dark-type Pokémon, who in the previous battle, he lost horribly to his opponent, and now, he had the opportunity to make things right...

"Hmm..." The young Champion looked at the piercing glare of his Pokémon, who was directed at the crocodile-like Pokémon. "This will be interesting. The pressure between our Pokémon is intense."

"Krooko!" The Dark-type Pokémon roared to the Kanto Champion.

"Calm down, Krookodile." Ash now turned to face Red, with a smile on his face. "Red, last time I failed and because of that, Krookodile was greatly damaged. But that won't happen this time! Krookodile will beat Charizard this time!"

"Hpmh." Red snickered. "Then show me how your Krookodile truly battles, other me."

"You got it!"

"If both contestants are ready, the next battle will be between Ash's Krookodile agaisn't Red's Charizard." Brock pointed at both sides and then raised his whole arm. "BEGIN, trainers!"

"Charizard, take flight." The Pokémon obeyed and sprayed his wings, taking a big boost and with that, he was already meters away from the floor. The orange flying lizard stopped his boost, and now he was floating, looking at the battlefield and waiting for his trainer's order. "Flamethrower."

"Krookodile, dodge by using Dig!"

The lizard unleashed a powerful amount of flames, directed to the Dark-type Pokémon. Lucky for the latter, he started digging the ground, and he managed to make his way underground, managing to dodge the Flamethrower just in time. However, the attack was really strong and it managed to burn that section of the ground, the most affected part being turned in to ashes.

"Strong..." That was Ash thought when he saw the zone impacted by the flames. "Krookodile, stay there until I tell you!"

"Hmm...don't think I'll wait your move, other me." Red said as he raised his arm. "Charizard, activate Blaze."

"RAAAAAAWR!" The orange lizard roared as his body was engulfed by a burning aura and, in a matter of seconds, he was now completely surrounded by the red aura, meaning that the unleash of his ability was now complete.

"It's here...his Blaze ability..."

"Flare Blitz." The Charizard from the young Kanto Champion roared as he, with a great speed boost, started making his way straight to the ground. The orange lizard's only point of vision was the battlefield, where Krookodile was hiding underground. "Collide with the ground and end it."

"He's going to crash directly?!" Those were the thoughts of everyone watching the match.

"Krookodile! Now!"

*CRASH*

"Ugh!" Ash covered his face with his arm to protect his eyes from the big amount of dust violently released. Red just grabbed the brim of his cap and pulled it down, covering part of his face. The battlefield was already really damaged from the previous fight, but now the only thing that divided the counterparts was a big crater, generated from the powerful blow that Charizard made when he impacted on the ground. The orange lizard emerged from the crater, barely harmed from the crash, and started to take flight.

"Dragon Claw!"

"...!" Both Red and Charizard were surprised when Ash yelled this. Before he took too much height to reach, the crocodile emerged from behind the lizard, and slashed him really hard. Since he didn't see it coming, Charizard couldn't escape unharmed from the attack to his back and, more important, to his wings.

"...Blast Burn."

"Krookodile, get out of there!"

Charizard turned around to face the crocodile Pokémon, and started to form a big amount of flames within his mouth. The aura that surrounded him also headed to Charizard's mouth, filling the flames with more energy. Both Ash and his Pokémon freaked out with the idea of the ultimate Fire attack ability ENHANCED with the Blaze ability.

Krookodile turned around, and used the energy of the Giga Impact to try to escape from the flames. Charizard unleashed his most deadly attack, burning down everything around its path. Krookodile started accelerating even more and managed to find an opening and managed to barely dodge the attack.

"Krooko!"

However, the attack was so strong that even without direct contact, part of Krookodile's arm had burns. The Pokémon groaned in pain as he landed as far as he could from its opponent, and held his arm with his hand, as he looked fiercely at the Charizard form the Champion counterpart.

"Good. If you hadn't dodged that attack, your Pokémon would be out."

"I'm sure Krookodile could have resisted the attack, but I can't allow him to have a significant amount of damage." Ash gritted his teeth. The battle between the hot-headed rivals was just starting.

Meanwhile, with the others...

"No way! The battle has just started and the battlefield is already completely destroyed!" Dawn remarked, somewhat worried.

"What an amazing power that Charizard has. The simple idea of one Pokémon incrementing his power with such results...it almost scares me that someone possesses that kind of Pokémon." Prof. Oak couldn't help but sweat a little from the looks of the battle.

"Red made his Charizard to activate Blaze from the very beginning. Is he planning on ending the battle quickly?" Misty was somewhat confused with Red's new strategy. "In the previous battle, he took his time to battle. He must be still testing Ash's abilities..."

"I have to say that it impresses me that Krookodile is still up after this. Last time, a normal Blast Burn defeated him instantly, while this time he was able to dodge most of the attack enhanced with Charizard's Blaze." Gary said camly, but then he looked at Krookodile. "I can't understand it. How did Ash's Pokémon managed to get so strong after a single day? Is Red..."

Returning to the battle...

"Krookodile has no space to dig anymore, and Charizard still has the upperhand with the sky." Ash thought. "Krookodile, are you alright?"

"Krooko!" Even with one of his arms hurt, the Pokémon still had lots of energy to continue battling.

"Very well then. Now, use Stone Edge continuously!"

"Dodge."

Krookodile was engulfed by a white aura, that released two chains of gray rocks that surrounded him. He released them as his opponent, the dragon-like Pokémon, spread his wings once again and made his way into the sky, evading the rocks that were heading to him. Krookodile started running and moving to different directions, according to the pattern Charizard was doing in order to evade the attack.

"Air Slash."

Charizard formed a couple of energy saws with his wings, and strongly directed them to counter the rock-type move. Even with the rocks having more physical power, the attack was still so strong that it was equally powerful to stop the rocks. Some burning aura from the Blaze also merged with the flying-type attack, melting some of the rocks the attack countered.

"Flare Blitz."

"Krookodile, back off and use Giga Impact to counter!"

"WHAT?!" This was what everyone thought when Ash ordered his Pokémon to put his life in risk once again. The first time the Giga Impact and the Fire Blitz collided, Krookodile resulted really hurt after the clash. Now that Charizard was enhanced with the Blaze, doing that was beyong insanity. The Pokémon was surrounded by a purple energy and started to rush where Charizard was, ready to collide with the Pokémon once again.

"Krookodile, keep moving! Increase your speed!"

"Krooko!" The Pokémon didn't even hesitate. As his trainer finished his order, his speed increased greatly.

"What are you planning to do, other me?" Red was into his thoughts, too. "Increase the speed. Don't back off." The champion was ready to follow his counterpart's plan. He was interested in know how would he react to this situation right now. The dragon-like Pokémon increased not only his speed, but also the flames that surrounded him. His only point was Krookodile. Nothing else in his surroundings.

"Just wait for it..."

They were separated by 100 meters.

"A little more...wait for it to appear..."

Now by 50 meters.

"Almost there..."

20 meters. The perfect opening appeared.

"THAT'S IT!" Ash's eyes widened. "NOW!"

10 meters before the clash, Krookodile grinned as he changed the direction of his attack. Everyone was surpised to see that the Dark-type Pokémon moved aside not to evade the attack, but to clash it from another angle. Both Pokémon clashed in what seemed a massive explosion. A big amount of smoke formed, as the Dark-type Pokémon emerged from it, somewhat unharmed but not with dangerous wounds.

On the other hand, Charizard emerged with a face showing pain. They were shocked to see that the young Champion's Pokémon's left side was with a great wound. Not dangerous, though, but it was still a significant amount of damage.

"Good job, Krookodile!"

"Krooko!" Part of the Pokémon's body was somewhat covered in burns, but he didn't mind, because the battle was going for his side and, if things went well, the pride he lost in his previous battle would be recovered.

"I saw it." The Kanto prodigy replied to this world's counterpart. "The opening. You also saw it. The flaw."

"Charizard concentrates too much energy in an attack that sometimes he leaves little openings to attack." Ash said calm. "Although I have to admit that luck was by my side." Ash rubbed the back of his head, laughing in the process.

"No. It was no luck. You are a natural battler. No one would ever be able to see an opening like that with the situation his Pokémon was into." Red smiled proudly. "It seems we need to take this to the next step."

"Huh?"

"Charizard." Red looked directly to his Pokémon. "Unlock 33,3 percent."

The dragon-like Pokémon nodded to his trainer, and in a blink, his eyes turned crimson red and he roared greatly, even making the ground shake with his big roar. The orange aura that surrounded him started to resonate violently, as the colors started changing from light orange to red. The aura started slightly to take the form of a dragon. One of the most prominent features of this new power was that scars started to suddenly appearing in some parts of Charizard's body. The eyes of the Pokémon were burning at this point.

Even though he had been dominating so far, the Dark-type Pokémon couldn't help but sweat to see his opponent's new looks. Ash himself was also getting nervous about the rest of the battle.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!"

"Ugh! What just happened?!" Ash was shocked.

"It is simple. I made him unlock more of his power." Red replied calmly as always.

"More of his power?" Ash asked confused and then looked somewhat angry. "Does that mean you've been letting me have the upperhand?"

"Yes and no." The Champion counterpart tried to calm down his other self. "You see, Charizard is unable to release the complete power of his Blaze."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, he can, but that would mean he would have to wait until he is greatly damaged to unlock it." Red continued his explaination. "However, since his power is incredibly powerful and destructive, I wanted him to control it, so it wouldn't go berserk. That's why when Charizard activates Blaze, he isn't activating all of it, but merely a part of it."

"A part of it?"

"My Charizard's Blaze has been divided into different phases for him to be able to control it." The Kanto Champion used his hands to express himself. "The first phase is the one your Grass-type Pokémon fought before being defeated, and the one your current Pokémon is fighting. In this one, he is using 33,3 percent of the whole Blaze."

"The next phase is the one you're seeing right now. His aura becomes even more furious and violent, taking form like a dragon. Your Charizard seems to have the same power as my Charizard has right now. 66,6 percent of Blaze's power."

"Wait...that would mean..."

"The last phase, with 99,9 percent of his Blaze ability unleashed, is my Charizard's true Blaze." Red grabbed the brim of his cap. "To be honest, you're the only one that made me have to unlock the second phase."

"Three phases...the next being even more powerful and destructive than the last one..." Ash gritted his teeth. "Red...just who in the world are you?"

"I've not let you any kind of advantage. You are just pushing me to use an even greater power." Red looked at his counterpart with a piercing look. "So, shall we continue?"

Meanwhile with the others...

"There's a power beyond Blaze?" May asked worried.

"Red continues to astonish me. The control his Charizard has over his inner ability is actually to lock his whole destructive power!" Prof. Oak gulped.

"As I thought, Charizard is only using part of his whole power...but only 66,6 percent...Ash, stop goofing around and take this battle seriously like you never did before..."

Returning to the others...

"Krookodile!" Ash called his Pokémon somewhat worried.

"Krooko?"

"As you can see, Charizard has increased his energy two times. If it was hard before, it will be even harder now." The Pallet Town resident told his Pokémon, but then he smiled. "But that doesn't mean we're going to give up, right?"

"Krooko!" The Dark-type Pokémon gave his trainer thumbs up.

"Very well! Let's take him down!"

However, as soon as Ash finished saying that, the new powered-up Charizard was already in front of Krookodile, while holding a big amount of flames in his mouth.

"Flamethrower."

The attack hit directly at the Dark-type, pushing him down and send him flying while being covered in violent flames until he collided with a rock wall that was formed because of the Fire-type's Flare Blitz impact in the ground. Charizard roared once more, showing a sign of great confidence in his victory. The attack was even more powerful than the Blast Burn itself because of the power up he had now within his body.

"KROOKO!"

Krookodile emerged from the debris of the impact with great force. However, everyone saw that the attack had clearly being horribly hurtful for him: his belly had severe burns, now both of his arms had burns, and parts of his sunglasses were broken and burned.

"Krooko..."

"Krookodile!" Ash was really worried about his Pokémon.

"Hmm?" Red was confused and amazed at the same time. "The first time, the Blast Burn defeated him, but now that he received an attack even more powerful, he is still refusing to give up..."

"Krookodile...are you ok?"

"Kroo...ko!" The Pokémon was in great pain, but he refused to be treated like if he was a weakling. He stood up firmly, and looked at his rival, who replied the look with a cocky smile.

"This will be the last shot." Red proclaimed as he pointed to his counterpart's Pokémon. "Show me your resolve, other me's Pokémon..."

"Blast Burn." The violent red aura that surrounded the dragon-like Pokémon started to accumulate a big ball of energy within his mouth.

"Krookodile, let's try our new combination!" Ash claimed.

"Use Stone Edge!" The Pokémon obeyed and after being engulfed by a white energy, he was surrounded by two chains of grey rocks. "Now, use Dragon Claw!" The Pokémon was clearly tired and the burns in both of his arms were hurting him, but since it was the last attack, with all his might, he managed to make his right hand to shine in a brightly blue color, especially in the fang. "Now, let's face it to its core! Use Giga Impact and try to focus its energy on your right arm!" The Pokémon used his most deadly attack once again, but this time, he tried to focus all his energy on his left arm. Even though it was horribly painful, he managed to make it: he was surrounded by the grey rocks of the Stone Edge, and his right arm was now a combination of blue and purple auras that emanated a calm and violent energy at the same time.

"Krookodile! GO!"

The Pokémon took some steps back, and took a big impulse and charged directly at the Pokémon of the Kanto Champion. The Blaze Pokémon stopped charging his attack, and unleashed it in a mass inferno that burned everything in its path. The Dark-type Pokémon didn't hesitate and continued directing his attack, starting to change the angle, making his energy powered claw as the main front of the clash.

"Krookodile! Dragon Claw Impact!"

Both deadly attacks clashed. However, they weren't equal. As much as he put his effort on that attack, Krookodile was completely surrounded by the hell flames that Charizard released from his mouth. The dragon-like Pokémon continued his attack, and there was no sign of the Dark-type Pokémon.

"No! KROOKODILE!"

"KROOKOOOOOOOO!"

Shocking everyone, even Red, the crocodile Pokémon emerged from the flames, with burns all over his body. He should be fainted by now, everyone thought, but Krookodile's eyes never stopped to show that burning passion that made him not losing his consciousness. Krookodile surrounded Charizard, and while yelling his name strongly, he striked the big attack in his claw on Charizard's left wing. The Pokémon stopped unleashing the flames, and groaned in pain as he lost his focus and backed off to his side of the field. The Dark-type Pokémon landed on the floor after the clash.

"Krookodile..." Ash just looked at his Pokémon.

"..."

"RAAAAAAAAAWR!" Red's Charizard roared as he landed near his trainer, grinning. The damage he received was nothing serious.

"No way..." The Pallet Town trainer said as he looked to his standing Pokémon. "Well, but Krookodile is still up, right?"

"..." The Pokémon didn't reply.

"Krookodile?"

Ash approached to his Pokémon and noticed something interesting. His Pokémon had already lost consciousness when he landed, but he was still standing: he refused, even to the very last moment, to fall on his knees once again.

"Even though Krookodile is standing, he is still unable to battle. The victory goes to Red's Charizard!" Brock took his position as the referee once again and announced the winner.

"Krookodile...you did a great job. Thank you." Ash smiled softly as he hugged his Pokémon and returned him to his Pokéball. "You deserve a good rest."

"..." Red looked at the scene in silence as he smiled. "A Pokémon with an unbreakable resolve. I believe he has managed to recover his pride, right?"

"Rawrrr..." Charizard replied to his trainer. His opponent indeed gave him a good battle, and he was now ready to take on the next one.

"Red." Ash looked at his counterpart as he grabbed his next Pokéball. "We're now with the same Pokémon left. Now that certain time has passed, it's time for him to show up again."

"And I'm interested to see a clash between them, other me." The Kanto Champion said as his Pokémon took a battle stance.

"Alright, let's do this! Charizard, I choose you!"

In the next chapter…

Red: Both of our Charizard possesses a big potential within their abilities.

Ash: I have already got this far…losing is NOT an option!

Red: Charizard...it's here...

May: They're almost there...yet their power...is almost equal.

Pokémon: The Parallel Challenger

Chapter 13: Inferno

Red/Ash: Blast Burn!

So that was Chapter 12, people! I hope you liked it =) So I guess the battle will get intense next time, since it will be the clash of both Charizard belonging to the counterparts. The final battle is coming near, people! Stay tuned to see more of The Parallel Challenger as it reaches its end in Chapter 16! That means four more chapters to go, people! See you later! Hollow, out!