AN: The reference to Pokemon Journeys was in the following sentence. 'Charizard reeled its head back before launching a ball of flame that detonated with enough force to not only melt every piece of ice in a 30-meter radius, but also to send some of the spectators flying.'

This is a call-back to when Korrina's Lucario unintentionally made an audience member fly out of their seat when it released a large amount of Aura.


UA Stadium (Day)

Dominic and Mega Charizard could tell the second it happened. Todoroki was doing what the blonde advised him to do. Both Fire and Water energy surged through the monochrome-haired boy's veins as he raised his arm, preparing to unleash his strongest attack yet. Embers danced around his arm, and with a deep breath...

He blasted his opponents with an explosion of steam.

Grinning madly, Dominic braced for the attack along with his partner. The steam met its mark, leaving several burn wounds on the blonde. But he didn't even notice, as his eye was fixed on Endeavor's reaction to his son's new ability. "HAHAHA! How's that for your precious little tool, huh!?" the pyromancer taunted, making the man's flames burn hotter. Dominic then turned to Todoroki. "Let's continue, shall we?"

Smirking, Todoroki surrounded himself in a whirlwind of steam, melting the ice on his body while also keeping him safe from any incoming attacks.

"Blow the steam away with Air Slash!" Dominic commanded. Charizard's wings started to glow cyan before it beat them, sending blades of Air energy flying at the cyclone. Todoroki tried countering with an ice attack, only for the spikes to be torn apart by Air Slash before his defensive wall was blown away. Once again, he put up an ice wall to keep him from being launched out of bounds, but the wall only barely held. "You know what to do! Dragon Claw!" Roaring, the Mega Evolved Pokemon dashed at mach speeds toward its opponent. With a claw bathed in arcane energy, it slashed. The resulting impact sent Todoroki three inches into the pavement.

"And the winner is Xia-" Midnight said before being cut off by the Pokemon Trainer.

"Not yet." he said, his eye burning. "You can still battle, right?" Todoroki got up from the crater, clutching his hand in pain. "Show me what you can do." Charizard mirrored this sentiment, roaring as its tail flame turned a bright blue. Freezing and heated air swirled around the battlefield as both combatants stared eachother down. Todoroki stamped his foot into the ground, causing ice to spread across the battlefield. Charizard's entire body swelled with energy, a red light visible around it. Midnight attempted to intervene, but her Quirk quickly dissipated in the sweltering heat. Dominic wasn't going to allow this battle to end without one of them leaving on a stretcher.

A glacier's worth of ice was shot at the duo of Trainer and Pokemon, forcing Dominic to get on Charizard's back to avoid the obstacle. As they drew closer to Todoroki, who was preparing another steam attack, the Pokemon's mouth filled with flames.

"NOW, CHARIZARD! SEARING BLAZE!" Dominic yelled as his internal temperature skyrocketed. A beam of pure fire energy left Charizard's maw, seconds away from colliding with Todoroki's steam blast. Just before the two attacks met, giant walls of concrete got between them. Fortunately, Searing Blaze easily broke through the walls and struck the steam blast, causing an explosion so powerful, it was seen and heard from Frammentato.


Schnee Manor (Night)

As he read his book of Dark Magic, Connor saw a very distinct red light in the wide expanse of the Void. "Of course." he deadpanned, going right back to his book.


UA Stadium (Day)

'That was way too close for comfort.' Cementoss thought to himself, completely out of breath. 'Even if my intervention didn't totally stop the explosion, it did tone it down a bit. I shudder to think of what would've happened if I wasn't able to form the walls in time.'

In the wake of the devastating attack, Dominic was very clearly able to see Todoroki, unconscious on the far end of the stadium. Letting out an exhausted breath, he collapsed as well, sweating profusely. Charizard, tired as well, exited its Mega form and passed out. "Thank you, Todoroki." Dominic said, a smile on his face as he sent his partner back to its Poke Ball. "That was the most fun we've had in battle in a long time."

"Xiao-Long advances to the third round!" Midnight announced as the crowd cheered.

As all of this went down, Dominic's eye never left Endeavor. Black fluid began to fill his sclera before he went back into the building. He needed his rest after that fight.

Dominic didn't pay much attention to what happened after that. He heard about which of his classmates won in their battles, but nothing stood out. Iida did leave the tournament at one point, but the blonde figured that, for the first time in his life, bothering his friends while they were attending to personal business wasn't important enough.

Like all Fire Element beings, Dominic's abilities require energy to burn in order to, well, burn. Expelling that much power to launch a single attack along with Charizard was enough to temporarily exhaust him. Pun not intended. Thankfully, he doesn't have to do anything for the next hour and a half.

'Who was my next opponent again? It was supposed to be Iida, but since he left, that just leaves...' A lightbulb went off in the blonde's head as he realized who he had to fight next. 'The only way I'm winning is if I never let him attack at all. And I know just the Pokemon for the job.'

Grinning madly, Dominic got out two items. A Poke Ball, and a Tera Orb.