"Charmander! Char!"

The lizard Pokémon, who sat on Ashley's lap, shouted out, as it began to cheer for Trevor's Charizard, who had made his appearance on the battlefield below.

Ashley giggled at her Pokémon's response to its father showing up on the field. "You're excited to see your daddy battle, Charmander."

The lizard Pokémon nodded to the little girl, as it turned back to watch the battle and begin cheering for its father, so was Ashley.

"Go daddy! Go Charizard! You both can do it!" The little girl shouted out, as she cheered for her father.

As for the rest of the group, most of them were shunned by the flame Pokémon's power, expressed through its roar.

"There he is," Max began his statement. "Trevor's ace Pokémon."

"I'll say," Clemont responded. "Those two have always been together from the start."

"Yeah," Brock replied as he viewed the battle below. "It'll be interesting to see what Aaron does to combat against that Charizard."

Brittany turned to Serena, who sat next to her, and noticed a worried look in the Kalos Queen's eyes

"Hey there," Brittany said as Serena turned to look at her friend, sitting next to her. "You worrying about your boyfriend down there?"

Serena nodded, before replying. "Yeah, a bit."

Brittany grinned at her friend's response. "Don't worry about him. I'm sure Aaron can deal with Trevor's Charizard; after all, he has one too."

Serena gave a small smile to Brittany's remark before they both turned back to watch the battle, below, start up again.

---

Ash gazed down upon the mouse Pokémon and noticing sparks flying off of its cheeks. Pikachu really wanted to battle against Trevor's Charizard, as it had lost it before. Pikachu looked up, at his trainer, with a determined and serious look in its eyes.

Lucario noticed this too, as he turned to look at Ash, before saying, "Master, it seems that Pikachu really wants to battle that Charizard."

Ash turned to his Lucario and shook his head, before answering, "Yeah, I know, but Pikachu may have to wait for that rematch."

Pikachu was shocked at his trainer's response, as it gave a frustrated grunt towards that decision.

"Sorry, buddy," Ash stated as he turned to look back on the battlefield, in front of the trio. "If the rest of our team can't take down Charizard, then I'll use you next."

Pikachu felt nervous about that strategy, but he agreed to go along with it.

Ash smiled at the mouse Pokémon, for understanding his decision, before gazing back to his Staraptor. There was a concerned look in his eyes, as the predator Pokémon was heavily breathing for air, while looking exhausted, especially after its battle with Braviary.

I know Staraptor took some hits from that last battle. I just hope we could at least inflict some damage to Charizard before Staraptor goes down. Ash thought as he looked at his opponent, across the battlefield, who was waiting for him to attack first.

"So, Aaron, what's your plan in dealing with my Charizard here?" Trevor questioned the masked trainer, standing across from him, as his face expressed curiosity.

Ash gives a grunt, before calling out the first attack, of the round, "We'll attack head on! Staraptor, Aerial Ace!"

The predator Pokémon obeyed its trainer's command, as it started to fly towards its opponent. It does backflips in the air, then dives down at the flame Pokémon, as Staraptor's body became surrounded by white streaks. However, Charizard doesn't try to dodge the incoming attack. It's just standing still, waiting for its opponent to get closer to the fire type.

"Here we go, Charizard!" Trevor yelled as the predator Pokémon got closer to his loyal partner, and then, he gave Charizard a command. "Now, catch it!"

Charizard extended his arms out, as the bird got closer until he caught both wings. When he did, the flame Pokémon was pushed back, a little; however, it managed to stop the attack from hitting it directly, as the white streaks, surrounding the flying type, vanished. The flame Pokémon had the predator Pokémon, right where he wanted it to be.

Both Ash and Staraptor gasped in horror and shock towards Charizard stopping their Aerial Ace, with his own bare hands. Trevor smirked, before calling out the next attack.

"Alright, use Thunder Punch," Trevor responded calmly.

Charizard removed one of his hands, which were holding onto Staraptor's wings, as it becomes a fist. All of a sudden, the fist became surrounded by yellow sparks, which grew into a ball of electrical energy. Charizard then releases his other hand, as he executes an uppercut punch, underneath the predator Pokémon's chin, sending Staraptor flying up into the air.

There were sparks flying around the flying type, which prevented it from moving a muscle. Charizard then flies up to the altitude, where the defenseless predator Pokémon had flown up to, before hitting it with another Thunder Punch. That second punch sent Staraptor crashing into the ground, with great force, causing a cloud of dust to form, which covered the spot, where the predator Pokémon crashed.

As the dust settled, they revealed an unconscious Staraptor. Ash stared at his fallen Pokémon, with horror in his eyes, before returning it back to its Pokéball for a well-deserved rest, as well as praising the predator Pokémon for its hard work and effort during the last battle. As he grabbed his next Pokémon, Ash looked back at Trevor, who was smirking about his win just now.

"So Aaron," Trevor responded, as his eyes made their way towards the masked trainer, with a calm, yet serious, look in them. "Who will you call upon to fight my Charizard now?"

Ash, while still looking at Trevor with frustration in his eyes, was thinking about his next Pokémon real hard. If I could get Leech Seed to work on Charizard, it'll weaken Charizard, throughout the next battle. Although Venusaur would be at a disadvantage here, it just might be worth it!

"Venusaur, I need your help again!" Ash shouted out as he threw his Pokéball into the air, with the seed Pokémon, appearing in front of the masked trainer.

The grass type still looked tired after its battle against Jolteon.

"I know you're feeling tired right now, Venusaur, but I need you to stay strong for one more round!" Ash stated to his loyal Pokémon, as he responded back with a nod and roar.

"Use Leech Seed!" Ash called out his attack.

Just as the seed Pokémon was about to attack; all of a sudden, yellow sparks of electricity were flying off the grass type's body, making it hard for it to move or attack.

Perfect timing. Trevor thought as he noticed Venusaur struggling to make its move.

Ash was shocked at the sight of his Pokémon not being able to move a muscle. His thoughts were beginning to panic, as he ground his teeth, out of frustration. Venusaur's paralyzed?! How the hell did he get paralyzed?!

Ash gasped in shock, as he realized what happened. He remembered that before Venusaur fired its Solar Beam to defeat Jolteon, the lightning Pokémon fired a Thunder attack towards Venusaur, which might have caused Venusaur to become paralyzed. Of course! Jolteon's Thunder paralyzed Venusaur! But if Venusaur can't move a muscle, then that makes him a sitting duck out there for-!

"Flamethrower! Go!"

Trevor's command caused Ash to snap back into reality. He stood there, motionless, as he watches his loyal seed Pokémon being engulfed in flames, while it's screaming out in pain.

"Venusaur! NO!" Ash screamed out, just as the flames, engulfing the grass type, vanished and the seed Pokémon collapsed to the ground, with swirls in its eyes.

Ash was horrified to see one of his original Pokémon get defeated, so quickly. A red light hit the knocked out Venusaur, returning it back to its Pokéball. Ash then praised his loyal Pokémon for its hard work and effort in its previous battle.

Ash then gazed towards Trevor's Charizard, as it lets out a victory roar that echoed through his head. In response to the roar, Ash gave a frustrated grunt, while his eyes still express determination, despite having lost two Pokémon in a row.

Trevor's Charizard may be strong, but that doesn't mean it's invincible!"He thought as his eyes then turned towards Trevor, who was chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Ash questioned the chuckling trainer, across from him.

"I can't believe that you would call out a Pokémon, who was clearly at a disadvantage, just to use one specific attack!" Trevor shouted out, as Ash let out a grunt.

"I figured that your Venusaur may have Leech Seed as one of its moves." Trevor began to explain. I knew that you were going to use that move if it went up against my Charizard or Mewtwo. To make sure that wouldn't happen, I was hoping that Venusaur would get paralyzed from one of Jolteon's electric attacks, and luckily for me, it did happen! Now, you've lost one of your strongest Pokémon, Aaron! What will you do next?!"

Ash reached down and grabbed a Pokéball, which contained his third Pokémon, before looking back at his opponent, while grinning.

"Simple," Ash began his response. "Fight fire with water! Samurott, I choose you!"

The masked trainer tosses his Pokéball, and from it, out came a quadruped, blue, sea lion-like Pokémon. It had two pairs of pointed teeth, one in the upper jaw and one in the lower. Long, white whiskers extended from its snout and head. It had a red nose and eyes. On the back of its head, is a large, rounded beige helmet-like shell, with spikes, and a spear-like pointed protrusion in the front. A dull bluish-gray seashell-like carapace covers its underbelly, while its limbs are covered with beige, sectioned bracer-like coverings, which seemed to be comprised of seashells. The forelimbs' bracers are actually swords called seamitars. The lower two segments, of these bracers, are the scabbards for the two swords, while the upper segment and spike make up the seamitar and its handle. Samurott possesses three black digits on each limb and a fin-like, splayed tail with the innermost section being beige. Its cry signaled his opponent that it's ready for battle.

"Hydro Cannon! Go!" Ash called out his first attack.

"Sunny Day!" Trevor countered, which puzzled Ash in why Trevor called out that attack.

Charizard's body became surrounded in golden energy. He then raises his head up towards the air. From its mouth, it fires multiple golden, ring-shaped energies into the sky, which caused the sky to become sunny and clear.

However, that didn't seem to help the flame Pokémon out, as Samurott opened its mouth. Then, a glowing light blue ball of water appeared, in front of Samurott's mouth, and the formidable Pokémon fires it towards Charizard. The water attack made contact with the fire type; however, it only pushed the Kanto starter back a little. It seemed that it didn't take much damage, despite it being super effective against it.

Ash and Samurott gasped in shock, as they just witness their powerful attack not having inflicted a huge amount of damage to the fire type.

"But how? Charizard was supposed to have taken a lot of damage from that attack!" Ash asked, with a dazed look on his face, as Trevor started to give him a response to that question.

"Well, you see, Aaron," Trevor began his explanation. "Sunny Day not only increases Charizard's fire type attacks, but it also weakens all water attacks!"

Ash ground his teeth, out of frustration, as he realized that all his water attacks will be weakened, while Sunny Day remains active on the field.

"Not only that," Trevor continued. "It allows Charizard to use this attack, without the wait! Charizard, use Solar Beam!"

"Quick Samurott! Block it!" Ash countered.

Samurott proceeds to take out his seamitars and formed an x-shaped with them, across his chest, as Charizard fires a white beam, from his mouth, towards the formidable Pokémon. The beam collided with the seamitar, as they tried to prevent the beam from hitting their user. However, the result of the seamitars blocking the beam causes the sea lion-like Pokémon to slowly be pushing back a bit, as it struggles to overpower the grass type attack.

"Hang in, Samurott! You can do it!" Ash shouted out while encouraging his water type on.

Samurott managed to redirect the beam towards the side of the stadium wall, which it hits instead. However, as soon as the beam hit the wall, Samurott turned and noticed his opponent was missing.

"Huh? Where did Charizard go?!" Ash asked as he and his water type began to frantically search for the missing flame Pokémon.

---

The group was also puzzled on the whereabouts of Trevor's Charizard, as they too were looking for him.

"Where the heck did that Pokémon disappear to?" Bonnie questioned, hoping for an answer from someone, in the box. Eventually, someone did answer.

"He's hiding!"

The group turned to Ashley, who was answered Bonnie's question, as he held an innocent smile across her face.

"What do you mean, Ashley?" Misty asked Trevor's daughter, with a curious look in the water trainer's eyes.

"Well," Ashley began to explain. "Since the sea lion, down below, had to focus on not letting that beam hit it, it wasn't paying any attention to daddy's Pokémon, as it flew up high into the sky, and is preparing a sneak attack."

Everyone, in the box, seemed to agree with the 3 ½-year-old girl's theory. All of a sudden, Trevor's Charizard, as it's going in for a dive, passed by the group, in the elite box.

Serena was the only one that noticed one of the flame Pokémon's fists was surrounded by yellow sparks and Aaron didn't seem to notice it from above.

"AARON, ABOVE YOU!" She shouted out, hoping that Aaron would hear her.

---

Ash managed to hear Serena's comment but was confused by it. "Above? What did she mean by-?" Suddenly, Ash looked up and noticed the flame Pokémon descending down towards Samurott, as it's about to use Thunder Punch on his puzzled opponent, with hopes of finishing off the water type right now.

"SAMUROTT! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" Ash screamed, at the top of his lungs, hoping for his Pokémon to quickly dodge the incoming attack from above.

However, it was too late. Just when the formidable Pokémon was about to quickly move out of position, Charizard suddenly appeared right above the water type. The fire type then slammed Samurott's head with a punch that was covered in a ball of electrical energy. The attack slammed Samurott into the ground, causing the ground, underneath the sea lion-like Pokémon, to crack.

After the attack, the formidable Pokémon seemed to be still standing. However, once Charizard flew back to his trainer, everyone knew that the round was over. Just like that, Samurott collapsed to the ground, with swirls appearing in its eyes.

The sight of Charizard descending down sneakily, from the sky, and the image of the flame Pokémon striking the head of his water Pokémon with one of his fists, gave Ash the chills. He gazed at his knocked out Pokémon, while his features were in shock and awe at the brutality that just occurred.

He returned Samurott back to its Pokéball, before thanking and reassuring the fallen Pokémon that it did the best it could out there.

Ash then turned back and looked at Trevor, who was rubbing underneath his Charizard's chin, which made the flame Pokémon happy, and telling his partner that he did a great job out there. Ash smiled at this interaction between trainer and Pokémon; however, as Trevor returned his partner back to its Pokéball, his expression changed to a serious tone.

"You know, that was sneaky! I didn't expect that from someone like you!" Ash complimented, as Trevor turned and gazed at the masked trainer, with a smirk across his face.

"Thanks, Aaron," Trevor responded. "After all, you can't judge a book by its cover. Am I right?"

"Yeah. You're right." Ash stated as his platform descended down, while the ref was calling for a 15-minute intermission so that they could clean up the battlefield.

---

The group felt surprised and shunned by Serena's sudden outburst, as she tried to warn Aaron about the sneak attack from above. The performer took deep breaths, as she tries to calm down. She then turned and noticed the stunned looks on everyone's faces, as they were focusing on her, especially.

"What?"The confused performer asked her group of friends.

"Nothing. It's just that-" Clemont began to say his statement, before being interrupted by his younger sister, who finishes his thoughts.

"We've never seen you shout like that before."

Serena was shocked and embarrassment towards her outburst, that happened right in front of her friends. She gave a nervous chuckle and her face turned red.

"You feeling alright, Serena?" Brittany asked her performer friend, as she helps the embarrassed performer sit down in her seat while comforting her friend. "You're worried about Aaron, aren't you?"

Serena nodded, before responding, "Yeah, but only a bit. I'm glad that he's at least focusing on the battle, this time, unlike his last match."

"Yeah." Brock responded to Serena's comment, "Aaron does seem to be focused on the battle here; however, he's currently behind by one Pokémon, right now."

"I guess Trevor might be a bit too strong for Aaron," Dawn stated.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, guys," Brittany responded. "It does look like Aaron is losing right now, but that could change in the next round. Nobody can a predict a winner by that's the score is now, all that anyone can do is hope that the person, who they're cheering for, can somehow make a comeback, after the break. We'll just wait and see what happens after intermission."

Everyone nodded, except for Lance, who was staring down at the battlefield. He was deep in his thoughts. Ash, you better have a plan, to get yourself out of this, before you lose your only chance of facing Giovanni, in the final round, and getting back your life. You said you'll give me a demonstration, so where is it?