"Pikapi~!"
Seeing the elderly Charizard glide down in front of Ash, Pikachu immediately leapt onto the old Charizard's shoulder. The surrounding Charmeleon and Charmander scattered instinctively, startled by the sudden burst of movement and Pikachu's presence.
"Roar! Roar!"
After a brief clash of energy with Pikachu, the old Charizard turned toward Ash and bellowed. With his Aura naturally attuned to Pokémon emotion and intent, Ash understood him perfectly.
"My Charizard isn't with me right now, and I'm not interested in fighting for your position. I'm human. Besides—" Ash gave a faint shake of his head. "You're far too old to keep up a long battle. You're no match for my Charizard anymore."
If this Charizard had been younger, it might've been entertaining. Now, it was simply unnecessary.
"ROAR!!!"
Enraged by Ash's words, the old Charizard unleashed a torrent of flames, a blazing Flamethrower aimed directly at him.
"Hmph."
Ash didn't bother dodging. With his current strength, even Mewtwo had been cornered and defeated by his hand—this aging Charizard could never threaten him.
"Amaterasu."
Zzzzzz…
The jet-black flames burst forward, colliding with the Charizard's red flame. The ordinary fire was instantly devoured, swallowed whole by the spreading black blaze. The speed of the engulfment left Liza completely stunned.
"Give up already. With your—"
Before Ash could finish telling the old Charizard to surrender, his Aura suddenly picked up multiple powerful presences.
Champions, Elite-tier, Ace-tier, quasi-Champion… nearly every strength class was present. And every one of them belonged to a Charizard, Charmeleon, or Charmander. Their vitality was unmistakably vigorous.
"Ash? What's wrong?" Sabrina asked, confused by his sudden pause.
"So that's how it is…" Ash smirked, glancing at the old Charizard. "Looks like most trainers really were fooled by you."
"What do you mean?" Liza and Sabrina exchanged bewildered looks.
"At first, I thought the Charizard here weren't anything special. But it seems I underestimated them—there's another group here."
Liza blinked. "Impossible. I've been here over four years. I've never seen any Charizard besides the local group."
"Think carefully." Ash's voice remained calm. "The food here is expensive. A portion disappears every time. And the reason you've never noticed… is because these Charizard never took you to where it really goes."
Liza froze. If so many Charmeleon were being taken in by trainers, the food supply should have decreased. Yet the quantity she purchased was always the same.
Realization hit her like a shockwave.
"ROAR!!!"
A deep bellow erupted from the molten lava below. Moments later, four or five massive Charizard burst out of the magma, each one towering and battle-scarred.
"There really are others…"
Liza stared in disbelief. Every one of these Charizard was enormous—and undeniably fierce.
"A quasi-Champion… three Champions… and a full Champion." Ash's eyes sharpened. "You must be the leader here."
"Roar!"
The scarred Charizard roared back, then lunged at Ash with tremendous speed.
"Hahaha! Good!" Ash laughed, excitement sparking in his eyes. "Show me the strength you're so proud of!"
Boom!
"ROAR!"
Ash kicked off the ground, his movements sharp and precise. His heel smashed into the scarred Charizard with enough force to make the massive dragon stagger and roar in pain. But the moment Charizard was pushed back, it twisted mid-air, using the momentum to recover. Its heavy tail whipped toward Ash like a steel club.
"Interesting—using movement like Moon Step."
Ash shifted upward with a sharp burst of air, stepping into the sky itself. The Charizard's tail sliced through the space where he had just been.
Before he could reorient, a surge of scorching flame burst from Charizard's jaws.
"Katon: Great Fireball Technique."
Hands flashing through seals, Ash unleashed a massive fireball. The blazing sphere tore from his mouth and collided with Charizard's Flamethrower, the two attacks bursting into a roaring shockwave of heat.
"Impossible…! How can a human use a Pokémon move!?"
Liza stared, utterly stunned by Ash's Great Fireball.
Sabrina, however, remained calm.
"This is part of his power after breaking through, isn't it?" She had long known Ash possessed abilities far beyond normal humans—being able to mimic Pokémon techniques was hardly surprising to her now.
"Roar!"
The scarred Charizard narrowed its eyes at Ash, recognizing him as a genuine threat after their techniques clashed equally.
Ash exhaled and understood why this dragon was so aggressive.
"So that's it… the old Charizard was your father."
Their Aura signatures were nearly identical—similar but not identical, like close blood relatives. Genetics remained a mystery, but this kind of resonance was clear.
Ash smirked.
"Is that all you've got?"
"ROAR!!!"
Provoked, the scarred Charizard erupted in fury. The flame at the tip of its tail flared violently, and fire energy spiraled around its maw.
"Dragon Rage, huh?" Ash noted, eyes narrowing with appreciation. "Good control over fire-type energy."
"Katon: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
Ash's hands blurred through seals. A massive dragon-shaped torrent of flame erupted from his mouth, roaring forward to clash head-on with Charizard's gathering attack, the battlefield igniting in a storm of blazing heat.