The Ash Connection
Charizard – Charicific Challenge
Leon's Charizard this. Alain's Charizard that. Red's Charizard this. Trevor's Charizard that. Kiawe's Charizard this. Lance's Charizard that.
They were all incredible Pokemon. Incredibly strong, incredibly fierce. He had the pleasure of seeing most of them battle in person, so he knew firsthand how incredible they were.
But call him biased, because he didn't think any of them could hold a candle to his Charizard. His Charizard was The Charizard of all Charizard's, of that he was certain. His was taller than Kiawe's, fiercer than Alain's, more loyal than Red's and braver than Leon's, all rolled into one package.
He tried to be humble about it, most of the time it was easy; he truly respected the strength of his opponents, it was not hard to give praise where praise was due. Many of them didn't even know about his Charizard either, his old friend was constantly going back and forth between Oak's Lab and Charicific Valley these days. He missed his mate Charla and needed to regularly reestablish his spot as Top Dragon in the valley.
That's why when Liza called him with her idea, he was filled with excitement and dread at the same time.
A Charizard tournament. An honest to Arceus Charizard tournament for Charizard trainers around the world to meet and test themselves the same way the Charizard in the valley did against each other. It was completely out of nowhere, since Liza had spent the last, however many years keeping the Charicific Valley top secret to protect it against poachers and tourists. So top secret, in fact, that she had forbidden Ash to share the name and location of the valley with just about anyone. Ash agreed, and simply opted to not bring up his Charizard in conversation if he could help it.
As such, hardly anybody knew about his Charizard, let alone where he spent his time. Brock and Misty knew, as they had been with him when discovering the valley and Professor Oak knew, as he was a trustworthy individual who was responsible for a lot of coordination with Liza herself. Gary knew the location of the valley now, after a chance run-in with Liza, Charla and his Charizard in the Johto Safari Zone. And Dawn, who he had accidentally let open his mail which contained a letter from Liza about Charizard's newest clutch of eggs.
Everybody else was only aware of vague details, if that much; he did try his best not to brag about his Charizard for this very reason.
But if Liza wanted to hold a tournament for trainers and their Charizard's? There was absolutely no way he and Charizard would sit that out.
They would show the world why his Charizard was the best, and his alone.
Battles were one on one, Charizard only, no outside power boosts. Alain couldn't Mega Evolve his Charizard, Leon couldn't Gigantamax his Charizard and Kiawe couldn't use Z-Moves with his Charizard. That left nearly all of them at a severe disadvantage.
Except his. Even against such odds, Ash was confident that his Charizard would do very well. Now, though, it felt like Ash had just been granted a huge leg up on the competition.
Still, even with such restrictions it wouldn't be easy. They were all skilled trainers, and the turnout for such a tournament proved to be a big one. It was nearly the size of a professional conference.
Ash welcomed the competition.
He and Charizard blasted through the preliminary rounds with next to no effort. They were both experienced professional battlers at this point, it almost wasn't fair to some of the people they had gone up against. But that was the name of the game when it came to tournaments such as these. And anybody worth their salt wouldn't want to be pitied by facing an opponent that was holding back. No, it was better to know where you stood.
That's why Ash and Charizard had grown closer together as well, having both adopted a similar honor system. One of mutual respect and love for the thrill of battle.
It was Kiawe that was his first proper challenge. Kiawe's Charizard, pound for pound, could lift more than almost any other Charizard Ash had met, having long since got used to working on the farm and carrying Kiawe and his family members around the islands of Alola.
But Charizard was more experienced than Kiawe himself, having been a family Pokemon first. And it showed often, with Kiawe appearing shocked more than Charizard at the outcome or use of an attack while Charizard remained calm. Or how Kiawe often expressed concern for Charizard when Charizard held no such reserves.
Though when they fought against his Charizard, they both expressed concern.
Flamethrower's clashed and Ash's Charizard quickly overpowered Kiawe's. Kiawe's Charizard took to the sky to avoid the damage, fearing the heat despite being a fire-type. Kiawe was sweating already, despite his connection to fire-types and living in the tropical humid climate of Alola. It was no match for the pure, unadulterated heat radiated by Ash's Charizard when it used a fire-type attack.
Kiawe's Charizard closed the gap, swooping in trying to use a Fire Punch but Ash's caught it with its bare hands, unfazed by the heat or the force behind the attack. Ash was reminded of Clair's Dragonair as Charizard pivoted Kiawe's Charizard, throwing it to the ground and nailing it with a Flamethrower. Kiawe's Charizard stood up as quickly as it could, but Ash's was faster and leapt forward, grabbing Kiawe's by the chest and taking off.
Seismic Toss.
Kiawe's Charizard didn't stand a chance, and Ash and his Charizard moved on to the next round.
Next was Lance's. It didn't go down as easily, but it was clear that even Lance was impressed. They traded blows a bit more evenly, but Ash's was much more tenacious. It didn't hesitate to take an attack to give one back, even locked in close-quarters combat. Lance had trained his Charizard to be a brawler, it took many people off guard and his Charizard could grapple with the best of them. Ash's, though, was holding his own and then some.
Dragon Claw's and Slash's and Fire Punches collided; Dragon Tail's thrown about with near reckless abandon. Lance's Charizard had taken one of Ash's Charizard's wings into its mouth at one point, and they did something unique that Lance had never seen before. There was no panic, no struggle to escape and no desperation in a counter-attack. It was an odd and intricate angle, too, almost no way for Ash's Charizard to grapple its way out with its teeth or claws, and with its wing half-clipped it's maneuverability was probably worse than halved.
Ash had Charizard use Steel Wing, and Lance nearly scoffed at the idea. It's wings weren't maneuverable enough to hit with that in such a position, and merely powering it up wouldn't hurt enough to force his Charizard to release. Then, Ash had Charizard use Flamethrower, aimed at the inside of the wing Lance's Charizard was attached to.
With no regard to why or seemingly its own safety, Charizard followed Ash's instructions. The metal coat surrounding Charizard's wings quickly heated up to an extraordinary temperature under the flames applied. Lance's Charizard winced at the feeling of eaten molten steel and, after a few agonizing moments, released its grip. Lance was stunned. Ash's Charizard had to be feeling the effects even worse than his own; at least one of its wings had to feel like it carried the weight of molten steel!
But the beast just turned swiftly, knocking Lance's Charizard in the face with a Dragon Tail. Lance's lunged forward, but Ash's blocked a Fire Punch with its injured wing, deflected it and then it lunged. Ash's Charizard had Lance's in a grapple now and, surprisingly, despite its injured wing, took to the skies.
Seismic Toss.
Lance's Charizard couldn't keep up either, and Ash and his Charizard moved onto the next round.
Alain served as his semi-finalist opponent. Fitting, they both supposed. Alain had fought Trevor and Red for his spot here, having earned the spot just as much as Ash. But Ash and Charizard had fought more than just Charizard and Mega Evolutions to arrive here.
The experience showed in the way they moved. Alain's Charizard seemed almost naked without its Mega Evolution glowing it up. It's moves seemed just slightly delayed, and like they were expected to have more kick behind them than they did. This led to several instances of Ash's Charizard getting too close for comfort for Alain, having unconsciously expected more damage to be dealt. Mega Charizard was heavier, too, and flew differently than base due to its wing shape.
It was clear that Alain's Charizard hadn't been pushed to its limits in base form in a very, very long time as Ash's Charizard flew circles around it. They shot at each other from the skies, Flamethrowers passing each other by. Alain was hesitant to get close after watching Ash's last battle. Without the ability Tough Claws provided by Mega Evolution, Alain wasn't sure his Charizard could out-grapple Ash's.
Still, it was clear Dragon Pulse's and Flamethrower's were getting nowhere. Less than nowhere, even, as Ash's Charizard's Flamethrowers seemed to keep overpowering his own. Ash's Charizard suddenly closed the distance, and Alain ordered a Dragon Claw almost purely out of reflex. Dragon Claw collided with Slash, but since Alain's Charizard wasn't a dragon-type at the moment it didn't have the power that he quite hoped for.
He went for his last hope. His Hail Mary play. Blast Burn.
His Charizard punched the ground, cracks opened. The flames were no longer their iconic blue that he had so gotten used to, instead they were a deep red, closer to the color of magma even. Still, the pillars of fire were intimidating to behold. Or at least they were to anyone not named Ash Ketchum.
Inferno.
Ash had used the practically useless, one-trick pony move Inferno. On the ground. It was genius really. Using it on the ground expertly cancelled out the fact that the move was, really, only 50% accurate, worse than even Focus Blast. Even if it somehow missed, it's goal would still be accomplished.
And here, the goal was simply to create a backfire. A pillar of flames tall, wide, big and hot enough to completely surround Ash's Charizard. The two giant sources of fire collided and were close enough in power to snuff each other out almost completely. Ash's Charizard launched forward, unharmed from the effects of Blast Burn or Inferno while Alain's was immobilized now, caught in the recharge period of using their most powerful and dangerous move.
It went the same as it usually did. Ash's Charizard grabbed its target and flew off, taking to the skies.
Seismic Toss.
Alain's Charizard was a worthy opponent and a top-class warrior, Ash's Charizard was just more comfortable in battle and Ash and his Charizard moved onto the next round.
Leon was his last challenge. It would be Leon, that much was fitting. They had battled a few times now, trading victories back and forth. Ash had enjoyed his time as World Monarch for two years, beating Leon in the finals twice before deciding to not compete the following year. He wanted to engage with other challenges, and Leon hadn't wasted any time reclaiming his title.
They kept in touch still, and as expected of them had numerous battles. Though not one such as this. Neither of them had the honor of engaging in a Charizard vs. Charizard match before. To say they were excited was an understatement.
Leon's Charizard was a force of nature, as usual. It had come prepared with any and every move you could possibly teach a Charizard to counter a Charizard.
Ancient Power. Dragon Pulse. Thunder Punch. Fire Blast.
There was almost nothing any Charizard could even do against that, Leon expected.
Leave it to Ash to break those expectations immediately. Dragon Pulse's were Slashed away. Thunder Punches were shrugged off. Ancient Powers were dodged expertly, hugely impressive for the hulking beast that was Ash's Charizard. Then, things seemed to start going Leon's way.
Ancient Power had given his Charizard the omni-boost, increasing every one of his stats.
It was turned around on him faster than he could even blink when Ash's Charizard began to catch and throw the rocks back manually. It gave no stat boost, but it was catching them so fast and while they were still glowing that it seemed more like Ash's Charizard was simply using Ancient Power but using the same rocks as Leon's.
This wasn't true, of course, and Ash's Charizard was just purely muscling through the act of catching and throwing each impaling stone despite its weakness to the attack. Leon was incredibly, utterly amazed at the willpower of the technique. It kept going the entire duration of the attack, not once did it falter. Only after the glow subsided and the rocks stopped forming did it seem like Ash's Charizard took a moment to breathe.
Leon struck at that moment, ordering a Fire Blast.
Ash ordered Charizard to fly straight into it. Leon couldn't even pretend to be surprised anymore, not instead of being excited. Ash truly was the best opponent he could ever ask for. Nobody made battles feel as exhilarating as Ash did.
Moments later the ploy became clear when Ash's Charizard started using Flamethrower and spinning, making barrel rolls in the air. It turned the behemoth into a flaming bullet at the speed it was flying, diving straight into the Fire Blast. It still exploded, of course, it wasn't the ideal protection and the conditions weren't as primed to use the backfire technique he had employed against Alain.
Still, it was a genius technique when the chips were down. Leon's Charizard might've been the only Charizard in the world to match Ash's in terms of pure experience. And talent, and variety, and a slew of other things even. But it became clear that Ash's Charizard had one thing that Leon's did not as it emerged from the flames, going even faster than before as it tackled into Leon's, taking it by the claws and swinging into the skies.
Leon's Charizard punched and swatted and bit at Ash's in mid-air, but Ash's refused to let go as they did loops in the sky. They plummeted to the ground, the same as a sinking feeling in Leon's stomach.
Seismic Toss.
Both Charizard's lay on the ground, scratched and bruised and burned all over. It was an intense battle between two prime members of a species, and it showed. But through it all, one rose still. Ash's Charizard weekly pushed itself onto its hands. Then, onto its knees. And finally, onto its feet.
Ash's Charizard had pure, unrivaled willpower on its side. Much like that of his trainer. And more importantly, they had each other on their sides.
Hope everyone enjoys this one! It was a ton of fun to write, I had to really try hard not to get too absorbed in the battles to keep it from dragging on to long. This series is more about the bond between Ash and his Pokemon than battles, but I wanted Charizard's specifically to blend both more than I have before.
Again, as you can see these are sort of AU-ish. Canon if you want them to be, non-canon if you want them to be. I'm trying my best to be ambiguous.