UA Stadium (Day)

"The first match of the second round! At this year's sports festival, both have shown top-class performances! Xiao-Long Dominic, the Pokemon Champion, vs Todoroki Shoto, the son of the great Endeavor!" Present Mic announced as both fighters stepped into the ring. "It's like two rivals facing off against eachother!"

"My partner for this bout will be..." Dominic said, throwing a Poke Ball into the air and releasing Charizard, who landed on the ground before letting out a fierce roar.

"There it is! Dominic's undisputed ace! Charizard!" Present Mic shouted. "3, 2, 1, GO!"

The fight started off with a bang, with Todoroki unleashing a torrent of frozen spikes at Dominic and Charizard. The blonde rushed forward and punched the ground, causing a burst of magma to erupt from the earth, melting the ice. "I expected as much." Todoroki said, sweating from the extreme heat. He knew beating Dominic with a head-on assault was impossible, especially with Charizard backing the blonde up.

"Incredible! Xiao-Long stopped the attack with a lava geyser!" Present Mic cheered.

"He had no idea how big the first attack would be." Jiro said to herself from the stands. "If he can keep up that reaction time through the entire match, there's no way he'll lose."

Todoroki sent off another torrent of spikes at Dominic, repeating his first attack. "Charizard, Dragon Claw!" the blonde commanded. The Flame Pokemon filled its claws with arcane energy, then flew directly into the glacier. Charizard used Dragon Claw and its speed to tunnel through the ice, shattering it from the inside. 'We can't win unless we can stop him from executing an attack.' Dominic thought to himself. 'I can't fend him off forever, and Charizard only has so much PP on Dragon Claw and Fire Blast.'

Once again, Todoroki unleashed a furious flurry of ice spikes, but aimed them all at Charizard. "Fire Blast, now!" Dominic yelled, prompting the Pokemon to shoot an all-consuming ball of flames at the ice, exploding in the shape of the Japanese kanji for fire.

"I'll end this quickly." the dual-Quirked boy said before summoning another torrent of spikes, this time much denser than before.

"Earthquake!" Dominic shouted. Charizard stomped the earth, making the ground beneath the battlefield start to rumble and breaking apart the ice just before it reached the duo. Almost immediately after, Todoroki used his Quirk to pull an Ice Man and skate on a platform of frozen ground to get closer to his opponents. Dominic smiled as he raised his arm to his classmate, blasting the boy with a beam of pure Fire Magic. This sent Todoroki flying to the far edge of the battlefield, only barely being able to stay in bounds.

"I knew a battle with you would get my blood pumping." Dominic said, grinning as he felt his entire body sizzle. "It's time to stop holding back." Charizard turned its head to face the blonde, nodding at the boy. "Time! Sky! Nature! Heed my command and grant us your infinite power! Mega Evolve!" Dominic yelled, putting two fingers to his Key Stone. Strands of radiant light emerged from the multicolored gem, merging with the light of Charizard's Mega Stone. Everyone in the stands watched in awe as the Pokemon was surrounded in pink light before transforming into Mega Charizard Y.

"Holy shit." Kirishima said, completely awestruck.

"How dazzling!" Aoyama complimented.

"He did the same thing in the USJ, right?" Asui asked.

"Yeah. It was able to hold its own against Nomu, so we know it's crazy strong." Kaminari said.

"What even is that? Another part of his Quirk?" Ashido wondered.

"It's Mega Evolution." Jiro said, gaining the attention of everyone with her in the stands. "Xiao-Long explained it to me once after he was done with a training session. He said it's a special power hidden inside Charizard, and only the bond they share can unlock it. It's only because they trust eachother completely that they can do this."

Todoroki put up a wall of ice behind him for support, then blasted Mega Charizard with a torrent of ice. The Pokemon flew up to dodge, but a small piece of ice grazed its foot. "Get rid of it with Fire Blast!" Dominic yelled. Charizard reeled its head back before launching a ball of flame that detonated with enough force to not only melt every piece of ice within a 30-meter radius, but also to send some of the spectators flying.

'That was a lot more powerful than before.' Todoroki thought to himself as he stood back up. 'Neither of them want me to get close. They want to keep this battle long range and hope that they launch me out of bounds.' A shiver went down his spine, prompting him to look down at his arm. It was shaking. 'Guess it's almost time for that secret weapon.' he thought as he turned to look at his father in the stands. If he was mad now, he'll be downright pissed at what's coming next.

Another torrent of ice, this time more explosive, shot at Dominic and Charizard. "Down Smash, now!" Charizard slammed the ground with its tail, foot, and wings, creating a small shockwave that obliterated the frozen spears and almost knocked Todoroki out of bounds. The monochrome-haired boy was spared defeat by him making an ice wall just before he crossed the edge.

It was time. Time to break free of his father's chains.

He raised his arm, felt the heat rise in his body, and fired his attack.

AN: There was a reference to the first season of Pokemon Journeys in this chapter. I'm curious to see if anyone can find it.