Ash and Brock were taking a small break from their journey to the next Gym (Casey had decided to stay back at Violet City to train and challenge the Gym herself). Falkner had informed the boy that Azalea Town had the next Gym and had pointed out how to get there on the map. What type the gym was, Falkner had declined to tell him and gave no reasons as to why.
Pikachu's ear twitched and the Pokemon woke to see something at the edge of the clearing where he was sleeping. The 'something' he saw seemed to notice as well, rushing away deeper into the forest. Pikachu shrugged before going back to sleep.
Ash and Brock wake up much later to find that Pikachu is playing with a small Pokemon.
"Sentret, the Scout Pokemon. When Sentret sleeps, it does so while another stands guard. The sentry wakes the others at the first sign of danger. When this Pokémon becomes separated from its pack, it becomes incapable of sleep due to fear."
Ash frowns as he pockets the Pokedex. The Sentret was alone, and according to the Pokedex, this Pokemon would not last alone. Lucky for Ash and the Sentret, another one comes out of the forest. It was larger than the one playing with Pikachu, possibly the parent of the smaller one.
The bigger one seemed to scold the smaller one, before turning to Pikachu and bowing as if thanking him. The two Pokemon then rushed off back into the forest.
A fatigued Ash and Brock hike along a path. The Sentrets were in Ash's mind, as was the Gym Battle he had before. Charizard had singlehandedly won that battle, if not for him Ash would still be stuck in Violety City. He needed to train his other Pokemon and rely less on Charizard. Even though Charizard was reliable and powerful, Ash would prefer it if his other Pokemon could catch up to him in terms of Power.
The duo stopped hearing a faint echo and looked up. A woman stood on the cliff above them and soon enough descended to join the duo. The woman stopped before Ash, leaned in close and sniffed him, much to Ash freaking out.
"You have a Charizard," the woman said with a smirk.
Ash calmed down from his freakout.
"How did you know?"
"All Charizard trainers have a faint scent about them. I'm Liza, I take care of the Charicific Valley."
"The what now?" Ash asked.
"The Charicifc Valley Natural Reserve, so just Charicific Valley for Simplicity. You'll find many wild Charizards living in this valley, each one considered a guardian deity by those who live in the area. But really they just come here to train and grow stronger. Why don't you come visit?"
Liza pulls out a Pokeball and from it, a Charizard comes out. As if being called, Ash's Charizard pops out as well.
"This is Charla, the only Charizard in Charicific Valley that is not wild, and my partner. We guard the Valley together."
Charla and Charizard both stared at one another, silent and observant.
Liza got on Charla's back while Brock got on a balloon connected to Charla. When Ash went to get in, Liza stopped him.
"Come up on Charizard," she said with a smile.
Ash blinked at her before turning to his Charizard. Charizard let out a huff and looked away.
"Charizard said no" Ash replied.
Liza stared in shock and Charla said something that got Charizard glaring. Immediately the Pokemon lowered itself and Ash climbed on. Shakily Ash got onto his Pokemon's back and clung for dear life when the Pokemon took to the skies. He'd always been a spectator when Charizard took to the skies, and now he was flying with him. And there was no feeling better.
"Is it always so exciting up here?" Ash asked in awe. Charizard huffed but the Pokemon was smiling.
Charla led the way, much faster than Ash's Charizard, both trainer and Pokemon noted. They land just outside the gates of the Valley, distinguished by its rock formation in the shape of a giant Charizard.
The group entered the Valley and immediately noticed that the wild Charizard were much larger than Ash's Charizard.
"Perhaps it has to do with them being wild. Your Charizard stays in a Pokeball so it may have had a stunted growth compared to these ones that live in the wild" Brock theorised.
The theory made Ash feel a pang of guilt. Charizard meanwhile watched the rest of the Charizard in awe.
"I see you're interested in this place" Liza smirked, before pointing to a sleeping Charizard with her thumb. "Despite its larger size, it's the gentlest one in the Valley. Wake it and battle it, if you win you can join the Valley and train."
Before Ash could say anything, Charizard approached the sleeping Charizard. He let loose a Flamethrower but the wild one lashes out with its tail. It broke through the Flamethrower and smacked Charizard into a wall.
"If nothing else, I'd give your Charizard points for being stubborn" Liza commented, watching Ash's Charizard try again.
"When he was a Charmander, his original trainer abandoned him and almost killed him" Ash started, gaining Liza's attention. "According to the trainer, Charmander wasn't strong enough. Charmander was, the trainer just didn't know how to train it. Similar to the next Charmander the trainer tried to raise but failed and left behind. I have that one too back at Professor Oak's Laboratory. But Charizard there has since shown a will to fight and come out the stronger one. That drive only grew when he became a Charizard."
"I see" Liza muttered, turning back to Charizard.
Charizard looked a lot worse than it did when she had turned away, but the Pokemon was persistent about waking the sleeping Pokemon.
"Charizard! It's a fire type too! You need to try something else!" Ash shouted.
Charizard stopped, turned back to Ash and nodded. The fire lizard took to the skies before diving down at full speed. The wild Charizard lashes out with its tail again, but Ash's Charizard grabs its tail and forces it to the skies with some difficulty. Ash's Charizard spins it in the air before flinging it to the ground. But the wild Charizard spreads its wings and stays in the air.
Ticked off from being awakened, the wild Charizard lets loose a Flamethrower. Ash's Charizard fires a Fire Blast in return. The two moves collide and explode. Ash's Charizard cuts in through the smoke and lands a Slash on the wild Charizard.
Both Charizard descends and stare at one another. Ash's Charizard sways his tail, the flame at the tip flashing bluish-white again. Something neither Liza nor the other Charizard missed.
"Has your Charizard's tail flame ever changed colours?" Liza questioned.
Ash turned the woman and hummed in thought for a moment.
"Only when he gets excited in battles. It's happened in a few battles before."
Liza frowned thoughtfully.
Ash and Brock were invited to spend the night at the Valley, an invitation both accepted. While Brock spoke with Liza about the Pokemon here and about their natural behaviour and diet, Ash stuck with Charizard. He kept his distance and watched his Charizard, who had garnered the attention of the Wild Charizard. They were all surrounding him, speaking in their own language.
"Charizard seems to get along quite well with the others" Brock spoke suddenly, making Ash jump.
"Yeah," Ash muttered, taking a few breaths to calm his racing heart. "The Charizard here are really strong, a lot stronger than Charizard has become with me."
"Not a surprise. Charizards are proud creatures, they'll always challenge stronger Pokemon to show who is the strongest. That will only help them get even stronger."
Ash frowned slightly.
"Liza said that if I want to, I can leave Charizard in the Valley to train. He'll surely become stronger here. But…"
Brock put a hand on Ash's shoulder.
"You must do what is right for Charizard," Brock said gently. "Why don't you talk to Charizard and decide?"
Nodding Ash walked over to Charizard. The wild ones all stared at Ash, while Ash's Charizard walked over to his trainer.
"Hey buddy" Ash smiled, gently running his hand over Charizard's neck. "Liza said you can stay and train here if you want."
Charizard's eyes sparkled but immediately dimmed. The Pokemon nuzzled Ash and the boy gently hugged him.
"You want to be the strongest right? I think you can get a lot stronger here than you can with me. These Charizards here will be great training buddies for you. Look at them all."
Ash heard the sound of a Pokemon coming out of a Pokeball and heard Wartortle's cry, soon followed by Pikachu's. The boy turned around to see the two Pokemon in question looking up at Charizard and Ash with matching grins. Charizard let out a huff, before spreading his wings and pulling the three in as if hugging them.
After a tearful goodbye with Charizard, Ash and Brock continue their journey to Azalea Town. They come across a flock of Mareep grazing in the wild when suddenly they all rush to Pikachu and start smothering him. Pikachu tries to free itself with Thunder but it only makes Mareep's fleece grow in size. A girl rushes forward and shouts for the Mreep to step away. Only one of them listens. It wasn't until a woman with a Raichu approached that the Mareep moved away, drawn by Raichu's electricity.
The woman introduces herself as Ellen and the girl as Mary (her daughter). As an apology Ellen invites Ash and Brock for lunch and the duo accepts with smiles.
Ellen and Brock talked about the Mareep, Ellen's Raichu and what she did differently to raise them, their food habits, and their likes and dislikes, while Ash and Mary talked about Mary, her dream and about the Mareep Festival her mother mentioned.
By the end of that talk, Ash decided to help Mary in preparing for the Mareep festival. And the easiest way to do so was battling. Ash paired his Cyndaquil with Mary's Mareep to train, something Ellen had not missed. But she was not the only one watching Ash and Mary. The flock of Mareep was always there, watching, cheering Mary's Mareep, and trying to siphon electricity from Pikachu. The latter one of those always a hassle that disrupted training.
In the end, Ellen deemed her daughter ready for the festival and handed her a Pokeball. Mary captured the only Mareep that would listen to her, while one of the Mareep from the flock approached Ash and wanted to join Ash's team. Whether it was because Ash had caught its attention or because it just wanted to get close to Pikachu, Ash didn't care since it was a new Pokemon for his team. Of course, Ash asked Ellen first, who consented once she saw Mareep's excitement. Ash caught it immediately after and added a new Pokemon to his team.