Traveler

by The Straight Elf

Ash Ketchum has been determined to become the best since he was a toddler. He has his eyes set on a charmander, but a twist of fate led him to the humble Nidoran. Note: Mix between anime and the games.

18. Chapter 18: The Legend

First off I'd like to apologize to everyone for how late this chapter is. I had two weeks of vacation over the past month and when I came back it took me a while to settle back into writing. Next chapter will definitely be out faster. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks to everyone that contributed last chapter!

As the primordial avian flashed towards them in a blaze of fire and smoke, it seemed to regress into a lesser state. The fires that made up its body weakened and dimmed, its feathers actually discernable from the inferno now. Instead of the wrath of fire made manifest, Moltres had fallen to become a mere Fire Bird.

The golden flame that consumed its body appeared only as tiny trickles of fire left in its wake, although its lustrous feathers, far more majestic than even Plume's, shined brightly in the sunlight. Moltres' crest and wings no longer distorted the air of the peak and dimmed to torches instead of explosions of flame and power.

Now that the inferno inspired by Moltres' mere presence had shriveled into little more than the odd explosion of fire and ash, he was able to make out the form of Moltres' shrine again. The flames that danced along the crude mockery of the Legend before him were little more than shifting embers, but embers that burned even brighter than before, a sign that Moltres restrained its might.

Ash gasped in relief as the crushing weight of Moltres' presence lessened dramatically, but barely had time to bask in the feeling before he and Lance were yanked away in a flash of light. He barely managed to catch the light of Dazed's psychic power before they vanished.

He winced as they suddenly collapsed just a few feet away from where they were before. It looked like Moltres didn't want them leaving. Ash coughed briefly before he looked up. His eyes widened as he spied Moltres' blazing form, still afire with power, high in the air. It screeched yet again, but the inferno that erupted from the volcano's chasm leapt only a few feet, proof of its weakened power.

A large gloved hand suddenly gripped his shoulder and pulled him upward. Ash blinked in surprise before Lance's shouts were actually intelligible. "Come on! We need to get away from the battle!"

Ash took one last glance at Moltres, who patiently hung over the volcano's peak in a haze of warped air and fire. Its eyes, which had dimmed along with its strength, watched Ash and Lance carefully. He shook himself out of it and ran with Lance as the Champion fervently pulled him along.

Their teams followed them to a point, although the powerful pokemon halted about halfway to the steep cliff of the volcano and turned to face the Legend that stared down at them with its calm eyes. Once Ash and Lance reached what they assumed was a safe position, they turned to watch and help their teams in the battle.

Ash wasn't surprised when he saw that his friends knelt in reverence to the Legend. When he glanced up at the Champion, who had a spark of glee in his eyes at the power of a true Legend, there was no expression of astonishment. It was as though he had expected the teams' reaction.

Moltres suddenly acted. It gave another shriek, which was discernable as its own noise instead of the rumbling of Mt. Ember, and suddenly pointed its long, shark beak of hardened magma to the air and shot an enormous column of flame, a hundred feet wide at its largest point and immeasurably long, high into the sky. The flames' smoke formed its own cloud and obscured the battlefield from the brilliant rays of the sun.

His fists tightened as the formerly bright day was suddenly cast in unnatural shadow. Moltres was the lone light in the gray, a brilliant inferno that left the world around it dank and lifeless in comparison.

The Bird stared at Ash and Lance calmly, serene in its unassailable power. Ash knew its message. It was waiting to see if they were still willing to test their strength against that of a Legend. Moltres had reduced itself, but its power was still incomparable to all but the most powerful and determined of fighters.

Lance looked at Ash, directing the same question toward the younger trainer. Ash momentarily thought about taking his friends and leaving this mountain behind forever, but he opted against common sense in this case. The Champion had put his time and energy into training Ash into an even more powerful trainer. To stand with the Champion in this trial by fire was the least he could do.

He nodded, and silently hoped that he hadn't chosen poorly.

That was all Lance needed. "Triad!" The Champion roared. "Evasion. Anti-fire."

The Champion's impressive pokemon reacted with the speed of lightning. In the time it took Ash to blink Dragonite, Dov, and Saph had already erupted into the air, Aerodactyl and Magnus not far behind. Gyarados and Mael stayed on the ground, although both of the ocean titans moved far apart. Magnus and Aerodactyl took to the air, but stayed back.

Moltres glanced at the Champion's team with its burning eyes as the trio of Dragonite flashed around it with speed unmatched by almost any other pokemon. Ash could barely catch the briefest flashes of an immense Blizzard that matched Ice Storm from Saph, a Fire Blast that was tiny in comparison to Moltres' casual stream of flame from Dragonite, and a great discharge of electricity from Dov.

Ash watched with awe as Moltres suddenly flapped its great wings. A wave of fire and heat great enough to distort the air around the Fire Bird suddenly exploded from the gently burning avian. The Dragonite barely managed to avoid the deceptively powerful puff of fire and energy, although Dov was clipped by it. He recoiled backward in pain, but caught up with his teammates soon enough.

It was then that Mael and Gyarados made their move. Both of the powerful water-types roared and rumbled as they shot immense blasts of water toward the great avian, which hadn't moved since the battle began.

He watched eagerly as the jets of water shot toward Moltres with enough force to cut through stone, only to wilt when it evaporated several feet before it would have struck the bird. Moltres remained still and didn't retaliate, seemingly bored with the futile attacks.

Lance scowled at the Bird before he looked at Ash. "My team is about to attack again. Hit it while it's distracted."

Ash didn't say anything, but nodded. He comfortingly patted Sneasel, who still clutched fiercely to his back and hid his face, and Seeker, who squeaked from inside of his pack, before he wiped some of the sweat from his brow and set his eyes into a determined glare.

He reached up to his hat and twisted it around. Ash needed the extra visibility. Moltres' clouds of smoke meant that the intense sunlight that accompanied it wouldn't blind him, so the hat was only a hindrance at the moment.

"Hyper Beam!" Lance roared to his team. The Champion's eyes were narrowed into slits, and his pale skin was red from Moltres' light. As Lance's immensely powerful pokemon each released a devastating beam of orange and gold energy straight toward the Fire Bird that hung serenely in the air, Ash began to command his own friends.

Ash analyzed what he had seen of Moltres so far. It was obviously far more powerful than any of their pokemon, even in its reduced state. The Bird could produce heat powerful enough to transform water into steam without any visible strain and could release fire and energy from its body with the smallest of movements.

Other than that he didn't know much about its capabilities. All Ash knew was that Lance was about to learn the same lesson that he'd taught Ash: There's always something stronger. Amongst humans Lance was a Champion, one of the greatest Masters of all time. Amongst the primordial entities that embodied the elements and slept in faraway places lest they rip the world apart with their power Lance was nothing but a child.

It would be difficult to attack. Ash suspected that most elemental attacks would do little thanks to Moltres' astoundingly powerful flames. He wouldn't even bother with physical attacks, except with Infernus. Moltres would probably never touch the ground anyway. The battle would probably be over in a minute or two, provided the Bird didn't draw it out.

"Nidoking, Oz, Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted, eyes intent upon the Fire Bird as the Hyper Beams, together capable of levelling Pallet Town without too much trouble, sizzled toward Moltres. Moltres cocked its head. Its eyes burned fiercely as it gently flapped its wings and launched high into the air, so fast that Ash could only trace its path thanks to the brilliant fire left in its wake.

Ash wasn't sure if Moltres had dodged because the volley of Hyper Beams would have caused it harm or because it wanted to begin the fight in earnest, but knew that it meant the battle with the Legend had truly begun.

Nidoking and Oz's blasts of electricity shot through the air where Moltres had hovered previously. Ash called out for them to repeat the attack before he started to command his other friends. He could hear Lance shouting beside him, but the blood and adrenaline pounded too fiercely behind his ears for him to really understand it.

"Plume, hit Moltres with Hurricane! Block its fire." He specified. Ash spotted Tangrowth, who excitedly bounced up and down on his red feet, not too far from Torrent. "Tangrowth, Ancient Power. Torrent, Dragon Pulse!"

Plume shot into action the moment she heard his voice. She had already pushed herself into the air, but she had been lazily circling. Now that she had a command, she had focus. The Pidgeot shrieked shrilly as she blurred toward the vastly more powerful avian, right behind the trio of Dragonite. Magnus and Aerodactyl remained far away from the fight, the two vicious pokemon silently awaiting Lance's command.

The air around Moltres distorted as Tangrowth hurled dozens of energy spheres toward the great bird. Thin tongues of red and orange flame, brighter than any natural source, lashed out from its magnificent wings and struck into the many balls of Ancient Power and unleashed a cacophonic explosion that left Ash's ears ringing.

Moltres surrounded itself in a sphere of swirling fire as Torrent's Dragon Pulse neared it, along with another volley of Hyper Beams from Lance's team. Ash shielded his eyes as the attacks all struck the protective shell all at once, their energy released in a single explosion of light and heat.

Perhaps he should have left his hat as it was after all, he mused as his eyes were imprinted with stars. He did his best to rub the spots of light out so that he'd actually be of use to his friends.

His heart sank when he was able to see well enough to realize that Moltres' protective sphere of power was unharmed by the succession of attacks. Ash scowled and looked up to Lance, whose fierce eyes analyzed Moltres with a determined shine.

"Draco Meteor, all of you!" The Champion ordered with a loud shout. His Dragonites and Mael rumbled and shook the earth as they gathered their immense amount of energy. Ash watched in awe as they showed power beyond anything he'd seen in the last month.

In less than five seconds the sphere Moltres hid behind was hammered with comets of bright orange energy that left streaks and flecks of gold in their wake. The explosions that distorted the air with light and sound blinded Ash, although he was prepared to turn away this time.

Ash didn't bother contributing at that moment. He just made sure that he knew where his friends were. They were a safe distance away from Moltres and they had quickly spread out along the slab of stone the battle raged upon. After dealing with Lance's pokemon for a month they knew better than to clump together when dealing with a vastly more powerful foe.

When the assault upon Moltres ended, Ash barely had time to check on the Bird's condition before the sphere, which was not mere fire but what appeared to be hardened fire and light, seamlessly blew outward. He could feel the brutal heat from here.

"Plume!" He cried when he saw that his friend, who had stayed behind the Dragonite trio as they hammered Moltres with all of their power, was caught in the release of fire. Plume gave an earsplitting shriek of pain as the fire, hotter than any other they had faced, washed over her body.

Ash didn't even give himself a chance to see if Plume was alright. He reflexively recalled his frail friend and clipped the pokeball back to his belt with deceptively calm hands. The trainer clenched his fists so tightly that they turned white and glared up at Moltres, which sang its powerful tune as the Dragonite trio was hurled backward by the explosion.

The Dragonite were obviously wounded, but remained in the air and scattered to prevent Moltres from picking them off. Lance scowled darkly and pointed at Moltres. "Magnus, Dragon Breath! Aerodactyl, Rock Tomb!"

Magnus suddenly made his presence known as the mighty Charizard roared with fury and launched itself into the battle. Dark blue flames of a decidedly different nature than those that blazed from Magnus' tail streamed from its maw as it challenged Moltres.

Moltres' burning eyes pulsed with interest and it finally began to move. It was insanely fast, a bolt of living fire to Ash's human eyes. The Fire Bird was instantly pursued by Magnus and the Dragonite, although it was even faster than the Dragonite trio. Aerodactyl kept herself aloft and bared her jagged fangs, but didn't make a move.

The trainer felt himself stumble backwards as the winds whipped up by Moltres' slightest movement buffeted him with their power. As Moltres flew, the air grew unbearably hot, even as it was cooled by the movement of the tempest it stirred. It made his skin feel as though it were on fire.

Ash didn't bother trying to help at this point. His friends were arrayed and ready for whenever Moltres slowed down. It was going too fast for them to have a hope of actually hitting it.

He heard a rapid series of pants on his back as the heat intensified. Ash wiped some of the sweat out of his eyes and looked back at Sneasel, who was absolutely miserable. His thick, luxurious fur was dampened with sweat and the dark-type's red eyes pleaded with Ash to recall him. The moment he realized how badly off Sneasel was, Ash did so.

"Dragonite, Triad!" Lance shouted. His cape fluttered in the winds and heat caused by Moltres' flight, but Ash was more focused upon Dragonite. The cornerstone of the Champion's team gave a low, keening cry and swooped after Moltres.

Dragonite was suddenly consumed with the fury of the elements. Icy air filled with shards of razor ice whistled from Dragonite's breath, a great corona of flame erupted immediately after, and electricity arced and sizzled between Dragonite's antennae.

The dragon roared and launched the Blizzard, Fire Blast, and Thunder at Moltres simultaneously. Moltres screeched and bolted out of the way in a crackle of flame. The combination slammed into the ebony stone that overlaid the volcano and reduced it to rubble that quickly collapsed into the churning depths of Mt. Ember. Dragonite and the others immediately launched after the Bird, who easily evaded the Champion-level pokemon.

Ash continued to wait. Until Moltres was crippled or slowed down of its own volition he was useless. Plume had been defeated and she was his only option against something faster than a Dragonite. It was impossible to attack Moltres physically, even weakened as it was, due to the overwhelming heat it produced and the fact that it flew. Moltres was too fast to hit with energy or projectiles.

Lance continued to bark out orders, although Ash could barely follow the clash that occurred before his eyes. The Dragonite moved too fast, Magnus and Moltres were little more than blazes of dancing flame, and Gyarados and Aerodactyl simply stayed out of the fight for the moment.

He noted that Moltres hadn't actually gone on the offensive yet. It was content to effortlessly evade and shield against any attacks that threatened it, although every now and then it would release a small blast of flame from its wings. Moltres didn't seem to take the fight seriously, not that Ash could blame it. They were fortunate it hadn't reduced them to piles of smoldering ash for challenging it.

"Now!" Lance suddenly shouted. Ash followed the Champion's gaze over to Aerodactyl, which had ripped an immense hunk of stone off of the mountain's side. It had to have been several tons at the least, but Aerodactyl effortlessly held the stone in place with its mastery over rock.

Aerodactyl screeched and suddenly flapped its wings. The rock-type tore through the air at a speed that no beast of ancient stone should have been able to reach, a single flap of its massive, stone wings enough to propel it several dozen feet.

What was even more impossible was that it brought the hunk of stone with it. Aerodactyl didn't even seem daunted at multitasking and easily slipped into the game that played out in front of it. Ash was able to catch its grey, rocky hide amidst the blurs of gold, tan, orange, and fire.

Much to his surprise Aerodactyl outstripped even the Dragonite trio that futilely fired off blasts of ice and lightning at the Bird, all of which missed. It gained even upon the reduced form of Moltres, which slowly sped up as Aerodactyl's vicious, snapping jaws grew ever closer.

When she was close enough, Aerodactyl screeched and hurled the stone boulder straight at Moltres. Time seemed to slow down as Moltres suddenly flipped around and showed off its true strength.

Moltres didn't screech, but made some ancient, terrifying sound that brought to mind the crackle and roar of flames in its basest form, of wildfires and the infernos that lurked within the heart of the earth. Its golden body flared up as it opened its beak of hardened magma, laced with pulsing orange veins of heat, and let loose a stream of flame, white as the sun, at the boulder.

Ash's eyes widened when thousands of pounds of stone simply melted. The molten remnants of the stone were ripped from Aerodactyl's control and fell into the chasm that opened into Mt. Ember's heart. It vanished, and Aerodactyl, with all of her savagery, simply snarled and rushed toward Moltres with a blur of speed. There was no reverence in her ancient eyes, just a primitive thirst for the superior entity's blood.

Aerodactyl's jaws opened as it neared the Fire Bird's body, her stone hide strong enough to protect her from the primordial entity's heat. She angled upward and prepared to rip into the burning feathers of Moltres' throats, but let out a horrific shriek when Moltres, vastly larger than even the hulking behemoth of stone and fury, launched itself up and snatched Aerodactyl in its burning talons.

Lance's face paled and he smoothly unclipped Aerodactyl's pokeball, but by the time it was ready Moltres had carried Aerodactyl above the cloud of smoke that cast the mountain peak in an overbearing shadow.

"Get her back!" He roared, anger alit in his tone. All of his dragons quickly heeded his command and shot after Moltres, whose speed was enough that it had vanished. Ash watched with worry. Aerodactyl might have been able to resist Moltres' passive aura of heat and fire, but she was nothing compared to the Bird. Moltres' talons melted stone and its breath could reduce a mountain to a heap of magma given a minute or two.

Just as the Dragonite trio and Magnus broke up into the clouds, Ash saw the flash of a supernova above the obscuring layer of dark grey smoke. He hissed in pain and rubbed the stars in his eyes out so he could see what was going on.

"No!" Lance shouted. He began to run forward. Ash looked after him in confusion, but he understood the Champion's fear when he saw a massive, smoking figure that fell through the clouds. Closer inspection revealed it to be Aerodactyl, blackened and unconscious.

Dragonite suddenly swept out of the sky and managed to break Aerodactyl's fall, although the smoking heap of rocky flesh landed with sickening force. Ash assumed that her hide was more than enough to protect her, however. It didn't look like she was seriously injured.

Another sun formed above the cloud of smoke for the briefest of instants, and Dov suddenly dove down, Saph hot on his tail as a stream of white fire chased them with deadly precision. Moltres shrieked and chased them, its fires hot and its eyes red with power.

Ash watched it with a bad feeling. Moltres was still keeping itself weak, but it wasn't simply flying and dodging anymore. The air grew even hotter, and it almost hurt to breathe. He could still make out Moltres' form, but the veil of warped air that followed the burning avian made it difficult to discern details.

Moltres had begun the fight. It was showing what a Legend could do, even one with the majority of its strength sealed away for the safety of the challengers.

"Hyper Beam!" Lance shouted. Ash turned his eyes away just as the Champion's team fired a volley of golden energy beams at Moltres, which slowed down enough for them to actually aim. Once Saph and Dov felt safe, they turned to help their teammates.

The Bird of Fire's eyes pulsed as the Hyper Beams flashed towards its drifting form. It lightly flapped its wings and sent a cascade of orange flame outwards. Each of the Hyper Beams impacted the wall of fire at the same moment, which resulted in an immense explosion of energy.

Ash staggered backwards, but he grinned. This was his chance. "Thunderbolt, Drago Meteor, Psybeam, Solar Beam, Focus Blast, Fire Blast!"

His team instantly leapt into action. This was what their harsh training had led up to, and this was where they would prove their worth once and for all. Each followed their command perfectly, all of their strength poured into the first attack.

Nidoking and Oz fired their Thunderbolts with perfect precision, although the strikes of electricity fizzled out and dispersed as they crackled against the aura of heat that surrounded Moltres. Ash watched that development with interest. It looked like Moltres produced enough heat to have an ability similar to Air Lock. That would cause problems.

Dazed's eyes shined more brightly than ever before as she focused the great power at her disposal into her pendulum. The tiny loop of stone, hewn from the weathered rock of the Seafoam Islands, trembled and flailed wildly upon its string as more and more energy was put into it. By the time she actually fired a Psybeam at Moltres it was by far the most powerful she had ever used, a bright, focused rainbow of energy.

Moltres easily dodged the Psybeam and eyed the newcomers with interest, although it was forced to return its attention to Dragonite after the immensely powerful dragon roared and fired a Hyper Beam straight at the Bird of Fire.

The Legend didn't dodge, but fired a tiny stream of flame, small but intense, straight into the Hyper Beam. As yet another explosion wracked the world, Dragonite was sent flying into the ground. Moltres was silent as it flew over the dragon, nearly defeated from the indirect hit, and flapped. A wave of mercilessly hot air and fire crackled toward Dragonite, but it met a different target instead.

Saph took the finishing move in Dragonite's place. Her blurred form slammed heavily into the ground as she absorbed the bulk of the attack. She whined piteously and went limp, clearly unconscious. Dragonite struggled to its hind legs and his large, ordinarily friendly eyes blazed with protectiveness. He roared and reared his head back in a last attempt to harm the Legend.

Even Lance covered his eyes as a huge sphere of furious energy materialized in front of Dragonite's gaping maw, small particles of bright power yanked and forced together with Dragonite's rage. Moltres simply hovered in the air in a disconcertingly serene manner as it awaited Dragonite's rage-fuelled attack.

Ash could feel the release of the Hyper Beam from where he stood. The air burned even hotter for the briefest of moments before the sphere shifted into a beam that was thin and intense rather than wide and intimidating.

He hissed as a sonic boom split the air, the air itself ripped apart by Dragonite's power. The beam shot towards Moltres' crackling form, but was intercepted by a small stream of flame from Moltres before it could strike the Legend.

Yet another explosion wracked the mountain's peak, this time large enough to make Ash very nearly trip. He barely managed to keep his footing and grinned when he saw that Torrent had prepared Draco Meteor. It had taken a few seconds, but it was the only thing he possessed that even had the potential of injuring Moltres.

Golden comets split from the sphere of bright energy and Torrent did his best to aim them precisely at Moltres. The Legend easily dodged out of the way, however, and released a thin tongue of flame at Torrent.

Ash stepped forward in worry even as Lance returned his unconscious Dragonite. "Protect him!"

Dazed quickly teleported over and yanked Torrent back with her. Ash frowned. It looked like Moltres decided to let them teleport after all. That was good to know in case they needed to make a quick escape.

"Dov, Hurricane!" Lance commanded to his last Dragonite, worry clear in his voice. "Mael, Draco Meteor! Gyarados, Hyper Beam."

Moltres' attention left Ash's team as the Champion's pokemon renewed their assault. It flashed away in a burst of flame as huge comets of energy rained down from the heavens, bright enough to banish the dull gray the cloud left the peak. The Fire Bird easily evaded Gyarados' Hyper Beam and shot high into the air, just beneath the wispy cloud of smoke.

Dov shot up after it with a fearsome roar, his absolutely massive form like a lightning bolt as power crackled around him. A huge gale of wind blew after Moltres, who wasn't even affected by the powerful attack. The Dragonite growled again and fired off a Hyper Beam, which Moltres easily intercepted with a tiny lick of flame that extended from its wings.

Moltres smoothly flipped in the air and dove towards Dov, so hot that the air around the Legend distorted everything around it. Dov grunted and tried to launch himself away at Lance's behest, but was helpless against the might of a Legend. The Bird easily snatched the squirming Dov in its great talons and suddenly hurled the Dragonite into the air.

"Psybeam!" He shouted to Dazed in a vain hope of keeping Dov in the battle. Dov was the last chance they had aside from Magnus, who still tried to catch up with Moltres and its burden.

Dazed's pendulum trembled and flailed wildly as more and more energy was poured into it. It shined with a bright rainbow of energy that collected around it before Dazed's eyes flashed and the Psybeam shot towards Moltres with pinpoint accuracy. Ash suddenly grinned. He knew how to at least try and hit Moltres now.

The Psybeam fizzled out as Moltres suddenly flared up. Ash winced as the Bird opened its beak and shot a stream of flame just large enough to engulf Dov. Lance quietly cursed and recalled Dov as the defeated dragon began his fall to the earth. Moltres screeched and angled towards Magnus, who was its last opponent in the air.

"Magnus, Dragon Ra –" Lance began, but fell silent when he realized that he was too late. Magnus had lashed out at Moltres with a tremendous cone of white, flashing fire and dove towards the great Bird with murder in his blazing eyes.

Moltres' eyes pulsed with interest as it slowed its flight and looked at the inferno that crackled at it. As Magnus and his snapping jaws and roaring flames grew closer, the Bird opened its beak and spat a true stream of flame, a hundred times larger than the precise, condensed blasts it had used previously.

Ash couldn't take his eyes off of Moltres as it breathed the inferno, white and pure of all weakness, straight into the arrogant Charizard and consumed it and Magnus' own flames within the conflagration and blotted out the entire sky with its power.

Moltres sang its song, the roar and crackle of destructive wildfires and cleansing flame all in one, as it swept towards Magnus and the inferno of its own creation. It was lost in the fire, as though it had become one with its element.

"Gyarados, Mael, Hydro Pump!" Lance shouted desperately. Gyarados, who was coiled up on the glossy stone nearest to Moltres' altar, roared its understanding and reared its massive, majestic head back and spat a river into the air. Mael did the same, although its Hydro Pump was far more condensed.

As the conflagration that burned the air itself and left the atmosphere nothing but a smoky haze that obscured everything from Ash's eyes was slowly extinguished and converted into scalding steam, Ash turned to Torrent. "Help them! Dazed, sense Moltres. Keep the rest of the team updated."

Torrent rumbled and added his efforts to that of Gyarados and Mael. The inferno that roiled high in the air seemed resistant to their attempts, however, and it seemed to hang in the air. Only the edges had actually been put out and the rest of the flames never stopped burning, fuelled by an otherworldly power.

He flinched in surprise as the crackling inferno suddenly vanished into nothingness, the embers of dancing flame absent of Moltres' immortal, indomitable strength. Ash's eyes widened in worry as he saw the smoking form of Magnus, no longer proud and arrogant, fall from it, covered in ash but not seriously injured. At least Moltres didn't want to hurt them.

Lance recalled Magnus in defeat before he issued a new set of orders to his remaining team. Mael and Gyarados rumbled and roared respectively and both determinedly fired dangerously powerful beams of gold and orange, intense as the sun itself, towards Moltres.

For once, Moltres didn't bother dodging or intercepting the Hyper Beams. It simply sang the song of fire and dived into the Hyper Beams. They impacted directly into the great Bird's lightly flickering chest but barely slowed the Legend down, dampened by its heat as they were.

Moltres swooped over the remnants of Lance's broken team and gently flapped its wings. Tiny twin orbs of golden flame erupted from the immortal fire of its body and angled towards Mael and Gyarados with perfect aim. Mael tried to shoot a Hydro Pump to extinguish the roar of the fires, but the fire ball reduced the massive jet of water to steam in moments before it struck Mael. Gyarados attempted to destroy the fire ball with a Hyper Beam, but the fire ball simply burned through the Hyper Beam and left tiny flecks of golden energy in its wake.

When the tiny fire balls, no more than eight inches around, struck their targets a great explosion wracked the earth. Smoke and enchantingly bright fire erupted from the two pokemon and the horrible force and energy released by the explosion made the entire mountaintop tremble lightly.

Lance was pale as he recalled the last two members of his active team, and Bagon, Gible, and Vibrava swiftly followed. He turned to Ash with an oddly subdued expression. "Will you recall your pokemon?"

Ash almost nodded, but hesitated. He knew that he would not put a scratch upon the Legend that lazily circled in the sky, its glowing eyes set upon Ash's team. Moltres hadn't even been injured in the battle against Lance's dragons, six of the most powerful pokemon in the world, and hadn't even tried.

But this was a decision that was up to his team. They knew what would result from their challenge as well as he did, but this was their fight. It was their blood and sweat that had been shed to reach this point. If they desired to get a taste of what battling a Legend, Fire made manifest, was like then he would not stop them.

Moltres sang its song high in the air, just below the cloud of smoke, born from a single stream of flame, that covered the heavens for miles around and shielded the mountain's peak from the intense light of the sun. Its great head, ablaze with a great trail of flame, peered down at Ash and his team with unblinking eyes.

It disappeared in a streak of flame and suddenly appeared on its altar of volcanic stone. The shrine flared up and heated until it should have melted into a puddle of lava. Moltres' resplendent form stood tall and proud upon the altar as it awaited Ash's decision. Ash briefly met its ancient, alien eyes of fire and light, but glanced away when it felt as though his very being would be torn apart by Moltres' power.

"Come back!" He shouted. Ash had a stoic expression on his face, which was hot and probably sunburned, as his friends slowly gathered around them. Lance walked away to give him privacy, although his movements were stiff and jerky. The Champion didn't seem able to accept his loss.

He met each of his family's eyes. Most had the shade of fear open upon them, but steely determination overwhelmed the basest of emotions. After being wrapped in a tight, happy hug, Ash noted that Tangrowth still seemed to have no idea what was going on, other than that there was a battle.

"I'm giving you a choice." He began quietly and seriously. His friends leaned in close and listened intently. Each knew the seriousness of his words. "I can recall you and we can leave this mountain and Moltres, or we can stand and fight. It's your choice. You're the ones that brought us this far."

Ash frowned. "I'll give you a minute to decide. Remember, this is your choice."

Moltres watched them intently for the minute that his friends deliberated. Ash tried to look back at it, but this close it was as though Moltres were a sun in itself. His skin painfully tingled even as Moltres' massive body quietly crackled in the background. He wasn't sure how much longer he could remain in the Legend's presence without bursting into flame himself.

Finally, Nidoking tapped him on the shoulder with a large, dull claw. Ash looked up at his first friend and smiled. "You've chosen?"

Nidoking grunted and nodded. His narrow black eyes were solemn, but a fire burned behind them.

Ash stood up straight. He hadn't realized that he had hunched over a bit during the short wait. The trainer gazed over at each of his friends. "Who wants to stay and battle?"

Infernus immediately stepped forward. Ash wasn't surprised. His friend's body was ablaze with fire through no effort of his own, inspired by Moltres' mere presence. Glee danced through Infernus' eyes even as the fire-type scraped his claws together. A rain of sparks sprayed through the air.

He knew that Infernus was aware of the futility of battling Moltres, but it didn't matter to the Magmar. Fighting was an integral part of his friend. Finding and battling against the mightiest of foes was one of Infernus' only goals, the other being to one day triumph over all and stand upon a defeated piles of his smoking foes.

Tangrowth waddled forward and happily waved his arms and vines around. He gurgled as his wide, innocent eyes smiled at Ash in a way unmatched by any face. Ash smiled back and gently patted the vine that wrapped around the trainer's shoulders. The grass-type's desire to fight was a surprise, but Ash should have expected it. To Tangrowth this was probably the greatest game he would ever play.

Torrent regally levitated to Ash, his warm scarlet eyes eager for battle. He had gained more strength than any of Ash's team during their month of training. The dragon-type wasn't lost amidst the powerful energies that writhed within his body. He had mastered them, and Ash knew that he wanted to test that strength.

Oz stepped forward after Infernus made his desire to battle the Legend known. She bared her fangs and glared at the fire-type, who snorted back in derision. Lightning crackled around her and she whirred at Ash. The Electabuzz windmilled her arms to build up more power until her lightning constantly danced across her fur.

Ash nodded at the electric-type. Over the last month he had learned that she was a lot like Infernus.

She enjoyed battle and sought out the most powerful of opponents. She refused to give up until she was beaten far beyond the point of submission, although she didn't have the same endurance and couldn't take a hit as well as Infernus. She would never stop fighting until she was the strongest.

Their only real difference was their dispositions. Infernus was brutal and oftentimes cruel. His cunning showed through in battle, but most of the time he was simply surly and only wanted to find new opponents. He could only accept strength.

Oz was kinder and more amenable, more protective of those that were weak. She wouldn't alienate any of the group, although she didn't have a good relationship with Nidoking and only respected Infernus for his sheer power.

So it wasn't a surprise that she wanted to fight, if only to finally have a chance to prove herself the equal of Infernus. Oz couldn't accept him as her better any more than he could accept her.

The rest of his friends stayed where they were.

Ash knew his friends well enough to understand their decision.

Nidoking enjoyed battling and testing his strength, but he was most concerned with the safety of Ash and the rest of the team. He was given great power when he evolved, but he was also made a protector. To battle a Legend was to go against every instinct he possessed to escape from the powerful presence.

Dazed didn't particularly enjoy fighting, although she was incredibly skilled at it. She preferred to watch. Her species was passive. They did not seek out fights, especially not with creatures that could reduce them to heaps of ash with nary a thought. Ash suspected that she had another reason as well.

Most psychics could sense the world around them. It was like echolocation, only mental. Anything in their vicinity that was of their reality was open to their gaze, although Ash didn't really understand the specifics or how they visualized it. Moltres' presence and might were probably clear as day to Dazed, even if it had placed shackles upon itself. She wouldn't want to fight something that didn't destroy them only due to its own willpower.

Bruiser wouldn't want to endanger Seeker, Ash, or the rest of the team. He had a disposition similar to Nidoking's, if less willing to resort to violence. The Machoke had great strength at his disposal, but it couldn't be used effectively against Moltres. A battle with Moltres had every chance that Seeker could be harmed in the crossfire.

Ash frowned. It looked like the majority wanted to battle the Legend that patiently rested atop its altar, which was visible only as a dark silhouette amongst Moltres' inferno.

"I won't make any of you fight if you don't want to." He told his friends. "Just tell me if you want me to recall you."

None of his friends made any movement. Ash nodded seriously. "Alright, then. Nidoking, Oz, I want you two to hit Moltres with Thunderbolt. Try to keep it distracted."

Nidoking and Oz grunted and whirred. Lightning danced down the length of Nidoking's long horn.

"Torrent, if Moltres stays still long enough hit it with Draco Meteor. Otherwise, just use Dragon Pulse. Hydro Pump won't do anything." Ash instructed. "Tangrowth, use Ancient Power whenever you can. Make sure you can try and escape its flames."

Torrent rumbled and dipped his great head. Tangrowth gurgled happily and bounced up and down on his red feet. His vines wriggled in excitement.

"Dazed, can you sense Moltres?" Ash inquired. At her slow, slightly pained nod, he continued. "Try and hit it wherever it goes. Show the others where it is, if you can."

Dazed nodded. Her eyes burned and her pendulum trembled. Ash smiled at the psychic-type before he turned to the last member of his team.

"Infernus…" He began, not really sure what to tell his friend. Infernus could survive Moltres the best out of all of them, but he didn't have much that could hurt the Bird. Not that the rest of his friends did either. "Attack it. Draw its attention. Keep it away from the other members of the team."

Infernus snarled and blazed up. He was indistinguishable from the flames that engulfed his body now, living flame. Only his eyes, dark and filled with excitement, differentiated him from his element.

Ash turned towards Moltres, who had raised its majestic head. Its crest burned and swayed in the brutal winds awoken by Moltres' presence. Moltres' golden body burned brighter for a moment as it shifted. It knew Ash's decision.

"Spread out before you attack." Ash ordered his friends. "We're going to make it work for its victory."

His friends roared or signaled their understanding before they spread out along the peak. Ash idly wiped away the beads of sweat that dripped from his hot forehead. He ignored his burning skin. This wouldn't last much longer. He could stay strong for his friends.

It only took an instant for him to note where his friends were. They were spread out along the massive slab of ebony stone, far away from each other so that Moltres wouldn't be able to defeat the entire team with a single flap of its roaring wings.

Ash barely noticed that Lance stepped up next to him as he looked at Moltres, who remained atop its blazing altar. Fire licked around its body, immortal and powered by the Bird of Fire itself.

He took a deep breath before he met Moltres' smoldering eyes and shouted, "Now!"

Moltres vanished in a column of flame as twin bolts of electricity crackled directly at it. The air was warped by its heat to the degree that he couldn't accurately place where the Thunderbolts struck. Their bright light was refracted to the point of confusion.

The Fire Bird moved slowly as it glided over to Tangrowth. Moltres shrieked as it reared its great head back, crest bright as the Avian released a tiny column of flame, dull compared to the bright trails of fire it had spat at Lance's team, straight at Tangrowth.

"Ancient Po—" Ash began, but Tangrowth had already swept his rubbery arms upward. Twin spheres shined from atop the grass-type's "hands" as the glossy black stone in front of him jutted out of the ground.

Ash managed to spot the lick of flame effortlessly burn through the wall of stone and leave it a molten mass of cherry lava before it engulfed Tangrowth and exploded. He instantly recalled his friend. Tangrowth was tough and more resistant to fire than most grass-types as a result of his thick shell of vines, but he couldn't take even the weakest of attacks from a Legend.

"Hit it!" Ash shouted as loudly as he could, aware that it was possible to hit the Legend when it moved so slowly. His friends had gotten used to battling Lance's trio of Dragonite. Moltres didn't even try to reach that speed against his team. The Legend probably didn't think it needed to.

Its opinion was changed when twin Thunderbolts, a particularly intense rainbow-hued Psybeam, a compact, powerful Dragon Pulse, a Focus Blast, and a huge stream of flame shot at it with perfect precision. Ash grinned. Dazed had been able to network their minds and perfect their aim after all. To Dazed Moltres might as well have been a star. Now the rest of the team could see the Legend as clearly as she could.

Moltres' eyes pulsed as it lightly flapped its wings again, no surprise evident in its fiery eyes. The Legend vanished high into the sky, nothing of its presence left aside from the crackling stream of flames that didn't want to die.

Ash watched uneasily as the smoky cloud that hovered above the volcano flashed for a moment, a clear sign that Moltres had begun to move again. Embers around the size of his fist began to rain from the sky as Moltres suddenly dived from the heavens, a scream of fire in its throat and an inferno trailing behind its wings.

His friends did their best to hit Moltres, whom had only slightly increased its speed, but the heat it produced neutralized almost every attack. If a Thunderbolt struck too close or a Dragon Pulse threatened it, a few tendrils of flame would lash out from Moltres' burning wings and intercept the projectile.

He tightened his fists as Moltres suddenly swept low, only a few dozen feet above the volcanic plateau, and carried an inferno behind it that blazed over the stone. It somehow didn't melt the glossy obsidian stone, but only left it white hot in its wake. Ash frowned. The stone should have been reduced to a heap of slag.

Ash had no time to think on it as he saw Moltres' inferno race at Bruiser. Even as Moltres angled itself back into the sky and the flames behind it weakened until it was nothing more than a particularly dangerous natural fire Ash raised Bruiser's pokeball and recalled his friend. Bruiser was tough, but that would have defeated him instantly.

"Dazed, take the others away if Moltres attacks them!" Ash shouted as the embers began to draw close to the ground. He paid them no attention. The wind storm that whipped around the peak of Mt. Ember seemed to angle the burning cinders away from him and Lance, driven by a power greater than Ash could comprehend.

He couldn't tell if Dazed heard him or not, but he could only hope. Ash held on tightly to his cap as he watched the Fire Bird launch itself towards Nidoking. Dazed vanished in a tiny flash of light, but she never reappeared with Nidoking as Moltres flew above the poison-type's position.

Ash grit his teeth and growled as he recalled Nidoking and Dazed as quickly as possible. Nidoking could probably resist Moltres' weaker flames for a while thanks to his armor, but Dazed couldn't stand the heat. Her shields would probably shatter at the slightest touch of Moltres' fire.

As he clipped his friends' pokeballs to his belt, Moltres angled towards Oz. It seemed as though the Bird had tired of their game. Moltres wasn't playing with them any longer. Oz defiantly windmilled her arms and fired several Thunderbolts in the span of a second at Moltres, but the Bird simply dove straight into them before its weakening conflagration swallowed Oz whole.

He sighed and recalled Oz. Moltres simply launched itself high into the air and sought out its next victim.

With Oz's defeat, Torrent was the prime target. He helplessly fired Dragon Pulse after Dragon Pulse after Moltres. Without Dazed's assistance, the Kingdra was unable to accurately pinpoint Moltres' location in the roaring inferno that raced throughout the dimmed sky. Each of his Dragon Pulses were aimed well, but they never so much as touched the Fire Bird.

"Hydro Pump." Ash called out with a false calm. Although his heart pounded within his chest and his skin felt as though it would turn to ash, he couldn't seem to put any sort of fear or emotion into his words. The situation was too otherworldly for that.

Torrent's rear fins twitched in confusion, but he did as Ash asked. The dragon-type spat an immense stream of water straight into Moltres as the Bird flashed through the air. It missed Moltres, but did as Ash had hoped and managed to extinguish some of the flames that followed the Bird.

A tiny grin worked its way onto his face when most of the fires were extinguished and transmuted into steam. It would hurt Torrent, but not so much as the raw fire. His armor could protect much better against scalding steam than flames fuelled by a Legend.

That grin ebbed and died when the steam suddenly reignited, the water instantly evaporated by Moltres' presence. He scowled when Torrent was suddenly swallowed in fire, although he cut his friend's pain as short as possible by recalling him.

Moltres sang its song of fire once more as its flames slowly died out. Within a few seconds its inferno had vanished into oblivion and only the Bird itself was left. The Legend elegantly landed atop its massive altar once more, the touch of its black, molten talons enough to send cherry veins of heat throughout the black idol.

It bowed its head to Ash and Lance, as though it hadn't defeated both powerful teams without taking so much a scratch in turn. Lance bowed back, his face still pale from his overwhelming defeat, but Ash frowned and glanced around the mountain top.

Where was Infernus?

He felt uneasy. Infernus had vanished after the initial volley of attacks that Dazed had guided. Ash hadn't noticed then, but it was obvious now. It wasn't something that he liked. His friend should have been in the midst of the fighting.

Perhaps he had simply been dispatched without Ash's notice. His camouflage had activated when they'd set foot atop this hallowed mount. It had only strengthened as Moltres and the heat the Legend carried with it made their appearance.

Ash shrugged and reached for Infernus' pokeball. He'd just recall his presumably unconscious friend and pay his respects along with Lance. This would be one of the most memorable experiences of his life. Not many met a single Legend, let alone three. Even fewer had actually battled one, much less survived the experience. Moltres had given him and Lance a great gift, one unmatched by any material boon.

He suddenly noticed a flicker of movement. Ash's eyes widened when he saw Infernus, ablaze in a cloak of blue fire, stand from the heap of burning stone that Moltres had left when the Bird defeated Tangrowth.

Infernus was silent as he revealed his presence. Along with the flames that roared up and down his body, he was covered with lava. He possessed an armor of thick, oozing black magma laced with veins of bright orange heat. Drops of it fell from him as he quietly snarled and suddenly vanished with a loud flash of light and a crack of sound.

"No." Ash whispered, stunned at Infernus' actions as he saw the fire-type appear directly atop Moltres' long, elegant neck. The Bird's fiery eyes pulsed with surprise and fury as the Magmar materialized and spat a huge fireball into Moltres' neck before he began to beat on the Legend with fists ablaze with flame. He wouldn't have been surprised if it was the first time Moltres had ever felt the emotion. It seemed to know everything that would happen before it happened.

His friend was invisible to Ash as Moltres suddenly removed all of its self-imposed shackles.

The Bird's eyes shifted from a warm red to a furious, pounding white. Moltres' body shifted from mundane, lustrous feathers ablaze with gentle wisps of gold, red, and white flame into living fire, the Incarnation of the element itself. Its crest shot high into the sky and the heavens began to rain fire upon the world.

Moltres' legs and talons began to melt under their own heat, but the hardened lava continually reformed from the Legend's terrible power. The altar trembled and grew white hot until it was a perfect facsimile of the furious Legend that stood atop it, the roughly hewn stone's details invisible from the impossibly bright light.

The Avatar of Flame pointed its head high to the world and sang its song once more. But instead of the gentle power of the song it sang during their battle, this song split the air and made Ash's bones tremble. Its terrible power revealed the true essence of Moltres and Fire itself, of the horrible wildfires and the heat that roiled deep beneath the earth, of the inherently destructive power of the element.

Ash gasped as the weight of Moltres' presence struck him. The air grew unbearably hot and forced him to the knees, although he feared that soon the entire outcropping he stood upon would melt into the heart of the volcano. It was difficult to breathe and his lungs were scorched, but Ash was still aware enough to return Seeker when he heard the Zubat squeak pitiably from his pack.

Lance fell next to him, although he managed to stay on his feet. It was clear that the Champion's strength would falter soon. His face was contorted into pained determination and his body trembled violently as Moltres' fury was wreaked upon the world.

As great embers and droplets of fire began to rain from the sky and the dormant volcano they stood upon rumbled and shook chaotically beneath them, Moltres shrieked and vanished into the sky, indistinguishable from the flame that appeared around it. The chasm that led to the heart of Mt. Ember roared and a mix of fire and lava exploded out of it from thousands of feet below, propelled by Moltres' anger. Smoke and volcanic gases belched from the volcano's mouth along with the flames.

After encountering the Creature, Ash never though that he would find another entity to fear so greatly. Mewtwo was terrifying, cold reason and indoctrination imbued into the form of Mew with all the power to match. It had been insanely devoted to the Rocket cause from what Ash could see and would do anything within its immeasurable power to further it.

Moltres was different. It was gentle, a benefactor to life around it. The Fire Bird held its power in check. It slept in the heart of the volcano and held itself far away from any significant centers of civilization.

To see what Moltres was truly capable of was like the realization that a warm, comforting candle could easily grow into a wildfire.

Ash wheezed as the air grew dark and polluted with smoke and smog. His eyes stung and his skin was flecked with ash and soot, but he was helpless to stop looking at Moltres as the Bird rose high into the air. Every wing beat sent great swathes of flame, hundreds of feet long, throughout the air.

Moltres shrieked again and the pressure grew worse. Ash fell to the hot ground and hissed in pain as uncovered skin met the sizzling stone. He could barely struggle in a single breath. His lungs felt like they were being crushed even as he breathed in more volcanic gas.

His mind and vision slowly grew fuzzy, and his thoughts became more erratic as he saw Moltres' body become lost in the inferno, no hint of mortal flesh or mundane material left in its corporeal form. It had transcended human or pokemon limits.

The terrifying thing was that Ash could feel the pressure growing even more powerful. Moltres hadn't even revealed its full power yet, but the volcano trembled and spewed ash, fire, and lava even as the entire sky erupted in conflagration after conflagration from Moltres' wing beats.

Ash gasped helplessly and tried to hide his eyes as the winds began to pick up as well. Soot and gas were mixed together as a twister began to form on the previously dormant volcano's peak, an enormous column that sparked into a blaze as Moltres flapped its wings again and released a great torrent of fire into the world. It refused to die and continually blazed without any natural source of fuel.

Moltres sang one last time before Ash spotted a humanoid form, small in comparison to the Fire Bird in all of its glory, fall off. The Bird angled its burning head down and spat an enormous stream of flame, so intense that it was pure white and made Ash's face grow even hotter and so large that it could have been mistaken for the eruption of the volcano itself.

He cried out and lurched forward, all concerns about the burning stone pressed against his skin gone as he saw Infernus engulfed in flame as hot as the sun. Ash grimaced. Rage, horror, and sadness washed over him in equal amounts as Infernus vanished into the light.

Ash's eyes burned and he helplessly reached out, as though he could do something to help his friend. A horrible lump grew in his throat and everything seemed to slip into a haze. He was vaguely aware of someone yelling. It took a few moments before he dimly realized that he was the source.

"No. No." He stated disbelievingly, eyes locked onto the cone of white flame. Infernus could easily survive in a sea of magma, but Moltres transcended physical limits. Its true fire would probably be as deadly to Infernus as normal fire would be to most pokemon.

A heavy hand grabbed his shoulder in a comforting manner. Ash winced as he looked back and saw Lance, whose face was set into a sympathetic grimace. The Champion was lightly burned, although his garments were resistant enough to keep the heat from searing his body. He was suddenly aware of the heat again, even as his eyes blurred and his stomach twisted with grief.

"I'm sorry." Lance coughed out. He gripped Ash's shoulder, which trembled underneath the strain of Moltres' presence and the emotional turmoil that ripped through his mind and body, and used his other hand to unclasp his cape. Ash stared at the long sheet of fabric as Lance offered it to him. "Take it. It'll keep you from being burned."

Ash barely realized what was going on as he took the cape and wrapped it around himself. It had a strange effect. Although it made him even hotter for a brief moment the heat suddenly weakened, even if it was still horrible. More importantly it kept his vulnerable forearms and other exposed skin protected from the hot stone.

He couldn't find it in himself to speak through the lump in his throat, but dumbly nodded. Ash blankly stared at Moltres, or at least the great mass of roaring flame that veiled the Bird from his eyes.

Infernus was gone.

Ash couldn't believe it. Infernus –

A humanoid form, covered in flames that were not its own, tumbled from the inferno. The Fire snapped towards it and engulfed it once more, but Ash had seen enough that his hopes had been raised. Infernus wasn't conscious, but he hadn't been reduced to atoms by Moltres' fury. That was enough to snap him out of his numb state.

The inferno suddenly receded and the second sun that was Moltres became visible again. Flames coalesced back into the Bird's immense form, although it remained at the stage it was when the Bird had first revealed itself to the humans.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief as the heat died down and winds, no longer a furious tempest but gentle and soothing, quickly wiped the ash and toxic gas that spewed from the volcano's heart away. The mountain's peak could hardly be called comfortable, but it was no longer forbidding and deadly to ordinary life.

His heart stopped when he saw that Moltres carried something in its talons. Ash's eyes widened and he did his best to pull himself to his feet when he realized the crumpled form of Infernus was clutched by Moltres. Infernus was completely still and scalding hot liquid dripped from his body as Moltres' fiery form glided back to the altar, which still glowed a bright cherry red.

"Easy." Lance said quietly as he helped Ash up. The Champion left his cape draped around the boy.

"Thanks." Ash wheezed. His lungs still felt as though they were full of volcanic ash. He and Lance would have to get checked out before they left for Kanto.

The trainer was well aware of the minor burns that covered his forearms. He tried to keep them as motionless as possible lest pain cripple him. They didn't look too dangerous, but they were alit with searing pain. He knew that he'd have to get them checked out soon. Burns were particularly susceptible to infection and his looked moist and small blisters had formed.

He kept his arms as motionless as possible as he staggered forward. Lance, who had his own injuries, did his best to keep him steady as the trainer tried to move closer to Moltres, who stared down at him with its pulsing eyes.

The lump in Ash's throat grew larger as Moltres gently set Infernus onto the ground before the Bird flew to its altar once more. Infernus' camouflage didn't activate from the immense heat released by Moltres, even though he should have been nothing but a blur. His chest did not rise or fall. Fire did not emanate from him. The burning liquid that had fallen from his body did not spill anymore. It had hardened into blackened lava.

Ash choked back another cry. His fists tightened and he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to block the sight of Infernus' limp body. It wasn't right. Infernus was a fighter. He was just asleep. He'd be up in no time. He would stand up and set the world aflame with his fire. He was fine.

He numbly reached for Infernus' pokeball. His friend was hurt. Infernus needed his help.

He clicked the button that would recall Infernus. The pokeball sparked with scarlet energy, but fizzled out. Ash's heart froze and his blood ran cold, but he clicked it again.

Nothing.

Ash clenched his fists tighter and clicked it over and over again, unable to accept what his mind was telling him. Infernus wasn't sucked into the pokeball – to safety. He stayed where he was, limp and unmoving at the Fire Bird's altar.

"No!" He shouted, desperation and anger loud and frantic in his tone. "Infernus, wake up! You're better than this! Get up." Ash ended in a small voice. "You can do it."

A hand, cool and comforting, grabbed his shoulder. Ash's eyes, which burned horribly and not with the dry, hot air, couldn't leave Infernus. He felt the lump in his throat become even worse even as his insides twisted horribly and he felt like he needed to throw up. This couldn't be happening. Infernus couldn't be dead. He was the toughest pokemon Ash had ever met. He would never give up, not to something as mundane as death.

"It's alright. It's alright." Lance said soothingly. There was horrible guilt and resignation in his voice, along with a hauntingly tone that showed he had been in this situation far too many times. Ash couldn't realize that. He could only focus on Infernus and the tendrils of smoke that rose from his body as his inner flames were extinguished.

"No it's not! Nothing is right!" Ash snapped, toxic anger in his words. He didn't care if Lance was the Champion of Indigo. It was the man's fault. If he hadn't been so stupid Infernus would be fine! He would be alive and fighting, not cold and limp. "This is your fault!"

Lance hung his head. His face was streaked with sweat and his hair had lost its bright luster. "I know." The Champion said quietly, guilt obvious. "I'm so sorry. But you have to calm down. Stop. Think."

Ash just snarled at the man and tore himself away from Lance's grasp. He bit back a scream of agony when he irritated his burns. Sweat had already begun to make their way inside of them to make a stinging pain, but that was nothing.

He staggered closer, but the heat grew to be too much. Lance pulled him back, despite Ash's frantic attempts to reach Infernus. He had to see his friend. He had to touch him. Maybe Infernus could still be saved. Pokeballs had malfunctioned before.

The trainer collapsed to his knees and stared at Infernus with hollow eyes. Infernus' eyes, still the same black but without the life and fire that burned so vividly behind them, were open and unseeing. Ash held back his tears, but a movement by Moltres tore his attention away for the briefest moments. The Bird spread its wings resplendently and looked down upon Ash.

Moltres sang softly, its song soft and sorrowful as it seemed to embrace Ash. He paused as he was filled with an inner fire, warm but not hot. It wrapped around him and froze him. He was silent as Moltres' song rang throughout the mountain's peak. Flames licked out from the Bird's shrine as Moltres' eyes pulsed.

The shrine glowed a pure, shining white as Moltres stared down at Infernus' immobile corpse. Moltres sang once more and caused every flame and remainder of their battle to surge upward, but not in a chaotic way. It was controlled, weak. The Bird's glowing eyes seemed to have sorrow within them, the most human emotion that Ash had ever seen from a Legendary.

Ash held his breath and watched with hot eyes as the hard black of Infernus' hardened blood slowly reverted to its glowing liquid state. He trembled as he watched more flames race from the altar to envelope Infernus' fallen corpse. Infernus was consumed by the flames and hidden from Ash's eyes.

His hopes rose high and everything else in the world vanished as he watched the flames grow brighter and brighter. Ash couldn't see Infernus' body, blinded as he was by the impossible fire, but he could do nothing but watched. Every hope and every wish he had ever made were focused upon this moment.

And then it ended. The flames died down and left Infernus' body in their wake.

Ash stepped forward hopefully, heedless of the heat, and examined Infernus the best he could.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

Infernus' life was not restored. The process looked to have begun, but it did not go beyond that point. His blood had reverted to its ordinary molten state, but his body remained lifeless. He had stopped smoking and a faint haze emanated from his body, but there was no rise to his chest and his eyes were glazed and dead. Infernus' inner fire had not been set ablaze anew.

Ash opened his eyes, but looked away. There wasn't any hope now. Infernus was gone.

The air grew hot, and both humans looked to Moltres with alarmed expressions. Moltres sang vibrantly as the Bird's great flames blazed even higher. Its eyes pulsed with energy locked away for untold millennia and the primordial Legend's song gained new strength.

Moltres stared down at Infernus' crumpled form before its long, straight beak of blackened lava snapped open and released an enormous stream of white flame, different from the other flames Moltres had used. It was not hot, but merely warm. It was not destruction, but energy and life, the other of the dual nature of fire.

Infernus' mortal shell was consumed in the eternal fire of Moltres. Ash watched with worried eyes, but couldn't move. Lance held him back and kept him from moving closer to Moltres' flames.

The Legend consumed the corpse with fire for a minute. Its fires grew more and more powerful even as the volcano began to rumble underneath Moltres' strength. Ash's stomach twisted more and more as Moltres' eyes pulsed with power, unsure whether or not whatever Moltres was doing would succeed.

Finally, it ended. Moltres' inferno ceased to be and the Bird raised its head proudly to sing once more. The melody coincided perfectly with the faint rumbling of Mt. Ember and the windstorm that swept over the peak. Ash's insides were warmed and vigor returned to his limbs as the flames finally cleared and he could see his friend.

He frowned when Infernus was revealed. His body was glowing, but not with heat or his normal flames. It was – no way.

Infernus' body pulled itself to its feet as evolutionary energy suffused it and left it garbed in a veil of white light. It trembled and huddled over as untold amounts of power tore its way through the Magmar's form and began the activation of latent genes and hyper-accelerated their expression.

The lumps that constantly emanated two flames wrenched themselves down to his shoulders and extinguished themselves. Another exploded from Infernus' forehead and set itself ablaze, even as the spines along his back shifted and melded themselves together. The six spines became four pink ones, although that wasn't evident thanks to the evolution's blinding light.

His red, rigid scales that plated his arms flattened in a swift motion and smoothed over into two long, tube-like arms. Infernus' hands split apart into rounded cannons, although a large scales covered the hole and large, dull claws enabled him to retain his dexterity. They were ordinary fists except for when he would use his cannons as weapons.

Infernus' shackles, which were rough and scratched from constant battle, smoothed over and fit tightly to his legs as they grew and shifted slightly. They bound themselves tightly to his limbs, protection against most physical attacks. It would take a lot to break them.

The flame pattern morphed from straight and curved lines to a diagonal pattern, all the better to blend in with. His tail stayed the same length, but grew much thicker. His tail flame flared suddenly, bright white from the energy that fuelled Infernus, and suddenly ignited to cover the entire tail in flames so thick and bright that the muscular limb wasn't even visible.

After that, the most major change was that his bill sunk into his face and rippled into what Ash knew was a mouth, although he couldn't see details thanks to the light. His eyes remained roughly the same, although they were more visible without the two burning lumps of flesh over them.

The rest of the process largely resulted in Infernus becoming much larger and bulkier. Muscles bulged outwards and thick hide stretched to cover them. Infernus had already been bulky and powerful before, but now he was much taller and larger in every area.

When Ash had first released Infernus, way back in that clearing a day's trip away from Celadon, the Magmar had been a little over five feet tall and around a hundred pounds. Now he had gained at least another hundred pounds and stood at least six and a half feet tall, a true monster of his breed.

He watched with awe as the glow suddenly left Infernus' new, improved body. The energy born from Moltres' flames slowly dissipated and Infernus remained on his feet, although his powerful limbs trembled with the strain born of evolution and presumably ressurection.

"Infernus?" Ash asked tentatively, voice full of hope. The Magmortar stared at him with blank black eyes. They were still glazed and blind to the world, but the hulking fire-type twitched at the mention of his name. "Are you alright?"

The Magmortar's eyes sparked to life, but there was no recognition in them. They were still tired and slightly blank from the strain of evolution, a situation Ash had encountered before with Nidoking after the poison-type's particularly painful transformation, but there was life and fire that flickered behind the dark pupils.

Lance tensed when Magmortar raised its arm and the scale covering the cannon slid back. Flames were visible in the hollow part of Magmortar's arm, but Ash just stared back. Moltres watched from atop its hallowed altar, its great head cocked and curious.

"It's alright." He said calmly. Ash raised his hands up in a placating position. "You're fine. It's me, Ash. I'm your friend."

Infernus' eyes suddenly lost their glaze when Ash said his name. He eyed Ash and his pink mouth suddenly twisted from a weak frown to a mockery of a smile. The Magmortar staggered forward to Ash, still weak. Ash rushed forward in concern, but Lance held him back.

The Magmortar suddenly stopped when he realized that he felt different. His previous actions had been driven by instinct born of pain and weakness. Now that his rationality had been returned, Infernus realized that he was far heavier and much stronger than he remembered.

Ash smiled when Infernus looked at his cannon-like arms with disbelieving eyes. His eyes were narrowed and darkened with momentary confusion before realization washed over him. Infernus raised one of his arms to examine it further. He swept it around to test it before he made a small stream of flame explode out of it. His arm flashed white from the heat and there was a wild, maniacal grin on Infernus' face as he realized the immense power he now wielded.

Infernus' grin grew even wider as he stepped back, raised his arms high into the air, and reveled in his newfound strength by releasing two great rivers of flame, pure white with their intensity a hundred feet into the air. When they died out, it was only because Infernus demanded it.

"How do you feel?" Ash inquired, a grin on his face from the sheer happiness he felt at Infernus' survival, let alone evolution.

The Magmortar's grotesque smirk grew wider and he snorted a plume of flame into the air. Ash smiled back, but the movement of Moltres atop its altar drew his attention.

Moltres had regressed to a weaker state as Infernus had undergone his transformation. It appeared just as regal and majestic as ever, despite the miracle it had just performed. The Bird eyed them with emotions Ash couldn't decipher from behind its ancient, pulsing eyes.

Lance stepped forward, although he kept a strong hand on Ash's shoulder to keep the injured boy steady. He stared up at Moltres as it eyed them from atop its altar. It cocked its head and watched them impassively.

Infernus' eyes hardened and his smirk turned into an ugly grimace as he turned to regard Moltres. Ash took that as a sign that he had some memory of his demise, however faint. Nevertheless, Ash took the moment to order his friend to stand down.

"We did not come here just to challenge you." Lance announced. His voice was still strong, if raspy from the volcanic gases and ash he had inhaled. Moltres watched him silently, the only other sound on the blazing mount the Bird's crackling flame. "There is a threat in Kanto, too great for us to battle alone. We need your help."

Moltres did not react. It simply watched and listened. Ash watched it warily. The Bird had brought Infernus back, but it had a fickle temper. What it had done to Infernus proved that.

Regardless, Moltres was the only one that Ash could trust to care about their plight. Articuno seemed too hostile and uncaring of humans while Zapdos could have destroyed Kanto and not noticed. Moltres, on the other hand, had restricted itself to keep the world around it safe. If the legends were to be believed it had aided humans many times in the past. It cared about the ants that scurried around the globe, erecting cities that were meaningless to the awesome power it exuded.

"It's gone into hiding, but we can't do a thing if it attacks." Lance continued. "If it appears, we need your help. You are the only being we know of that could hope to defeat it."

Moltres was silent, but it suddenly met Lance's eyes. The Champion froze and tensed up. Ash forgot all of his anger towards Lance and tried to see what was wrong, but he recoiled when he saw that the Champion's eyes shined with the same fiery light of Moltres', molten red, orange, and gold.

Lance's face twitched and an aura of power surrounded him, hot and alien to any human. Ash's eyes narrowed and he stood back, but his face winced in sympathy when Lance's body began to shudder and twitch from the alien power that inhabited it, unable to take the strain.

The Champion opened his mouth, but no scream echoed forth. Only light of the same kind as that of Moltres' eyes shined out as Lance's mouth gaped open in a voiceless scream. Moments later Lance collapsed to the ground, which had cooled significantly as Moltres' fury had abated.

He twitched for several more moments, but the power that danced around him kept Ash from trying to help. Infernus swaggered forward and eyed him, but even he couldn't go close.

Moltres was completely still as Lance's body was wracked with agony. It simply watched silently until the glow finally left the Champion's still form.

Ash looked at the Legend in fear and awe as it sang its song once more. As fires boomed forth from the earth and embers fell from the sky Moltres gently flapped its wings. Heat filled the air as Moltres launched high into the air, a lance of fire, before it hovered above the chasm.

"Thank you." Ash murmured as he met the Bird's eyes for the last time. Moltres' pulsed brightly in response as time seemed to slow. In that eternal moment, Ash silently paid his respects to the Legend that he and Lance had challenged so arrogantly. They had disturbed it, although he had to admit that Moltres seemed to see it as a game. It had every right to smite them and burn the ashes, but it didn't. Moltres deserved his respect for that, even if he disregarded everything else.

Moltres' eyes pulsed in tandem with Ash's thoughts and the trainer stiffened as he felt warm, forgiving energy course through his body. He watched with reverence as it dived straight into the volcano and returned to its sanctum once and for all. When it had vanished deep into the bowels of the earth, Ash looked down at Lance's weak form.

"Are you alright?" Ash asked worriedly as he kneeled next to Lance's crumpled body. The Champion nodded and pulled himself up with a strained expression. He couldn't help the older man, unfortunately. His burns didn't need to be irritated. "What happened?"

"Moltres…communicated, for lack of a better term." Lance wheezed. His skin was slightly burnt and his eyes were exhausted. Everything about him looked like he'd been incinerated from the inside out. "I don't suggest it...it's not a comfortable experience."

"I can only imagine." Ash commented wryly. Lance finally staggered to his feet, although it looked to be a painful exertion.

Lance smiled, although he winced from the movement. "I can't really explain how it felt, other than that there was living flame inside of me. I don't know what Moltres took from me, but it marked me in ways I don't understand."

He could only remember the psychics of Sabrina's gym that recoiled from him and Sabrina's mention of his "Brands". Ash could only imagine what would happen if a lesser psychic encountered Lance now.

"Are you going to be alright?"

"I'll be fine." Lance coughed, although his weakness suggested otherwise. He reached down and unclipped one of his pokeballs from his belt. Ash reverently took the offered pokeball, which was worn and scarred from many years of service. "Release Dragonite. He'll be strong enough to take us to safety."

Ash nodded and released Dragonite. The great dragon was clearly weakened and scarred from his casual defeat by Moltres, but he grunted and leaned towards Lance worriedly when he saw the Champion's condition.

"I'm fine." Lance insisted as Dragonite sniffed the charred Champion. He coughed. "Take us to the Center at Knot Island. Ash needs medical attention immediately."

Dragonite nodded and lowered himself. Lance limped over and waited by Dragonite's side as Ash turned to Infernus.

"I'm going to return you, but I promise to release you the moment I can." Ash swore. Infernus grunted and nodded, although his smirk weakened at the mention of being in his pokeball. Moments later he was consumed in scarlet energy.

Ash grit his teeth in pain as he stumbled to Dragonite, still disoriented and in growing pain from his burns. He wheezed from the slight movements and his bones felt like they'd been cracked from the pressure Moltres carried with it.

"Easy now." Lance commented as he gently hefted Ash up onto Dragonite, who adjusted himself to make sure the boy was comfortable. Moments later the Champion weakly climbed onto the dragon's back as well. He had to shoo Ash away to keep the trainer from helping.

"Hold on tight." The Champion warned. Ash heeded the advice and slipped his hands underneath two dull scales, although he was careful to avoid the edges just in case. A few seconds later Lance gave the word and Dragonite tore into the air, incredibly fast but slow enough to ensure that the humans' injuries wouldn't be irritated.

Ash turned his head to take one last look at Mt. Ember as they sped away. Fires and smoke still belched from the dormant volcano, a last reminder of Moltres' fury. A massive cloud of smoke circled the volcano and the island around it for nearly a mile, thick enough to keep almost all sunlight from penetrating.

The last thing he was able to make out before he turned back to the front was Moltres' idol. The rough volcanic stone still glowed brightly, and he thought he could see its eyes pulse a fiery red before he finally looked away and left Mt. Ember behind him forever.

XX

"You are very lucky that medicine has advanced so far, Mr. Ketchum." The stern doctor said drily. He examined a piece of paper on a clipboard. "Second-degree burns on your forearms, a dangerous amount of toxic gases in your longue, first-degree burns over your entire body, and too many others to count."

He sighed and adjusted his glasses. Ash silently watched him from his bed. Several IVs were hooked up into him in order to feed him the modified potions that would heal most of his wounds in mere hours.

"You're going to keep those scars for the rest of your life." The doctor explained with a hard face. Ash raised his arms to look at the shiny flesh that had already begun to heal. "Hopefully they'll remind you to not be such an idiot."

The trainer barely listened and prodded at the cords. It hadn't hurt so bad to get the IV needles in, but he'd be lying if he said that the substance they injected into him to clear out any potential for infection didn't hurt. It burned his blood as it travelled through and reminded him far too much of the chemicals his mother had used to clean his scrapes and cuts when he was younger.

Ash looked up at the doctor from his bed. It wasn't like he could have said much anyways, not with his oxygen mask on. In Kanto there was no need for equipment like that thanks to the far more advanced facilities, but here in the Sevii Islands they seemed to be pretty standard.

"Stop that!" The doctor snapped. The old man rolled his eyes. "You're lucky to be alive. You and that other idiot should have climbed the damn mountain during an eruption somewhere else. It would have saved me a lot of trouble."

He barely held back a grin at the doctor's assessment of Lance. The doctor frowned. "You're staying here for the night. I'm not about to let you irritate those burns."

Ash shrugged in response. It was annoying, but he expected something like that. He wasn't exactly in the best of condition.

The doctor checked his watch. "I'll leave you be for the night. A nurse will come in the morning to release you. The other idiot is coming in after me, by the way. Try not to get too excited."

With that the irritable old man swept out of the room, probably off to sneer at some other helpless patient. Ash smiled when Lance walked in, mostly unscathed thanks to his heat-retardant clothing.

Lance had an uncharacteristically guilty look on his face as he gently placed Ash's pokeballs on the bedside table. He frowned and backed up so he could get a better look at Ash. The trainer was sure that he was something to see. His skin looked as though he'd fallen asleep in the sun for several hours and his forearms were heavily bandaged.

Not that the Champion looked very good either. Lance's face was pale and had exhaustion written all over it thanks to Moltres' attempt at communication. He slouched slightly and the skin that had been exposed looked the same as Ash's.

"How are you doing?" The Champion asked quietly. He shifted his gaze away from Ash when the trainer tried to meet his eyes.

Ash winced a bit as he gave the Champion a thumbs up and a slight grin. He couldn't wait for the potions to start kicking in. The doctor had filled one of his IV bags with painkillers before he'd berated Ash.

"I have to leave in an hour." The Champion began. Ash frowned. "The League needs to know what happened. This could be our lucky break against Mewtwo." Lance smiled slightly. "Besides, I've been gone for too long. I don't want Indigo to shatter before I manage to get back."

The trainer's mouth curled upwards.

"I've called a Seagallop Ferry to the port for you. The doctor told me that he'd release you tomorrow." Lance explained when Ash gave him a questioning glance. "Hopefully you'll be able to continue your journey the moment you leave."

At least he had something to look forward to, Ash thought. He probably wouldn't be doing anything strenuous for the next few days, but it was about time that he took Blaine up on his training offer. Infernus would need help fully adjusting to his new form and who better to go to than the man widely recognized as the foremost authority on the Magmar line?

Lance took a seat on the rickety stool the doctor had sat on not too long before. He took a moment to adjust the swiveling piece of furniture before he leaned forward and clasped his hands together. There was pain on his face that wasn't from the burns and pain he had experienced from being touched by Moltres.

"I won't be so arrogant as to ask for your forgiveness. That arrogance nearly cost you your friend and put you and your team in mortal danger." Lance began quietly. He finally met Ash's eyes. A moment later he looked over to the side again. "I should have listened to you. You didn't want any part in the battle and I basically forced you into it."

Even if Ash could have spoken, he wouldn't have. There wasn't anything to say to that. He had already forgiven Lance, even if he still felt some of the resentment that had flooded his heart lingering in the wake of the battle. He just shut his eyes and took a deep, raspy breath.

"Anyways, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I never meant for anything like this to happen." Lance gestured wildly at Ash's burned body. He took a few slow breaths to calm down. "I'm sorry."

Ash struggled to push himself up onto his hands so that he could actually move, but it was too awkward and his body was weak from the healing process. Lance quickly stood up and gently pushed him down with a shake of his head. "No, don't move. You don't want to irritate those burns."

The trainer shrugged and laid back down onto the soft hospital bed. Lance eyed him for a moment before he sat back down.

"I know that what I did was stupid." Lance mused once he had settled. "I definitely know that I shouldn't have dragged you into it and that I should have flown you away the second I saw what Moltres really was." He laughed derisively. "I saw Ho-Oh once, you know?"

He perked up. Kanto and Johto might have been separated, parted by the great Ore Mountains and the indomitable peak of Mt. Silver, but they had a close enough proximity to share many myths and tales. While Kanto had much less of a mythological background and put less emphasis on the traditions, its children grew up knowing of Johto's tales.

The Birds and Mew were the only Legends spoken of in Kanto, and few even dared to hope at their existence. Johto's Legendaries were much more well-known and there were far more myths and tales about them. Whether it was Lugia's role as the Guardian of the Sea, Ho-Oh's position as a bringer of peace and spring, or the legend of Entei, Suicune, and Raikou's birth and resurrection the Johto Legends were simply more known to the public.

For Lance to so much have caught a glimpse of the Legend was nothing less than a miracle. It only appeared to those of pure hearts or destined to be the greatest of heroes, or so the stories claimed. He couldn't even begin to imagine how powerful it must have been. Moltres was only one of three. Ho-Oh was utterly unique.

"It was my first day as a trainer." Lance smiled fondly, some of his scorn gone as nostalgia filled his features. "I'd just left Blackthorn when it appeared. The air got hot and a huge rainbow appeared in the sky. I looked up and saw Ho-Oh." He said simply. The Champion's face was pinched, as though he couldn't quite find the words to describe what he had seen. Ash knew the feeling.

Lance rubbed his temples and gave a short laugh. "I know I'm not doing the best job of describing Ho-Oh." He snorted again and eyed Ash speculatively. "But you'd know all about that. You're one of the few that are fortunate enough to have seen any of the Birds, let alone all three."

"Anyway," Lance sighed, "I should have known better. Lorelei and Sabrina both warned me away from Moltres. I had only the briefest taste of what a Legend was really like. My arrogance nearly got both of us killed. I just wanted to apologize."

Ash nodded in acceptance of Lance's apology and winced when it irritated the movement irritated his burns. His oxygen mask slipped a bit. He couldn't wait until the doctor took it off. It was just to stabilize him while the potions worked their magic.

"Before I go, I have something to give you." Lance started. When Ash's eyes narrowed, he hastily corrected the trainer's assumption. "No, no. I was going to give it to you anyways." He smiled. "You were a good student. I hope this will help you on your path to greatness."

The Champion pulled a case out from his pocket, one that Ash immediately recognized as a TM.

"This TM contains Hyper Beam." Lance explained. He stood up and set it on Ash's bedside. "It's my favorite move, along with Giga Impact. Just about any fully evolved pokemon can learn it and use it to great effect."

Ash grinned beneath his mask and nodded his thanks. He'd seen what it could do in the hands of Lance's team. With the right training Hyper Beam could be turned into the ultimate weapon. Very few pokemon were able to resist it, which was what had gained it its typing. There wasn't an element involved, just raw energy.

"I'm not sure if you knew this or not, but Silph Co. has a special arrangement with the League. They take off the mechanisms that make sure TMs are a one-time use." The Champion said. "I had the techs perform the service on this one. It's being released to high level trainers anyway. You meet the qualifications."

The Champion checked his watch and sighed. "I need to go."

Ash nodded slowly. The meds were starting to kick in. His eyes were a little fuzzy, although he thought that he could stay awake for a few more minutes.

Lance looked at him once more, regret still obvious. He finally met Ash's eyes and held his gaze. "Good luck, Ash. Call me if you need anything."

With that the Champion swept out of the room and left Ash to his thoughts. He seemed to be as bad at saying goodbye as Ash was.

Ash relaxed and flickered his eyes over to the disk once Lance left, although he didn't dare to move his body. The meds were beginning to work but they had a ways to go before he was knocked unconscious.

He shut his eyes regardless. Sleep sounded really good at the moment. Perhaps the blackness would help him to sort out the thoughts and emotions that had been numbed by the medicine.

XX

"Hey, buddy." He coughed as Nidoking materialized inside of the cabin. Ash was able to walk and move freely now that the potions had accelerated the healing process, but it was still painful. His lungs still hurt whenever he breathed.

Nidoking grunted in concern and placed a gentle claw on Ash's shoulder. His unspoken question was obvious.

"I'm fine." Ash said with a tired grin, although the rasp in his voice and his burnt skin claimed the contrary. Nidoking wasn't convinced in the least and moved closer to Ash, although he had to take care to keep any of his spines from nearing Ash. "Really, I'm fine. How are you feeling?"

The poison-type glared at Ash at the trainer's attempt to change the subject, but gave in and grunted. Ash smiled when Nidoking promptly began to examine him again. He took the moment to look over his friend in turn. Nidoking looked to have been healed completely in the day that Ash was stuck in the hospital. His armor was free of scorch marks or any visible damage.

"I'm sorry." Ash finally told his friend as he sat back on the couch. It was more comfortable than the bed, although the bed was a wonder in of itself.

Nidoking cocked his head and gave Ash a curious grunt. The trainer shut his eyes. "I should have left when we had the chance. Did they release you with the others?"

When Nidoking shook his great head, Ash leaned forward solemnly. "Most of you got away with just minor burns or I recalled you before anything bad could happen, but Infernus…"

Ash didn't really know how to say it. His heart twisted and his gut lurched just thinking about Infernus' death. He did his best to not think of it, but that didn't work too well. It was impossible to stop thinking of Infernus' death and how easily he could have been torn away from him forever.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Ash might not have seen Infernus' death other than the great conflagration that had radiated from Moltres, but his was one of the only corpses Ash had ever seen. The last had been the Team Rocket grunt that Nidoking had killed in their flight from the St. Anne.

That thought didn't help him meet Nidoking's eyes. He felt even more guilt before he finally came out and said what had happened.

"Infernus was killed." He said flatly. Nidoking recoiled, his rivalry with the fire-type forgotten. The poison-type's ears flattened and his eyes squeezed shut. It was a harsh reminder that despite Nidoking's power and maturity, he was still young. Most Nidorino wouldn't evolve until they were nearly a decade old. His friend was just a young adult and Ash kept that in mind as he rushed to complete his sentence. "But he came back! Moltres resurrected him."

Nidoking froze and his eyes snapped open, narrowed in disbelief. He blinked a few times and pointed a dull claw at Ash's belt, which held all of the other pokeballs. Lance had left him with authorization to carry all of his pokemon until after the Conference.

"I can't let Infernus out." He explained. Infernus was a hazard on ships before. With his new power, which Ash wasn't sure his friend could control yet, Infernus would probably accidentally melt the floor. "We're on a ship."

His friend shook his head to show that Ash had misinterpreted his point. Nidoking lightly tapped Dazed's pokeball with one of his claws. Ash quickly released Dazed, who examined him silently for a few moments before she shrugged and looked at Nidoking.

Nidoking met her eyes, which promptly glowed with psychic power greatly enhanced by the brutal training she had been put through over the last month. Her eyes pulsed with power and excitement as information flowed between the two pokemon.

When she finally tore away, she looked at Ash and pointed at his pokeballs. He shrugged and released all of his other friends. Dazed nodded at him once they'd been released and her eyes began to glow anew.

Sneasel was the only one left out as Dazed gave the information to them directly. They turned to Infernus' pokeball and stared at it in reverent awe. Nidoking grunted something to Sneasel, whose eyes widened to a comical size as he looked at his idol's pokeball.

"You can talk to him in a few hours." Ash said firmly. He winced and rubbed at his throat when it burned. That was going to get annoying. "We're going to Cinnabar Island to train."

All of his friends winced at the mention of training, which prompted Ash to hastily correct himself. "It's mostly for Infernus. Blaine can teach him some new tricks and how to control his new body. The rest of you just need to take it easy and work on some techniques. I know that we pushed you hard."

That was an understatement, but his friends seemed happy just to know that they had some time off. Training with Lance had made them much stronger, but it was grueling. A month was enough to wear them down to almost nothing. His friends deserved some time to recover.

It wasn't as though Blaine would be much help with training the rest of his friends. He was a Master of the fire-type. He probably knew a lot about other pokemon, but he never had to raise too many outside of his Rhydon. Blaine had only raised that because it was able to survive in a volcano as well as a Magmar, or so Ash assumed.

He shrugged his thoughts off and laid down on the couch. Sneasel climbed up and curled on top of one of the cushions. Seeker, who had been perched on Bruiser's shoulder, huddled up to his chest. Ash winced in pain as she squeezed onto him, but didn't show it otherwise. He didn't want to make his friends worry.

After that he made sure each of his friends were okay. Sneasel and Seeker weren't really involved, but the others had taken at least some damage from Moltres. Ash was sure that the Center had done a wonderful job, but it never hurt to make sure there wasn't any lingering pain.

Once he had been assured that his friends were fine, he rested his head on a large pillow and lazily looked out. "We're going to be at Cinnabar in about two hours. Everyone should probably get some sleep."

His friends liked that idea. Most of them quickly found a place to curl up, although Nidoking instantly claimed the area right next to the couch and Torrent simply levitated behind it. The rest just tried to stay close to Ash.

He couldn't keep a slight smile away as he shut his eyes and gave into the weariness that ached in his mind. It was nice to be with his friends again. They hadn't had much time to just talk. Every waking moment of the last month had been spent training or learning.

They deserved a break.

XX

Cinnabar Island was much different than he remembered it. Instead of the loud, obnoxious tourist trap it was a quiet, lazy town. Now that the summer and its heat had left the tourists had no reason to stay. Everything looked rather grey, even if it was comfortably warm compared to the rest of Kanto.

One thing he noticed in particular was that the obnoxious, stereotypical beach music wasn't playing. Most of the stands seemed to have been taken down and people wore normal clothing. There were certainly a few tourists wandering about, but it was miniscule compared to when he'd come in July.

He didn't bother staying in the city for long. Ash wasn't here for the sights. All he wanted was to train with Blaine so that he could go home. A few days of relaxing at Pallet Town and reconnecting with his mother and Professor Oak sounded great. Maybe Jonathan and Amelia would be back as well.

Ash felt a little guilty when he thought of his human friends. He'd tried to avoid thinking about them aside from a few vague mentions every now and then. It wasn't really doing them justice after the months they'd spent together on the road. He just hated thinking about them. Every time he did the roar of waves and the terrible power of Mewtwo flashed to the forefront of his mind.

The trainer shook his head and took a deep breath as he exited the city gates. He was quick to release Plume and Nidoking. Ash didn't remember exactly where to go and he wanted a scout. His friends were more than capable of dispatching any Magmar that wanted to attack, but he'd rather not push his luck. Magmar were too cunning and dangerous to take lightly.

"Hey, girl." He laughed as Plume affectionately nuzzled his neck. Ash patted her powerful, glossy wing and lightly scratched her neck. She gently nipped at his hat and cooed before he began to give her orders. "Can you lead me to the Big Riddle Inn?"

Plume nodded and cooed at him again before she shot up into the air. Nidoking steadied Ash from the winds and walked beside him as Plume inched along high above them, aware of Ash's injuries. He levied a grateful smile to Nidoking as he began to hobble along the path. Ash could go faster, but he'd rather not push his luck. Every step made his lungs and muscles burn.

He wheezed after a few minutes, but Ash was barely aware of it. The trainer was much too focused on what Blaine would teach Infernus. Air Lens was the obvious choice, but there were surely other techniques Blaine had developed in his long years of training. No one knew the Magmar line like he did.

Ash thought of other things too as they dredged up to the foothills of the massive volcano that dominated this side of Cinnabar. He thought of what he would talk to his mother and Professor Oak about when he finally returned to Pallet, methods of training, Infernus' death and subsequent resurrection, and a dozen other topics. So much had happened to him recently.

One of the things he'd decided was to begin creating strategies to combat dragon-types. He knew that he would have a much easier time when he wasn't fighting dragons trained by the Dragon Master himself, but even untrained dragons were a potent force on the battlefield. His friends could match their raw power if they weren't trained to the degree of Lance's, but the sheer speed something like a Dragonite possessed was enough to win a battle.

It was rather hard to win if you couldn't even hit the target, after all.

Right now Plume, Torrent, and Nidoking were his only real defense against dragons that could fly. Oz could hurt them and was incredibly accurate, but most dragons could shrug off electricity with little difficulty. Ice was the only real way to fight them. Dragon-type moves were a last resort since they tended to incite rage in other dragons.

Once he'd finished perfecting Plume's as-of-yet ultimate technique she would be able to defeat almost anything in the air unless it was as powerful as one of Lance's pokemon or faster. He couldn't wait until she was practically undefeatable in her own domain.

Sneasel would be useful once Ash trusted him enough to use Ice Beam and Blizzard responsibly, but right now he was still too weak and inexperienced to properly fight dragons. He was improving quickly, however. Ash had even let him into some of the battles against Lance near the end.

Nidoking's gentle tap snapped him out of his daze. Ash glanced up and realized that they were on the hill that would take them up to the Big Riddle Inn. He had a grin on his face. It would be nice to see Blaine again, even if he didn't have the friendliest disposition. Blaine was an interesting figure, especially after everything he'd learned about him from Lance and Surge.

"Thanks, Nidoking." He said quietly. Nidoking grunted and supported him with a powerful arm as Ash began his struggle up the hill. His weakened body screamed in protest, but Ash ignored it. He'd undergone much worse in the last month, even if Lance had been careful never to get him hurt.

"Good job, Plume!" He called out to the sky as Plume began her descent. When she was close enough he recalled her. Ash would let her out later. Plume needed a good chance to stretch her wings that didn't involve combat against a gigantic Dragonite.

When he reached the top of the hill he felt like his lungs were on fire. He wondered if that was what Lance had felt like after Moltres had sent the slightest tendril of its power into his body or if he was looking at it all wrong. Perhaps it hadn't been a physical pain in the sense that he was used to.

Ash shrugged it off and pulled open the door. He figured that Blaine wouldn't mind the unannounced entrance. It wasn't as though Blaine had many customers.

"I'm going to return you for a few minutes." He told Nidoking apologetically. It would be best to clear it with Blaine before he brought a gigantic Nidoking into the Inn.

Nidoking just nodded in response, a bit of amusement in his narrow eyes. He patiently waited as the trainer recalled him and walked into the Inn.

"Who is it?" Blaine called out in his soft, mellow tones. He had his wig and sunglasses on and was cleaning a few glasses with a white rag. The Master looked up and smiled when he saw Ash. He took off his sunglasses and revealed his fierce narrow eyes. "Great, it's you. Took you long enough."

The old man surveyed the trainer. "You look like that Magmar of yours gave you a hug." He snapped. "What did you get into?"

Ash smiled. "A training experience with Lance."

Realization dawned on Blaine's face. The old man nodded sagely, some of the annoyance gone from his unlined face. "Good answer. How'd he rope you into training with him?"

"He asked." Ash shrugged.

"Idiot." Blaine snorted. He put the glass down. "Lance isn't a gentle teacher. You and your pokemon are going to be useless for a few days."

Ash shrugged. "Not all of us."

Blaine eyed him closely. His eyes glimmered with intelligence as the old man sought out an answer.

"Infernus evolved." Ash explained. Blaine's eyes widened and he speculatively twisted the edge of his rather impressive mustache.

"Where did you find a Magmarizer?" Blaine demanded, eyes narrowed. He stepped around the bar and walked over to Ash. The trainer wasn't sure if he was curious or annoyed for some reason.

He looked up at the gym leader with an unimpressed expression. Blaine was intimidating, but he'd met Mewtwo's eyes. The old man was nothing in comparison to the psychic that barely qualified as a pokemon.

"I didn't." He replied. Ash watched Blaine's reaction. The gym leader seemed more incredulous than anything.

"How did you evolve it, then?" Blaine inquired. There was real curiosity in his voice, even if he sounded as though he didn't really believe Ash. "There's no way it could have evolved through proximity to a volcano. That takes years."

That led to a dilemma. While Ash trusted Blaine, he wasn't sure if Lance would want him to speak of Moltres. For all he knew that was highly classified information that the League didn't want released to anyone but the Elite Four.

In the end he decided to dodge the question.

"Ask Lance." Ash said back. Blaine's face twitched in annoyance, but the old man just sighed and didn't say anything. The gym leader placed his sunglasses in his pocket and stepped toward the door that would take them to the gym via the hot springs.

"Come on, then." He said gruffly. The old man picked up a pokeball that was idly laying on the counter, right underneath a small photograph of a younger Blaine that stood with another man that had long hair and a pointed beard. Both of the men had wide grins on their faces. They stood in front of what Ash recognized as the Cinnabar Research Lab.

Blaine took a moment to look at the picture before he shook his head and placed the pokeball on his belt, where five others were already placed. Despite that, his gaze lingered on the old picture for a few more seconds.

Ash wanted to ask, but reigned in his curiosity. A solemn look had passed over Blaine's face when he saw the picture, which was odd. Normally Blaine either had a stoic expression or a nasty grin.

"I heard about what you've been up to the past six months." Blaine said as they walked down into the hot springs. The gym leader quickly activated the Gyarados statue and opened the way into the gym. Ash winced at the heat as they stepped into the corridor that had been painstakingly carved from stone. "Nice work."

"Thanks." Ash replied quietly.

"Tell me, how much did Lance tell you about Mewtwo?" The old man asked casually as they descended the harsh stone stairs. Ash nearly coughed in surprise, but he managed to hold it back.

"What?"

Blaine turned to stare at him with an annoyed expression. "Don't pretend as if you don't know. You went off to train with Lance. Every gym leader knows that you're his protégé. After what you've seen he would have told you the truth."

"He told me that Mewtwo is a clone of Mew." Ash started slowly. He had to take a moment to recount the information. Although it was important it had been about two weeks since he and Lance had a serious discussion about Mewtwo. "Team Rocket used it as a super weapon and it rebelled."

"That's the gist of it." The gym leader grunted with exertion as he stopped moving at the massive iron gates. Before Ash could blink he had released Magmar, who was just as powerful and robust as Ash remembered. "A simple retelling of an incredible work of science."

Ash frowned at that. Blaine didn't seem particularly appalled at Mewtwo's existence. Mewtwo had been born of twisted DNA, likely engineered to be vicious and coldhearted. It was disturbing, but Blaine didn't seem to mind.

Blaine noticed his expression and rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that look. What Mewtwo and Team Rocket have done with that power is disgusting, but Mewtwo itself is a masterwork of cloning and genetic engineering. I can't imagine how much time and resources were devoted to it."

The gym leader had a faraway look on his face as Magmar easily pushed his way through the iron gates with his immense strength and opened the way for them. Magmar didn't take long to settle on the gym leader's side of the arena, which was just as hot and impressive as when Ash had last seen it.

Ash just watched attentively. Blaine seemed lost in nostalgia and professional curiosity. He didn't even immediately walk over to his side of the arena.

"You encountered Mewtwo." Blaine stated. His harsh stare met Ash's calm eyes. "You know how powerful it is. Nothing else shall ever measure up to the ingenuity and skill it took to create it from fragments of DNA that were potentially millennia old."

He didn't say anything. Ash had to admit that the fact that Team Rocket managed to make something that powerful was impressive, but their creation was horrible and twisted, a mockery of life. They had taken a Protector and defiled it into a heartless murderer. The trainer would never be able to share Blaine's awe and enthusiasm about the subject, even if he could understand where Blaine was coming from. Mewtwo was the ultimate pinnacle of the field he had helped to establish. It was only natural that he be enthralled by the concept.

Blaine's face was contorted into a nasty grin before he turned away. "If Mewtwo doesn't kill us all I'm sure it will be remembered as one of the greatest scientific achievements of all time. I don't know if I could have replicated whatever sample of Mew's DNA they found without destroying it."

"You can replicate DNA?" Ash asked, surprised. It wasn't something he'd ever heard of. He didn't really know all that much about science outside of pokemon and their biology, but that seemed like a miracle."

"It's not too hard." Blaine shrugged. He finally began to walk over to Magmar, who patiently waited in the center of the burning arena. "It's called Polymerase Chain Reaction. All it really consists of is getting the required materials for DNA replication, heating cycles and throwing a bunch of enzymes into a test tube. Invaluable for cloning ancient species."

Ash nodded dumbly. He assumed that was the vastly oversimplified version. If Blaine was half as knowledgeable as Lance and Surge had claimed he could probably teach advanced classes on the subject.

"Enough about that. I wouldn't want to burn out your tiny brain." Blaine said with a grin. Ash wasn't sure if the pun was intentional or not. Knowing Blaine, it probably was. "Let that Magmortar of yours out. I want to see it up close."

He complied and released Infernus, who looked absolutely manic at being released. A terrible smirk was on his pink mouth and his body glowed a dim white. His gigantic flames burned brightly and leapt and danced as he moved.

Now that Ash wasn't practically dead from heat and fire he could really appreciate the sheer power in Infernus' form. Considering how physically powerful Infernus had been as a Magmar he wasn't sure if even Nidoking could match the fire-type in raw strength.

It would be odd now that one of his friends actually had a face. He had learned to interpret each of his friends' body language exceptionally well over their months together, to the point where it could be strange interacting with humans after a few weeks out in the wilderness. Hopefully it wouldn't take long to adjust.

"Not too bad." Blaine said with a wide grin. He twiddled with the end of his mustache as he examined Infernus more closely. Infernus just glared at him. Ash assumed that his friend didn't like being looked at as a piece of meat. "One of the best I've seen in a long time. Plenty of power behind him, enough to make most dragons flinch away."

Magmar nodded in agreement, the ancient fire-type's eyes alit with interest. It growled at Infernus and spat flame into the Magmortar's face, which caused Infernus' temper, much more fragile thanks to the rush of hormones that came with evolution, to snap.

Infernus snarled and slashed at Magmar with his dull claws, but Magmar moved with blinding speed. Now that it wasn't poisoned and actually took the Magmortar seriously its true strength was revealed.

"It's been a while since he's had a good fight." Blaine laughed wildly as the two exceptionally powerful fire-types roared and slashed at each other. Despite Infernus' superior power and strength, Magmar proved to be terribly fast. He also exploited Infernus' awkwardness in his new form to great effect. "Our last challengers were a few months ago, two little brats that thought they had what it took."

Ash's lips turned up a little bit, but he realized he had a question that he'd meant to ask while he was last here. "Why did you never evolve Magmar?"

"Never needed to." Blaine snorted with amusement as he and Ash walked away from the intense fight. There were a few too many blasts of torturously hot fire for either to be comfortable. Ash's burns were irritated from the heat, even if they'd mostly healed over the last day. "Magmarizers hadn't even been invented back in my day. Once I joined the Elite Four Magmar was powerful enough to wipe out most of an upstart's team."

Blaine's unlined face wrinkled into a dangerous smile as he recalled old victories and experiences. He suddenly sighed and looked over at Magmar, who still held up well against Infernus even as the younger fire-type's body grew white with heat.

"That was a long time ago. He's too old to evolve now. Evolution involves far too many complex physiological changes to be safe at his age." Blaine sighed. He stared at his comrade fondly. Ash felt as though Blaine had forgotten that he was there even as he answered Ash's question. "Magmar's a tough old bastard, though. He's still handing your Magmortar his ass on a silver platter."

Ash rolled his eyes. That was certainly an exaggeration, although Magmar was an admittedly tough opponent. As the battle progressed Infernus' movements grew more fluid and his reactions, fuelled by the heat of the volcano, easily began to outpace Magmar's.

Still, Ash couldn't imagine how powerful Magmar must have been in his prime. Magmar lived to be rather old, just a bit less than a human, and Blaine's actions and words about the fire-type suggested that Magmar was his starter. Blaine didn't show it, but Ash knew he was at least a decade older than Professor Oak. Magmar could easily be at least fifty years old.

"There isn't that much I can teach you aside from Air Lens." Blaine revealed as the brutal fight raged on. Infernus had begun to push the old Magmar back to the edge of the arena, where the churning lava's glow ominously burned. "Magmar and Magmortar aren't really meant for strategy. Their raw power pulls them through most of the time and when that fails technique and ferocity won't. Most tactics that benefit the line just involve exploiting their natural strengths like their camouflage and ability."

Blaine crossed his arms as he peered down at Ash. His balding head was shiny from perspiration. "Magmortar is ready for Air Lens. It has much greater control, although it can still improve. After you leave, I suggest you teach it attacks to neutralize its type-weaknesses. Earthquake and Solar Beam will get the job done for the most part."

Ash nodded. He was a bit disappointed that Blaine couldn't teach him more powerful techniques, but he understood why. Infernus had always been focused on raw power. Not much could stand against him when he got close thanks to his horrifically high body heat and the flames that tended to accompany the ferocious fire-type. Haze was used to obscure him so that he could actually get close against ranged fighters.

Air Lens would be incredibly useful, regardless. Electric-type attacks tended to be exceptionally powerful against most organic pokemon. Even if they didn't do much real damage they tended to be incredibly painful and could easily stop a pokemon in its tracks. Most living creatures weren't meant to take thousands of volts of electricity, even if pokemon were tough enough to handle it.

Besides, it would be useful to completely neutralize an entire type. Every advantage would be needed in the Conference.

The sudden end of the battle shook Ash out of his thoughts. He smiled when he saw that Infernus had managed to hurl Magmar off of the edge, although the aged fire-type easily exploded back up onto the arena inside of a great geyser of lava.

Although Infernus snarled and prepared to launch himself at Magmar, Blaine stepped in and defused the battle with a single hard look. Ash followed the balding gym leader as Blaine prepared to begin Infernus' training.

"Air Lens is a deceptively simple technique." The old man growled. Infernus just glared back, not afraid of Blaine's bark. "To put it simply and largely incorrectly, it involves heating the air around you to incredibly high temperatures. It completely blocks large electrical charges in the air."

"Again, that's the explanation so that your tiny little brains won't explode. The real mechanics involved in Air Lens are more complex than you could imagine at your age." Blaine sneered. Ash rolled his eyes. "It's rather easy to learn, but the amount of control required to use and maintain it are immense. Air Lens is a very delicate technique."

Blaine shared a glance with Magmar, who grunted and moved to the opposite side of the arena. He released Rhydon next, who had grown much larger than Ash remembered. It wasn't anywhere near the size of the monster he'd encountered on the way from Celadon to Saffron but it was an exceptional example of the breed.

"Watch." Blaine ordered. Ash turned his eyes to Magmar. The fire-type raised its arms and the air around it wavered and distorted even more. "Thunderbolt."

Rhydon grunted as an arc of electricity jumped from the tip of its horn and arced at Magmar. Although he knew it would happen Ash was still amazed when the electricity simply fizzled out a foot away from Magmar's burning body.

"There might be a limit to how much electricity it can block, but I haven't found it. Tactics based on physics don't tend to be broken easily." Blaine commented as Magmar motioned for Infernus to walk over. The fire-type showed the young Magmortar the correct position and growled something.

"How long do you think Infernus will take to learn it?" Ash inquired. He would stay for however long it took, but he missed Pallet Town. It had been far too long since he'd spoken to his mother or Professor Oak. Sensitive technology like communication devices didn't work around Mt. Ember. His PokeNav couldn't even pick up a signal.

Blaine shrugged as his sharp eyes tracked Magmar and Infernus' movements. "Not too long, a day or two. It's a simple technique. The issue lies with control. Magmortar usually have an easy time with it. More heat, more surface area. They usually have pretty good control as well. If they don't everything around them tends to catch on fire."

Ash's lips curled up in a slight smile. Blaine snorted and turned to Ash. "Come back up. Those burns of yours are probably getting irritated. I know way too many people that would have my head if something happened to you."

With that Blaine began to walk away. Ash stared after him for a moment, perplexed, before he shrugged and followed. He bid goodbye to Infernus, who replied with a single grunt before he returned to mimicking Magmar's stance.

His gaze lingered on the powerful form of his friend before he finally left after Blaine. Ash wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to forget just how lucky he and Infernus were. He'd never take any of his friends for granted.

XX

Ash winced as scalding water ran down his throat. He put the glass down and silently wished he had waited for it to cool first. Blaine chuckled in amusement from across the table. The old man downed an entire glass of it without pause.

"Afraid of a little hot water?" Blaine mocked. Ash rolled his eyes and smiled back. Spending a day with the old gym leader let him pick up on most of the man's habits. It was a lot like being around Surge, although Blaine's harsh voice had more of a bite to it.

Blaine's personality was a far cry from how he had acted as the quiet, soft-spoken proprietor of the Big Riddle Inn when Ash had first come to Cinnabar so many months ago. He wasn't mellow and kind, but harsh and tough. The man certainly wasn't cruel, but he had a bitter edge to him.

"I'd rather not give myself as many burns on my inside as I have on my outside." Ash shrugged as he scooted the steaming glass of water away from him. He wasn't sure why Blaine liked it so much. It certainly woke him up, but he wasn't sure he would be able to taste anything for a few days.

"Man up." Blaine snorted. "I'm sure you had some of the black broth when you were with Surge. Nothing I give you could be worse than that."

Ash blanched at the mention of the foul concoction and he withheld a shudder. Perhaps not being able to taste anything wasn't so bad. It would have been great when he trained with Bruno. The thick, slimy texture of the black broth flashed to the forefront of his mind.

"That's what I thought." Blaine pointed out smugly. He snorted again. "What's a little pain compared to the broth? The best part of leaving active duty with the League was that I didn't have to eat that poor excuse for food."

"Don't you still go on missions for the League?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow. Defending the territory appointed to them was one of the primary responsibilities of a gym leader. Blaine didn't seem the type to reject it.

Blaine shrugged. "Every now and then. I got called back in during the war with Team Rocket. All I had to do was suppress the odd cell every now and then."

Ash wasn't surprised that Blaine didn't have to do much. His reputation was legendary. As a member of the Indigo Elite Four he had been notoriously brutal against criminals and those who abused pokemon and humans. He turned the greatest weapon of criminals – fear – against them.

"—not too much to do, like I said." Blaine continued. Ash dimly realized that he was still talking. A nasty grin spread over the animated gym leader's face. "The wild magmar did most of the job for me. They're a territorial bunch and don't like outsiders. Most of my job was cleaning up the Rockets they attacked."

He felt a little disturbed at how casually Blaine spoke of "cleaning up". Ash knew that Blaine had lived through harsher times and had likely had to do things he couldn't fathom in order to protect Kanto, but it wasn't something he wanted to think about. After seeing the brutality Infernus was capable of if provoked Ash didn't want to imagine what the vicious wild magmar could do to Rockets.

"Sorry." Blaine said apologetically. He didn't look like he really meant it, but at least he'd recognized the disturbed look on Ash's face. "It's been a while since I've had company. It's easy to forget that you're just a kid."

Blaine stood up, which prompted Ash to do the same. He took a moment to crack his neck before he looked at Ash. "Come with me. We've left them down there for a day. It's time to see what progress that Magmortar of yours has made."

Ash followed with no hesitation. The potions had mostly healed his injuries, although he was still rather tired. He was just glad that he didn't have to hobble around. Mobility was a wonderful thing.

When they'd travelled past the hot springs and the cavern that had been hewn from volcanic rock Ash noted that what was left of his burns weren't nearly so irritated. That was a relief. He was good at taking pain, but throbbing pain was immensely worse than the quick sharp pain one got from most training accidents.

He looked at the arena with unbridled curiosity. They'd ended up leaving the two fire-types and Rhydon down there for the day while Ash and the rest of his friends relaxed around the inn. The Magmar line was capable of easily going without food for a week and only a few hours of rest in most places. In a volcano they could go for weeks without food and almost that amount of time without rest. It was one of the reasons they could be so dangerous around Cinnabar.

"Magmar, how much progress have you made?" Blaine inquired as they stepped onto the hot metal platform. Magmar, who had been roaring something to Infernus, snapped to attention and gave a satisfied nod. If he could have smiled Ash bet he would have.

Blaine smirked. "Good." He casually snapped out, "Rhydon, Thunder!"

Rhdyon, who had previously been curled up on the ground, raised its head and gave a thunderous roar as several blasts of electricity shot from its horn at Infernus. The Magmortar snapped to attention and raised his left arm. The air around Infernus wavered as immense heat poured out of his arm and the powerful explosion of lightning suddenly dissipated as it grew close to the fire-type's cannon-like appendage.

Ash noted that Infernus was slower to use it than Magmar, but that was just from his lack of experience. Magmar seemed to use Air Lens reflexively, a reaction probably born of decades of using the technique. In time he was sure Infernus would use it just as easily as Magmar could.

"Like I said, a simple technique once the prerequisite control is met." Blaine laughed. He turned to Ash as Magmar suddenly slashed at Infernus and started up another fight. Infernus roared and furiously attacked back. His movements were far more fluid, although still oriented more on power than grace. "All I suggest is to develop ways to neutralize type weaknesses. You'll find that not much can stand up to a Magmortar without an incredible natural advantage."

Blaine suddenly stopped and considered something. "Have you ever heard of Flare Blitz?"

Ash nodded. He'd never seen it used in real life, but he'd come across the pokedex entry for it. It was an exceptionally powerful move, although the sheer force released from the impact's explosion tended to injure the attacker as well.

"Good. Look into it. It's a powerful attack and the Magmar line learn it easily." Blaine instructed. He turned an eye over to the battle that had sparked between the two fire-types. "You shouldn't have any trouble learning it before the Conference."

"Will you be there?" Ash asked curiously. Blaine seemed to enjoy his life as a hermit. He didn't seem the type to enjoy the pomp and ceremony of something like the Conference.

"Of course." Blaine rolled his eyes. "It's required for gym leaders to go. The Conference is too big of an even for the League to let us skive off. That's where the League makes most of its money. I'll just have a few ACE trainers set up station in my inn for a few days."

Ash nodded. Hopefully he would get to see Blaine while he was there. He liked the old man, even if he could be a bit acerbic and had a love for bad riddles and puns. The trainer could only imagine what a conversation between Blaine and Surge would be like.

"By the way, make sure you pay attention when they light the Flame of Moltres." Blaine smirked with a knowing gleam in his eyes. Ash's eyes widened and he looked at the old man with surprise. "Lance doesn't mind telling me things like that. I could have just asked Sabrina, but I didn't feel like deciphering cryptic nonsense."

The old man smiled. "I have to admit that I'm impressed with the sheer stupidity that you and Lance displayed. Not many people live – or deserve to – after showing such an astounding lack of self-preservation instincts."

Ash frowned and he glared at the old man in annoyance. He didn't say anything back. Blaine was actually right about them being idiots, even if Ash didn't like it. The old man was a bit too harsh.

"Oh, look. The fight's over." Blaine commented. Ash immediately turned to the clash between the two fire-types. As expected, Infernus had won. He wasn't unscathed, however. Slash marks ran down his chest, although they healed even as Ash watched. It was amazing how powerful being inside of a volcano could make Magmar and Magmortar.

Infernus grinned and shot a huge stream of flame high into the air from one of his cannons. It was tinted with blue without any visible effort from the Magmortar. Ash laughed. "Nice job, Infernus! You're doing great!"

The Magmortar snorted fire, although he had a pleased smirk on his face all the same. He lowered his cannon-like arm and stared at Magmar as the old fire-type slowly pulled himself back up.

"Impressive." Blaine stated with a shrug. His eyes narrowed as he suddenly smiled. "Let's see how he does against something that doesn't burn so easily. Rhydon, get up!"

Rhydon lazily stood up to its full height. It was just as tall and powerfully built as Infernus, although it had much more weight behind it. Infernus' eyes lit up and his claws slid back to reveal the gaping holes of his cannons. Small flames danced within the dark tubes, barely visible in the bright light of the volcano.

"Go!" Both he and Blaine ordered at the same time. In a mere moment both of the powerful pokemon began their battle, one of the last that Ash would have before he left.

XX

The ride home to Pallet Town was a short one, only three hours on the Seagallop Ferry that Blaine gave him authorization to use. He left the day after Infernus learned Air Lens. After that they had spent a few hours having Infernus constantly battle the team Blaine had used last time Ash fought him. Infernus dispatched most of them without issue.

Ash wasn't sure how anything would ever defeat Infernus aside from Lance's dragons. As powerful as he had been as a Magmar, Infernus was exponentially stronger now. His body was too hot for most pokemon to get close, his fires were powerful enough to knock weaker fire-types unconscious without too much effort, and nothing seemed to so much as faze him. Even Torrent and Nidoking would probably have a difficult time.

Most of the day had been spent talking to Blaine or lazing about with his friends. Ash hadn't shown Infernus to them yet. He wanted to give Infernus a chance to calm down. His friend was still awash in the sea of hormones that followed evolution, which could make him exceptionally aggressive and dangerous if anything managed to spark his anger. There was a reason Magmortar were solitary creatures.

He'd also decided that he'd had enough of Nidoking's rivalry with Oz. Nidoking still hadn't escalated to physical confrontation, but team unity was too important for him to ignore it. Ash had given his best friend nearly two months to sort out his feelings to no avail. It was time to step in personally.

That would wait for when everyone was relaxed during their short vacation at Pallet Town. Everyone was still a little tense from the aftereffects of training for so long, not to mention the spectacular defeat they had suffered at the hands of Moltres.

Ash figured that he'd spend a week or so at Pallet Town unless something came up. There was plenty of room to train or relax and he didn't really feel like travelling for a while. He'd probably head to Fuschia when he was done, although he wouldn't visit the Safari Zone. It was too close to the Conference for him to devote time to training a new teammate.

He felt a little odd walking into Pallet Town, much like he had the first time he'd returned home during his journey. Nobody seemed to recognize him, but he got plenty of odd looks. The fact that an enormous Nidoking that had grown quite a bit since his last time here walked beside him and that Sneasel was curled up awkwardly around his head and shoulders might have something to do with it.

As he walked toward his mother's restaurant he wondered if Blaine would be too averse to him returning sometime. Blaine knew plenty thanks to his long career and could help Ash more than almost anyone. He really wanted to battle Blaine's Elite Four team one day as well, or at least what was left of it.

He really would have liked to stay for a few days, but Ash desperately wanted to see his mother and Professor Oak again. Ash had opted against calling either of them during his two days with Blaine so that he could surprise them, but it wasn't easy.

Hopefully his mother wouldn't be too mad at him for not calling for a month. She would have expected it thanks to knowing that he was in the Sevii Islands, but he knew that she would still be annoyed with him. At least he was sure that she'd be overjoyed with the news that he'd be staying for a while, although he would have to leave to keep his friends up to par.

Ash really wasn't sure what he would do for the next month and a half. He had to be at Indigo Plateau by the first of March to enter the Conference. Until then he could do whatever he wanted. There was roughly a month and a half to burn before he needed to prepare to go to the Conference.

There was still Koga, who would be a fun fight. Ash enjoyed fighting the gym leaders' real teams. He could only imagine what battling Koga, who was considered a prime prospect to replace one of the Elite Four, would be like. It would certainly be different from fighting the gym leaders that focused on brute force.

One thing he knew that he would spend a week or two on was developing strategies with each of his friends to effectively fight dragon-types. He didn't have trouble if they were on the ground but he didn't have many pokemon that could combat flying dragons on even terms. Their powerful hide neutralized most strategies that he would ordinarily use on flying-types.

He was torn from his thoughts when he recognized his mother's diner. Ash grinned when he saw that it was open and didn't have too many people in it. It wasn't the time when most of the people Professor Oak employed in his lab got off for lunch, but he never knew if something might have happened.

"Sorry, Nidoking, but I can't bring you in." He said apologetically. Nidoking wasn't surprised and affectionately patted his shoulder with one of his dull claws. Ash smiled lightly. "I'll be back soon, alright?"

Nidoking grunted and motioned for Ash to head into the restaurant. Ash laughed and did as his friend asked, although he gave Nidoking one last lingering look. Normally he would have recalled his friend, but no one in Pallet was going to mess with Nidoking. He'd grown another five inches since they'd left and had gotten even bulkier.

His mother looked up from the counter when she heard the door open. She began to give him the standard greeting before she realized who it was. "Hello, how can I help you – Ash!"

"Hey, Mom!" He greeted enthusiastically, although anything else he might have said was cut off as his mother rushed around the counter and wrapped him up in a hug. Ash pat her back even as he struggled to breathe.

When she finally released him he managed to get out his question. "How was your trip?"

"Wonderful!" She exclaimed as a bright smile broke out. "Little Molly's gotten so big and she's so smart! She's only three but she's already starting to read."

Ash nodded back with a smile, even if he didn't exactly share his mother's excitement. Most of what he remembered of Molly was a baby that drooled a lot and smelled bad.

"Spencer's involved with some really exciting research too." She continued, fascination and a faint hint of jealousy in her words. "He's investigating the Unown. Spencer thinks that he's close to a major breakthrough!"

That perked his interest. He remembered the small Unown that Jessica kept in her house. Ash wasn't so sure about the claims that they were Legends after encountering the Birds, but they were certainly fascinating. There had to be some reason that they were so prominent in Johto.

"But that's enough about me, how was it training with Lance?" His mother asked. Ash could catch a strange inflection in her tone, as though she couldn't believe that he'd actually trained with the Indigo Champion. He couldn't blame her.

"Great!" He grinned. Ash was glad that most of his burns had healed. It wouldn't be good if his mother saw what he looked like right after the battle with Moltres. "All of us are way stronger. Infernus evolved and the rest of the team learned a ton!"

"I'm glad." His mother smiled. She absentmindedly scratched Sneasel behind one of his feathers. The ordinarily hostile dark-type purred contentedly and leaned in to her hand. "I haven't gotten to see this little guy yet. Does he have a nickname?"

Ash dimly realized just how long he had been gone. Sneasel felt like he had been with the team forever. He was beginning to catch up to the rest of the team, although he had a long way to go before he could equal them. The amount of progress he had made over the months was stunning and his mother still hadn't seen him face to face.

"Not yet." Ash shook his head as he was jolted back into reality. "I'm waiting for him to mature so that he'll pick one he'll like forever."

His mother nodded and kept on scratching. She suddenly examined him closely and raised an eyebrow when she saw that he was still burned. "What happened? You don't look so good."

"I got burned a bit during the training." Ash shrugged. Perhaps he'd overestimated how much he'd healed. Then again his mother was quite perceptive. Not much got past her. "It's feeling a lot better."

"Good." His mother smiled. She suddenly frowned when an alarm beeped. Her face was a bit downcast as she spoke again. "I'm really sorry sweetie, but I have to get back to work. It's about to be lunch hour for Professor Oak's employees. I'll get home as soon as I can, alright?"

He nodded and hid his slightly disappointed expression. They'd have plenty of time to catch up. "Bye, Mom. I'll see you later. Love you."

"Love you too, Ash!" She called out as he left the door. Ash watched her rush behind the counter for a moment before he left. Nidoking grunted at him as he walked out. "Hey, Nidoking, we're going to the house. We aren't doing anything for the rest of the day, so you can head to the Corral whenever you want."

Nidoking seemed to grin at Ash.

"I know you miss Nidoqueen." Ash laughed. Nidoking rolled his eyes and grunted at Ash again as they started walking.

Ash smiled as he and Nidoking fell into a comfortable silence. He looked around at Pallet to try and commit every detail of his town to memory.

It was good to be home.

And there it is! I'm really sorry about how late it is and that it isn't a monster like the last few have been, but I promise (for real this time) to get it out. There isn't any vacation in my future, so the update schedule will return to normal.

Thanks for reading and make sure to review!