Equestria. Saddle Lake. Afternoon.
The rematch between Red and Bea continued. Previously, Bea had managed to catch up with Red. Defeating two of his Pokemon, Blastoise and Pikachu with her Machamp and Grapploct. The chances of her gaining a victory on Red were visible.
But that all changed when Red's Charizard attacked. Especially when entering into Mega Charizard X. Grapploct was down for the count in just one hit and the next victim seemed to be Falinks.
"Falinks!" Bea gasped as they had been hit with Blast Burn seconds ago. They had put up their brass shields to try and protect themselves as the smoke cleared. Upon clearing, the Formation Pokemon could be seen with severe burns. And that was to be expected considering the power of that attack.
But, even with the help of No Retreat and their defensive position, Falinks had fainted. All 6 of them had dropped to the ground, burnt with smoke coming out of them. Twilight walked over after gaining some distance from the destructive blue fire of Blast Burn. There, she saw the fainted Falinks.
"Falinks..."
"Falinks is...or I guess are?" Twilight wasn't sure how to refer to them. They were six Pokemon but they came as one unit. "N-Nevermind! Unable to battle! Charizard wins!"
"...R-Return, Falinks," Bea grumbled, recalling Falinks. The No Retreat tactic failed against Mega Charizard, unfortunately. Not what Bea was hoping for. "Thank you for your assistance."
"No way he just ignored his weakness by just headbutting the rock..." Rainbow Dash gawked. "I know Mega Evolution makes a Pokemon stronger but yikes!"
"Mega Charizard X...What a frightening foe..." Bea said to herself. Then, a smile came to her face. "Hm. I've already lost this battle, haven't I? Not even towards the climax yet. Red. You truly are something."
"..."
"It's a stark contrast to what happened during our first encounter." Bea started thinking back to when she and Red had their first battle. In her memories, it happened out in the wild as a gateway connecting to the other Pokemon World could be found. There, Red was nearby and he had Blue tagging along as always.
On that day, Red's Pokemon had defeated Bea's Pokemon. Or rather, one Pokemon against many. Bea recalled how it was mainly Charizard that took them out while the rest have just whittled down her Pokemon with gradual damage.
In that memory, she ran over to Machamp, holding her off the ground after receiving a powerful blow from Charizard. And that was when Mega Evolution hadn't been revealed. And after the defeat, while Red said nothing, Blue decided to pass on Red's words for Bea.
"You're a good trainer. But you're leaning on that line of well...prudent."
"Prudent?! I'm not..."
"Hey, I'm just the translator here. He just said that you're getting closer to it, not on it. But Red's basically saying you're taking too much pride in your strength. Being modest wouldn't hurt. But if when you by that, come and face Red any time. I know he'll be waiting without a doubt."
"I think I know what Blue meant by that back then," said Bea as her memory ended. "My pride almost got the better of me. Even when facing Leon, I never acknowledged it at all. I should've known that someone much like Leon would exist out there."
"..." Red smiled from that, also recalling that encounter they had. He then gave an approving nod to Bea. If only he said something.
"At least say something to make this all the more meaningful..." Rarity sighed, wanting Red to speak just once.
"However. I still have to take some pride in my strength and never forget how far it brought me! And how much farther it will take me!" Bea held out her next Poke Ball, throwing it. "Go! Hawlucha!"
"Hawlucha!" The Wrestling Pokemon returned to the scene. Still damaged but all the more ready for some extra action. Red opted to keep Charizard in for this. And possibly the whole way through.
"Hawlucha! Sky Attack!"
"Haw...Lu!" Immediately, Hawlucha was showing off its stronger moves. With Sky Attack being revealed as its third move. Hawlucha's body became surrounded by a gradually intensifying light blue aura. Once the aura flared up, Hawlucha flew towards the Fire-Dragon-Type at top speed. "Hawlucha!"
"Charizard!" Charizard was ready to meet it up close within the air. They both approached each other at full speed as Charizard readied a Dragon Claw. "Char!"
It started with Charizard swinging his claws, only for Hawlucha's smooth agility to kick in. It had swiftly lunged over Charizard's Dragon Claw while still using Sky Attack. Sky Attack seemed to increase its speed slight. "Lucha!" After evading the swing, Hawlucha crashed into Charizard from above. "Hawlu!"
"C-Char...!" Charizard certainly felt that one. Anyone would feel the power of Sky Attack no doubt. However, there were Pokemon that could power through it and Charizard was one of them. While he had staggered, he quickly recovered, zooming forward and grabbing Hawlucha afterwards. "Charizard!"
"Hawlu?!"
"Zard!" Charizard then descended, slamming Hawlucha into the ground. That was definite payback for what Grapploct did to Pikachu. And the impact seemed harder than what Grapploct had then.
"Lucha!"
"Charizard!" Charizard then started slamming Hawlucha on the ground senselessly. Left and right for a couple of times, damaging the Wrestling Pokemon gradually. "
"H-Hawlucha!"
"High Jump Kick, Hawlucha!"
"Lucha!" Hawlucha managed to free itself by delivering a strong kick to Charizard's face. That kick allowed Hawlucha to break free once Charizard's grip had weakened. However, the Flame Pokemon did not flinch or even move.
"Karate Chop!"
"Hawlucha!" Hawlucha, after recovering, moved in with Karate Chop. A straight chop had been sent to Charizard's head. But once again. Not a single flinch or even a stagger. "Hawlu?!"
"Zard!" Charizard's mouth then started flaring as Flamethrower was incoming.
"Dodge!" And Bea foresaw it before it could be unleashed. Acting quickly was Hawlucha, performing a stylish backflip from Charizard. And in the nick of time as Charizard had unleashed a destructive stream of blue fire.
"Hawlucha!" Hawlucha's dodging skills proved efficient in this. It had jumped from side to side, evading the blue flames in the process.
"Head in with Flying Press!"
"Hawlu-lu!" Hawlucha ducked underneath the flames of Flamethrower, before then taking to the skies. It then becomes outlined in white or orange energy, preparing to dive right in. "Haw...!"
"Char!" But matching Hawlucha in speed and catching it off guard was Charizard, flying in and grabbing Hawlucha's face, instantly interrupting and cutting off its Flying Press once he had ended Flamethrower.
"Hawlu?!"
"Zard!" Charizard had then used a super-effective move at last. Aerial Ace. Charizard had then summoned Flying Infinity Energy around his claw, making it glow as he used the force of Aerial Ace to throw Hawlucha across Saddle Lake. "Charizard!"
"H-Hawluchaaaaa!" Hawlucha screamed before being thrown a great distance. It had passed Bea, Twilight and even the rest of the trees as Charizard truly put all of his might into that throw.
"Oh!" Bea gasped as everyone turned to face Hawlucha's direction. Once the Wrestling Pokemon went past the trees, it had entered the shadows, becoming hard to see. But everyone could hear it. And they heard an impact that sounded much like a collision. One of the trees had trembled with its leaves being rustled. That was a good indicator that Hawlucha had crashed into it.
Twilight quickly flew over, ascending into the air to judge Hawlucha's current condition. Some of the leaves from the trees flew past her as the tree almost fell over. Once she got close enough, she saw a slumped over Hawlucha.
"Hawlucha..."
"Hawlucha is unable to battle! Charizard wins!" Twilight announced before seeing Hawlucha's head spin. "Oh my goodness. Are you going to be okay?"
"Lucha..."
"Return, Hawlucha." Bea walked over, returning Hawlucha to its ball. She took a deep breath, knowing that she had only two Pokemon left that were able to battle. Pangoro and Machamp. Red was still sitting pretty with 4 Pokemon still up. Bea quickly substituted the next Pokemon out, kicking the Poke Ball. "Go! Pangoro!"
"Pangoro!" Returning to the fray was her Pangoro.
"Our main objective is defeating that Mega Charizard!" Bea exclaimed, pointing at the Flame Pokemon. "Pangoro! Use Night Slash!"
"Pan!" Wasting no time, Pangoro went straight for Charizard. The Flame Pokemon stood there casually, waiting for Pangoro to approach. Dark trails streaked out of Pangoro's fist as it had delivered a strong right to Charizard's face. The attack was a direct hit, shaking the trees and ground. Some of the group closed their eyes upon this contact.
However, Charizard just stared at Pangoro with a stern look. Pangoro gasped, shocked at how well Charizard took that direct hit. Right after being stunned, an Aerial Ace from Charizard came in the blink of an eye before Bea could react. The attack had struck Pangoro's chest, making the Daunting Pokemon gasp
"G-Goro!"
"Zard!" Charizard then transferred the power of Aerial Ace into his tail, slapping Pangoro with it. The Fighting-Dark-Type had then spun around whilst being knocked back. Pangoro fell to the floor from that confounding attack. It had even been winded.
"The best thing we can do is force Charizard out for a while," Bea uttered as Pangoro got back up. "Circle Throw!"
"Goro!" Pangoro ran in, ready to grab and throw Charizard out, preparing a force-swap. But Charizard had no intention of leaving. Once Pangoro approached, the Fire-Dragon-Type took the skies before the Daunting Pokemon could even reach.
"Charizard!" After ascending, along came a Flamethrower from Charizard, shooting out those intense blue flames once more onto Pangoro.
"Counter with Night Slash!"
"Goro-Goro-Goro!" Pangoro altered the flow of Night Slash, quickly leaving Circle Throw behind. The Daunting Pokemon then started swinging its fists, sending dark crescent waves. The waves came into contact with the flames, creating a momentary struggle. The attacks cancelled each other out, resulting in an outburst that then later formed into a cloud of blue smoke.
And flying through the smoke at blitzing speeds was Charizard as he had used it to mask his movements for a bit. And upon appearing at great speeds, he had used Aerial Ace, delivering a swift and high-velocity blow to Pangoro's jaw.
Receiving a similar treatment as Hawlucha, only this time in the form of spinning and a less great distance, Pangoro had been winded, befuddled and confounded at the same time, twirling for a bit before falling to the ground.
"P-Pangoro..." Just like that, Pangoro had also fainted.
"Pangoro is unable to battle! Charizard wins!"
"Oh no! Just one Pokemon left?!" Pinkie Pie started nervously biting the pompoms.
"That's a shame.." Applejack lowered her hat, shaking her head as she was also hoping for Bea's victory.
"I'll give her this...She didn't go down as easily as I expected her to do so." Sombra commented. "But this looks to be the finale. That Red character is a fierce one. If only he was a king. Then I wouldn't be stuck with you..."
"Hehehe..." Ash merely laughed at Sombra's words, knowing that Sombra was still seething due to being stuck with Ash instead of a different king.
"Then it comes down to this," Bea said before returning Pangoro. She smiled instead of frowning, knowing that something like this was bound to happen. This was because Bea had accepted how things were already. She knew when someone was stronger than her. But that wouldn't stop her from trying. "Let this be the end. I'll at least go out with a permanent memory for you, Red!" She held the Poke Ball out.
"..." Red smirked as the wind blew in his direction, making his jacket and hair flow. Charizard snarled, exuding blue flames and blue smoke from his mouth, getting ready for the next and final Pokemon. Machamp.
"Come out! Machamp!"
"Machamp!" Finally, Machamp had returned. Bea looked at her surroundings, observing Saddle Lake for a moment. She then took a look at her Dynamax band before concluding on something.
"Dynamaxing here is far too dangerous. But, Machamp is all I need. I'll finish this battle and leave with something for myself to remember."
"Champ..."
"Machamp! Strength!"
"Champ! Machamp!" Machamp started building up her Strength instead. Flexing her muscles, Machamp's attack had increased. Afterwards, she had approached Charizard with all four arms out.
"Zard!" Charizard responded kindly by using Flamethrower, unleashing those potent blue flames that required everyone to either cover their ears or back away due to its booming sound and aggressive heat. However, Machamp had powered through it. Using brute force, she had managed to power through the destructive blue flames.
And after doing so, she shoulder tackled Charizard in the face while his mouth was still open. That certainly got Charizard as he had staggered from that. "Champ!"
"Z-Zard!"
"Ma...Champ!" Machamp continued using Strength, delivering a mighty uppercut to the Flame Pokemon right after the staggering shoulder tackle. Charizard was propelled into the air from Machamp's hit, actually showing signs of visible damage. Bea's Machamp was certainly a Pokemon that would always manage to make an impact no matter what.
"C-Charizard!" Charizard recovered in the air before diving downwards. Aerial Ace was his approach with the power going through his claws.
"Bullet Punch!"
"Machamp!" To counter Charizard's Aerial Ace, Machamp had used Bullet Punch. One of her arms met with Charizard's claw, resulting in a direct up-close clash. However, this was where Machamp excelled. Having three extra arms helped greatly as the other two arms had been thrown at Charizard from the side. The Flame Pokemon received those double blows before then being pushed back by Machamp's fourth arm. "Champ!"
"C-Charizard!" Charizard slid on the ground before unleashing another Flamethrower.
"Cross Chop!"
"Machamp!" Machamp stomped her feet on the ground before forming an X-Aura around her arms. She then used that energy to strike the azure inferno, splitting it in half.
"Strength!"
"Machamp!" Machamp then jumped off the ground after splitting Flamethrower, flexing her muscles once more while approaching the Fire-Dragon-Type.
"Char!" Charizard roared, switching to Dragon Claw and swinging both his claws at the Superpower Pokemon. However, Machamp did not enter another fist clash with Charizard. Instead, Macham had grabbed onto Charizard's claws the moment he swung them. "Zard?!"
"Machamp!" Once grabbing his claws, Machamp had then put Charizard in a grappling position, getting behind him and performing a Full Nelson grapple. In that instance, Charizard had been restrained. "Ma!"
"No way!" Gold gasped.
"Is Machamp actually going to beat Charizard?!" So did Spike as the group were surprised at how well Machamp was doing against Mega Charizard X. Especially Red's. So far, Machamp has gotten off the most attacks on Charizard, dealing visible damage to him.
"...!" Red knew that this could be trouble. So to act quickly, he pointed to the skies. And Charizard knew what to do.
"Charizard!" Charizard then took flight, managing to use his wings despite Machamp's grapple. He made a shockwave upon ascending as he and Machamp were now high above Saddle Lake in a few seconds.
"Champ!" But Machamp would not let go. She kept her grip no matter what, even tightening it. But upon ascending, Charizard had then used Blast Burn while in the air. Pulsating from his body was a blue light. That light then transformed into a vortex of fire that had quickly covered not just Charizard but Machamp. "Ma?"
Right then and there, the vortex of fire intensified, gaining the usual ferocity of Blast Burn as it had burst around them both. Charizard was fine when the flames intensified, but Machamp felt the pain no doubt. "M-Machamp!"
"Charizard!" Charizard then started rotating in the air, allowing the vortex of flames to spin even more as the intensify of the flames had then lit up the area. Saddle Lake had a vibrant blue tint as everyone watched the spiralling flames and how they roared.
"Gh...!" Bea closed her eyes from the aggressive tint. "Machamp!" She shouted for her partner before seeing the flames descend. Everyone backed away as Twilight cast a protective shield around her and Espeon. The azure flames crashed into the ground, causing a dome-shaped explosion of blue fire as it then transformed into a blue fire pillar that shot into the sky.
The explosion subsided with a crater larger than the rest forming. The smoke cleared as the barrier Twilight made had been lowered. She looked over at the blue smoke and the crater made from it. Within it, a brighter blue colour could be seen glowing inside. The visage of Charizard was also visible. Once it had been cleared away with Twilight's magic, Machamp could be seen on the ground, deep in the crater and fainted.
"Machamp..."
"Machamp is unable to battle! Charizard wins! Which means that the winner of this Pokemon Battle is Red!" Twilight announced as the battle had come to an end.
And after all that, many of them could only applaud at that amazing battle. Granted, it was a tad bit one-sided but enjoyable nonetheless. Even Pinkie Pie and a few others who were rooting for Bea chose to applaud this.
And Bea had accepted this loss, walking over to her ace. Charizard's Mega Evolution had also ended as he reverted to his normal form. "Machamp. Well done. You fought well there. But it seems that we have ways to go still."
"Champ."
"Bea! You were great!" Pinkie Pie appeared behind Bea in a flash, hanging on her shoulder. "Shame you didn't win but you went crazy at the last round!"
"Thank you, Pinkie Pie." Bea thanked her, grabbing the earth pony and hugging her. "And all of you for supporting me."
"Whew...that got intense at the last moment." Gold chuckled, getting off of the log seat. "Great battle as always, Red. Never ost your touch for a second."
"..." Red lowered his hat before returning Charizard. The silent trainer then went up to Bea, standing before her. Bea faced Red, raising her head due to the height difference. But Red wasn't that tall. He was only slightly taller than Ash and Bea at best. Afterwards, he held his hand out, wanting to shake Bea's hands.
"Oh. T-Thank you, Red." Bea stuttered before granting that handshake. "I'm glad to have had this rematch with you. Even though I lost, I swear I won't lose upon our next encounter. Whenever it may be."
"..." Red could only give a thumbs-up to that. He would be waiting for Bea.
"I'm also happy to have taken that advice from you back then. I'll admit, I was scared at first. But if it wasn't for Blue translating it for you, I'm not sure what I would've done."
"..."
"Look at that." Gold managed to know what Red had said without even letting a word out. "Looks like you've taught Red something."
"I have?" Bea looked over at the Johto representative.
"Look at you, Red. Learning new stuff every day." Gold chuckled, patting Red on the shoulder. "Wish I did the same but...that battle on Mt Silver happened so fast for that kind of stuff to happen."
"One Pokemon Trainer to another then. Thank you again, Red." Bea bowed to him, showing her absolute respect to the mute trainer. Red didn't do bowing but he took the respect either way.
"..." Just then, Red turned to Ash, giving a smile. With just that look on his face, Ash knew what Red meant.
"Yeah. I hear ya, Red." Ash nodded in understanding as all of his friends locked their heads onto him with confused faces. Even Sombra did the same.
"You can?" They each said.
"Let's have our full battle one day when it comes along. But I wanna be way stronger than I am now. And I wanna finish my battle with you too, Gold. We didn't get that far, ya know."
"True, true." Gold agreed. "Well, we're gonna sign off now. The rest of this world is ours to explore. We might bump into each other again. And-"
"..." But Red promptly stopped Gold. Before they would leave, Red wanted to do one last thing. And that involved the mute conversation he had with Vinyl Scratch earlier when returning to Ponyville.
Ponyville. Vinyl and Octavia's home. Afternoon.
There, music was playing as a courtesy of the record that Red chose. Vinyl started playing it, adding her own flair to it. And Red enjoyed it. He stood there with his hands in his pockets, bopping his head to the beat of the music along with Vinyl. He made the right choice of music.
"He may not look like it, but he's an outgoing guy." Gold spoke, standing outside of the house. "Even if he likes going solo most of the time."
"So, you're going to keep venturing Equestria, are you?" Rarity said to Gold. "You have a long way ahead of you. Be careful out there."
"Ah, we'll be fine. We've seen our fair share of dangers. Oh. But one last thing. You might wanna watch out for others. We've got some friends back in our world that found out about these gateways. There might be even more."
"More gateways, huh? That means more extra-strong Pokemon Trainers. How exciting!!" Ash cheered.
"Mhm. By the way...what about my counterpart? You said you knew someone named Ethan who was like me. Can I meet him?" Gold asked, curious about his counterpart that Ash had met once.
"Ah...T-That's gonna be tough. Sorry. I don't know where he is." Ash laughed along with Pikachu. Ethan's counterpart's current location was unknown.
"Figures..." God shrugged. "Oh well. Treat me to some of that food before we head off." Now, Gold was feeling peckish. And the best place to be was SugarCube Corner. Bea had previously been there, but she had returned to her region, taking the goods that Pinkie Pie had given her.
The visit of Red and Gold last a while until they were ready to depart. This certainly wouldn't be their last visit here as they were now willing to see more of this world and everything else that it has to offer. They had a lot of catching up to do.
Not just them, but other Pokemon Trainers that were similar to them. From familiar regions no less as the journey continues.
Chapter 664 End.