Chapter 30: Preliminaries (6)
The Elite Four watched with eyes of surprise as Pikachu zoomed downwards toward Nidoking in a flash. Furthermore, the raven-haired boy's spur-of-the-moment creation of [Swords Dance (Fake)] made a favourable impression on all of them.
"Hoh, dear Ash just keeps surprising me every time I watch him," Agatha said with a smile.
"The child is tenacious, I'll give him that," Bruno commented with an impressed tone.
"He's quite the showman," Lorelei uttered with amazement at Pikachu's feat.
"His fangs are rather sharp, aren't they?" Lance said with an amused look.
'Show me, Red of Pallet Town. Let me see if you can reach the heavens…'
Charizard vs Golem.
An unfavourable matchup for Ash. But the raven-haired boy had made his choice. He wanted to win the last of his Prelims with his starters.
The two starters who started his journey with him together. The leaders of the team. The ones who saved him from his despair.
The boy would never betray their trust in him. He would win with them. That was what Ash Ketchum had decided.
{ BATTLE START }
"[Stone Edge]!"
"[Flamethrower]!"
A clash between pillars of stones and a jet of fire erupted. Blowing dust clouds everywhere.
As the battle raged on, Misty started getting worried.
"Is Ash going to be alright?" she asked weakly.
Although she was already used to his reckless antics, the choice of sending out Charizard against Golem made her anxious. After all, this was the last battle Ash needed to win before entering the main event.
He had won his second with relative ease, due to the efforts of Snorlax and Pikachu. However, the battle against Reiji led the boy to create the most impossible comeback of all time.
For most people, it gave the impression that Ash could win any battle, no matter how hopeless it looked. The boy would always find a way.
But for the ones who knew him, they wondered if his luck finally ran out. What's more is the fact that Ash for some reason looked extremely worn out despite still wearing his toothy grin.
"He'll be alright. Red's nothing but stubborn," Blue answered, sharing a look of worry.
Gary had returned to the stands after seeing his rival's unexpected comeback. Seeing his performance now gave him a reason to look forward to the main event.
"If this is enough to beat him then that idiot shouldn't have been my rival in the first place," he said with a blank expression.
Blue gave a little smile at that. She knew that although the orange-haired boy may say mean things about Ash, he usually meant it as encouragement. Such is the juxtaposition of a genius' way of speaking.
Reiji and Ash were now locked in a stalemate. Neither side give the other the upper hand. So far, it had only been [Flamethrowers] and [Stone Edges] back and forth.
The older Trainer had a plan. Since Pikachu had been poisoned by Nidoking, all he had to do was land a clean hit on Charizard with a Rock type move and it was smooth sailing from there. But the teen knew better than that.
Those red eyes would never allow that. They intimidated Reiji, forcing him to spam [Stone Edge] to end this quicker. The paranoia of Ash potentially performing another miracle whispered at the back of his mind.
And it only grew louder at each [Stone Edge]'s ineffectiveness.
Finally, both sides had enough of the stalemate and shared the same idea.
"Charge at it, Charizard!"
"If it's a contest of strength then so be it! Wrestle that Charizard, Golem!"
The back and forth of Fire and Rock came to an end. Now, it was a wrestling match between the last Pokémon of the two final Trainers.
Golem pushed back the orange dragon with its huge frame, but Charizard was no slouch. His claws gripped onto the boulder tortoise, digging into the segmented rocky parts of its body. Unyielding and stubborn, just like his Trainer.
Sweat dropped from Ash's forehead as the battle continued.
The battlefield was tense and only the grunts of the two Pokémon could be heard.
But the raven-haired boy was not afraid. He had promised to win, and Ash Ketchum never breaks a promise.
Not to the Elite Four he had challenged.
'In other words, you have not even made it to the starting line.'
Not to Gary and Blue, his closest friends.
'It's no fun unless we're all together.'
Not to his Pokémon who gave him back his reason to fight.
'There is only one road. And we walk it together.'
Especially not to her.
'I promise you, Yellow. I will be a Pokémon Master!'
Power surged into his body. His heart set ablaze by the promises he sought to fulfil.
The raven-haired boy felt it again. Like the time he fought against Giovanni.
Only this time, Ash was doing it willingly. He had no idea what was happening to him, but he did not care.
Words came to him. Unknown to him, yet strangely familiar.
An aria of activation.
And so, he whispered them as if a silent prayer.
Ả̸̹̖̬̉̄̌̈̋̐̓̇̍̔̈́̍́͑Ủ̵͍̬̬̉̔͒̀R̵͇̽̑̀̾̕͘̚͝Ǎ̷̮̞̼̍̈́͛͐̓͊̂̍̀͝,̸̢͕̺̹͔̲̺͍̟̞͎͇̄̑̅̈́̄ͅ ̴̡̢̮̰̓̎̐̓͗̀̑́̀͊̀͌̈͘̕o̸̡̩̟̻͉̖̘̪͈̘̤̝̠̞͊̾͌̈͂̈́̍͛͘͠͝n̵̛̼̭̫͋̑̿̽̍̿̀̚̚.̷͉̦͍̭͇̞̩̊̅
And the world slowed down once more. But it was different than that time he faced Oak's Tauros.
He could feel everything. Not just one Pokémon, but everything around him.
Worry. Adrenaline. Excitement. Fatigue. Determination. Desperation.
Ash could feel them all. And he knew which ones belonged to whom.
But what surprised him the most was Charizard. A connection between Trainer and Pokémon was felt. The boy could tell what the orange dragon was thinking although no words were spoken.
And finally, Reiji made his move.
"Let's end this! [Stone Edge]!"
Instead of a pillar of stone, [Stone Edge] manifested into smaller sharp rocks shooting from the earth. And Ash caught every movement of it.
He knew Charizard could not avoid all of it as most of the rocks were aimed at his elongated neck. And without thinking, he accidentally spoke to Charizard mentally.
'Dodge slightly to the right.'
And the command Ash gave out loud was different.
"[Fire Blast] on its feet!"
The orange dragon instincts went beyond normal. He managed to obey all two commands at once. Although, Charizard himself was not sure to follow the sudden voice in his head, but he still complied anyway.
A burst of strength was all he needed. The orange dragon did not know its source, but he would take it with gratitude.
And so, the stone arrowheads launched while a huge blast of flames aimed towards the ground.
[Stone Edge] found its target but Charizard had dodged most of it, although the arrowheads still pushed its head backwards.
[Fire Blast] added more thrust to Charizard's head being propelled backwards.
Reiji saw [Fire Blast] missing Golem and pumped his fist.
'It's over!' he thought confidently.
[Fire Blast] seared Golem's feet but it could handle it. Meanwhile, Charizard had suffered a direct hit form multiple smaller [Stone Edge]. The teen saw no way the boy could turn this around.
And yet, when he looked at Ash again, his body froze.
The red eyes that seemed to shimmer under his cap's visor still had fire within them. This prompted Reiji to look at Charizard, and his blood ran cold.
Charizard had lifted Golem from the ground. The image of the orange dragon carrying a huge boulder around his size was seared into his memories.
"We're not losing here…"
'He's lifting Golem?!'
"We're not losing here."
'…! The momentum created by [Stone Edge] and [Fire Blast]!'
"We're not losing here!"
Ash's thoughts ran back to Lance's words.
'In other words, you have not even made it to the starting line.'
"[Seismic Toss]!"
Charizard let out a deafening roar as he plunged Golem into the earth.
Boom!
The burst of strength he received anonymously was used to its very last drop. And the result was the enormous impact of the battlefield, with a crack stretching all the way across the arena at every direction.
Golem had fainted. Its eyes whited out from losing consciousness.
Charizard and Ash looked at each other, both incredibly tired from their respective battles.
{ Go- Golem is unable to battle! }
{ Victory goes to Red of Pallet Town! }
And as it finally sank in, they cheered in their victory.
"Yeah!"
"Roar!"
{ We're not losing here… }
Everyone in the halls shivered at the raven-haired Trainer's words. The dominating air surrounding him and Charizard reined in their attention.
{ We're not losing here. }
Calem was muttering the words "No way" repeatedly while Trevor and Tierno watched with mouths agape. Shauna let out a gasp of shock at what she saw witnessing.
{ We're not losing here! }
Charizard's display of strength as he lifted Golem from the ground made the audience of Pokémon Academy let out a collective gasp of astonishment.
Sycamore and Grace could only watch in silent awe of Charizard's sheer power.
{ [Seismic Toss]! }
Serena was amazed at both Trainer and Pokémon's determination to win. It was inspiring in her bright blue eyes.
A warm smile and tearful blue eyes.
He had done it. Ash Ketchum was the final contestant for the main event.
And the honey-blonde cheered happily at her love's victory. The hall followed suit immediately.
The sight of a tired Ash petting his wounded Charizard warmed Serena's heart as it reminded her of how caring the boy was.
After shaking hands with Reiji, Ash noticed the camera broadcasting his match again. A tired but satisfied smile plastered on his face.
Charizard and Pikachu noticed their Trainer's expression and figured out what he was thinking. And the two hatched a plan.
A weakened Pikachu cut off a huge slab of debris from the battlefield while Charizard breathed fire onto the stone.
Ash felt the warm flames behind him and spun to see what his starters had done. It was a message written in flames from them to the person Ash had been thinking about.
THANK YOU, SERENA
The two Pokémon grinned and gave their thumbs up towards the camera. The raven-haired boy chuckled and gave his own thumbs up as well.
{ Thank you, Serena… }
His last words before the broadcast ended.
Serena was touched by Charizard and Pikachu's display of gratitude towards her. So much that it brought her to tears once again.
The two had owned much to the honey blonde as it was because of her actions that led to them meeting the sweetest and loving Trainer they had ever seen. Ash's unyielding spirit and determination to win was all because of her. The two Pokémon could only hope to meet the girl in person someday.
And finally, Ash's last words to her. Expressing his own gratitude to her with a tender smile and the gentlest red eyes she had ever seen him express.
The sight was forever burned into her memories, and her ears blushed even more pinker.
She had fallen for Ash all over again. Rather, she fell even more in love with him. A part of her almost wished to just take a plane to Kanto and hug him tighter than she ever hugged before.
But the honey blonde did not act on it. For she would wait for him.
Serena knew in her heart that they would meet again. She did not care how long it would take.
But for now, her job was to cheer for the raven-haired boy trying to achieve the dream she gave him.
Although she would not sully Ash's character in her imagination, after the display he made in the Preliminaries, she could not help but imagine him as a knight honouring his Queen.
Ả̸̹̖̬̉̄̌̈̋̐̓̇̍̔̈́̍́͑Ủ̵͍̬̬̉̔͒̀R̵͇̽̑̀̾̕͘̚͝Ǎ̷̮̞̼̍̈́͛͐̓͊̂̍̀͝,̸̢͕̺̹͔̲̺͍̟̞͎͇̄̑̅̈́̄ͅ ̴̡̢̮̰̓̎̐̓͗̀̑́̀͊̀͌̈͘̕o̸̡̩̟̻͉̖̘̪͈̘̤̝̠̞͊̾͌̈͂̈́̍͛͘͠͝n̵̛̼̭̫͋̑̿̽̍̿̀̚̚.̷͉̦͍̭͇̞̩̊̅
Her beloved knight.
Link established.
His beloved Queen.
Chapter 30: Preliminaries (6)
Let the festival truly begin.