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Amidst the intense battle, Ash's commanding voice resonated with unyielding determination as Charizard's fiery flames enveloped the battlefield in a blaze of ferocity.

"Charizard Flame Thrower!" Ash's voice filled with ruthlessness echoed through the rooms as Charizard's blazing hot flames engulfed the entire battlefield.

"Use Dig!" Cynthia tried to be as quick as she could, and she succeeded. Garchomp dug into the ground, escaping from Charizard's fury.

Ash had a stone-cold expression, but Cynthia seemed to quite enjoy the good challenge Ash was putting up, as her smile gave it away.

"Charizard, bring it out of that damn hole! Dragon Tail on the ground!" Ash shouted as Charizard plunged to the ground from the air. His tail glowed a bright green as he backflipped, tightening Cynthia's look.

"Garchomp, now!" Cynthia commanded, and her command was fulfilled in the blink of an eye. Garchomp burst out of the ground, dodging Charizard by quite some distance into the skies.

Charizard hit the spot he was supposed to, except for the fact that Garchomp escaped. He did everything right, but the smoke and dust he stirred up while breaking the ground somewhat blinded him.

"Dragon Rush!" Cynthia commanded as Charizard, unable to see anything because of the dust, roared in frustration.

Garchomp came down covered in a purple draconic energy, easily spotting Charizard's burning tail even through the settling dust. Charizard and Ash had no time to react as Garchomp came crashing down.

"Grab h~" Ash didn't get to complete his command as Garchomp crashed down on Charizard, pinning him to the ground.

Ash knew Charizard could take that hit, and so did Cynthia. She knew how tough Ash's Charizard was.

The dust and smoke cleared away as the mighty beast roared out in fury. Cynthia enjoyed every moment of the battle, as did her partner Garchomp.

Charizard's grip on Garchomp was so strong that it stopped the sheer amount of power the Dragon Rush had. Both Pokémon were unscathed, and this battle seemed endless.

"Is that the best you can do?" Ash asked Cynthia, catching her off guard with his question.

"Certainly not," Cynthia confidently replied.

Charizard snorted flames, and Garchomp didn't pay much notice to Charizard's taunting.

"Give it your all, or it might get worse for ya, cause we're ending this," Ash suggested, more like threatened.

"Let's see, I guess," Cynthia replied, and an intense aura filled the stadium as the battle drew close to its end.

"Dragon Claw," Ash commanded Charizard, and Charizard's claws extended and glowed light green.

"Counter with Dragon Claw," Cynthia commanded Garchomp as his pointy large claws glowed green.

The two mighty beasts clashed endlessly, each trying to best the other, while their trainers enjoyed the pulsating and never-ending battle.

In a final attempt to injure their opponent, they both backed off temporarily. Cynthia still seemed confident she could win, and Ash's wish to beat Cynthia was clouding his decision-making.

"Let's finish this quickly, go now!" Ash shouted as Charizard took off towards his opponent Garchomp.

"Drago-Meteor," Cynthia ordered as Garchomp summoned energy, transforming it into an orb of sheer power. He shot into the air, and the orb burst into multiple pieces, raining from the sky, almost impossible to avoid.

Ash was caught off-guard for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and ordered, "Well, screw it, Dragon Tail!"

Charizard's roar echoed through the stadium as he smashed through the oncoming barrage to face Garchomp.

"Gotcha, Flamethrower!" Ash yelled with enthusiasm, and Cynthia looked at Ash with an amused look. She didn't even bother to ask Garchomp to dodge or do anything.

"He knows it's useless, doesn't he?" Leon, who was observing the battle from the stands, asked the group beside him.

"Maybe," Lance shrugged.

"It's Ash, so expect the unexpected," Steven added.

"Yeah, he is good at doing stuff you never knew were even possible in a battle. It would've been funny to see Pikachu's reaction whenever Ash does something dumb, though," Gary remarked, remembering how Pikachu used to react to Ash's foolish decisions during a battle.

Charizard did as Ash said without a second thought. Charizard's flames hit Garchomp point-blank without leaving a scratch.

"Wha-?" Ash suddenly realized his mistake.

Cynthia covered her mouth with her hand, chuckling a bit. After a second of composing herself, she waited for Ash's next move. She was trying to make Ash realize and teach him something he lacked very, very much—'patience.' Mewtwo had tried to do the same, but Ash had beaten him up.

Garchomp soared to the ground, forcing Charizard to follow.

"Garchomp, use Rock Tomb," Cynthia called out, and rocks came flying down on Charizard, who was still slow to pick up the pace.

'If I try to dodge, it's gonna increase the distance between Charizard and Garchomp, and my ranged attacks won't do a thing. Are we going to lose this? No matter how strong Charizard is, he can't keep going forever. He's tired, and I know it; this is bad,' Ash immersed himself in his worrying thoughts and didn't realize what was happening until it was too late.

"Huh??" Ash was shocked when a loud thud echoed into his ears. He looked up to see Garchomp gradually soaring down. Ash gritted his teeth.

"Why?? Why am I such a useless idiot? Why can't I win? Why am I this big of a letdown? Charizard is very strong, but I can't make use of his strength. Maybe that's why they all died; they suffered to death under this useless fool," Ash's head filled to the brim with negative thoughts, and he felt like he was going to crumble from within.

"ASH, WHAT'S WRONG?? ANYTHING BOTHERING YOU??" Cynthia raised her voice with a concerned tone.

"Something's off here, don't you think?" Lance asked, keeping his Pokéball drawn.

Steven looked a bit worried, but Leon sat calmly, watching Ash, who had knelt down and was punching the ground uncontrollably. Charizard wasn't moving either, and both had their eyes closed, increasing the concern for them even more.

"There's no way just a normal Rock Tomb knocked him out, let alone for this long. What's happening?" Cynthia's concern grew, for she saw him as her own brother. The look of worry was evident on her face, and she couldn't say or ask anything.

Ash heard a voice talking to him. "You know that's not true, don't you?" The voice said to him. Ash stopped as soon as the voice spoke. A black and gold light flashed across the battlefield, and a slight silhouette of a Pokémon formed right before Ash.

"You know they all care about you, do you think they would've stayed with you if you were just a letdown? They believed in you, and they still do. Now you can either live up to it or just go die, breaking all the trust they had in you," The voice faded away after saying so, alongside the silhouette.

Ash screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, Charizard, Blast Burn, Kill him!" With a roar, Charizard's flames engulfed the entire battlefield, stunning both Cynthia and Garchomp. Everyone watching the match was kept at the edge of their seats, as none of them could understand what just happened or do something about it.

"That was strong," Lance remarked as the smoke slowly subsided. Garchomp got up from the wreckage, severely injured, and collapsed on itself.

"Look at Ash, he's acting weird," Gary exclaimed as he looked at Ash, whose arms were twitching, and he seemed out of character. Gary ran out of the room towards the battlefield.

"Charizard, Flamethrower!" Ash ordered, and without a moment's delay, the attack went off, but its target wasn't Garchomp; it was going towards Cynthia.

"Blastoise!" Gary almost screamed and threw his Pokéball towards Cynthia just in the nick of time for Blastoise to get Cynthia out of the range of the attack.

"Are you out of your mind, Ash?" Gary yelled at Ash. The reply wasn't given by Ash; instead, Charizard's fiery flame was what came at him. Gary narrowly escaped with slight burn marks on his arm.

"Steven, secure Cynthia, and Lance, keep Charizard busy till I take care of Ash," Leon got up from his seat and left his coat behind, and the rest two followed him.

"Dragonite!! Battle time," Lance released his Pokémon. 'It must be taking the recoil right now; it won't move, now's my chance,' Lance thought.

"Dragonite, use Whirlpool," Lance commanded, and Dragonite summoned a huge swirl of water, sending it towards Charizard.

"Charizard, charge in!" Ash spoke in a harsh voice, something that had never happened before. Charizard took off, flying right through the whirlpool, leaving Lance speechless. "Dragonite, get out of the way and use Water Pulse," Lance commanded, and Dragonite did so, but Charizard just wouldn't stop.

"What the hell is wrong with that thing??" Lance experienced tension in a battle for the first time in a long time. "Use Thunderbolt," Lance tried his best.

"Are you okay?" Steven asked as he helped Cynthia get back up. "Yeah, I'm fine, but I don't think he is," Cynthia said as she returned Garchomp to its Pokéball.

"Lance isn't going to last long against that mad beast, let's get you out of here," Steven pushed Cynthia towards the exit and led her away. "You keep going, I'll go help Lance out," Steven said, leaving in a hurry.

"Metagross, Meteor Mash," Steven commanded his partner.

Metagross and Dragonite teamed up to stop the rogue beast's rage. Ash stood still with his eyes glowing with hatred, and his mind was out of this world. His fight wasn't against anyone from this world; it was against someone or something no one knew anything about. He was trying to prove that he was worth the sacrifice of his Pokémon. He was trying to become something that just couldn't be stopped.

"Ash, you moron, snap out of it, you IDIOT," Gary screamed from the stands.

Ash regained consciousness for a moment, hearing the pained scream of his friend. Guilt overcame him, and he was unable to do anything. "Chariz-" Ash's words couldn't be completed as Leon hit him right on the back of his head with a wooden plank, knocking him out in the process.

"Why did you do that?" Cynthia questioned as she came running over to Ash's side.

"Lookout," Gary screamed at Leon and Cynthia. They looked up to meet the fierce face of Charizard.

"Lance, do it," Steven said.

"Dragonite, Thunder Punch," Lance's Dragonite flew right towards Charizard, who didn't bother protecting himself. He was trying to make sure Ash was safe. Dragonite's attack connected, and Charizard was thrown off course right into the hands of Steven to finish it off.

"Meteor Mash," Steven knocked Charizard out cold and dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"Why did you have to knock him out like that?" Cynthia questioned Leon like a protective sister.

"Did you see what he caused?" Leon snapped right back.

"But still, he's just a kid," Cynthia argued.

"You two, I'd say first we take care of them, then argue," Lance suggested, and Cynthia gave Leon a final glare.

They took Ash and Charizard to treat them. Ash was laid on a bed with a bandage wrapped around his head, covering his right eye. Charizard was kept under the care of Brock.

"What do you think happened then?" Steven asked everyone who had been sitting in the same room where Ash was still sleeping.

"Whatever happened there has taken a huge toll on him. His pulse was just above zero when you brought him in," Brock explained.

"Cynthia, what did you see? Anything in particular?" Lance asked.

Cynthia thought for a bit before replying, "I don't know if it was just a hallucination of mine or if it was true, but right when Ash's Charizard released that blast, I saw a lot of Pokémon surrounding Ash as he screamed to attack, no... he said to kill him." Cynthia's words left a bit of tension in the minds of everyone.

"Kill? Kill who?" Gary asked.

"I don't know," Cynthia replied.

"Do you remember what Pokémon were there?" Leon asked.

"It wasn't very clear, but I am sure there were many of them," Cynthia said. "I think you should take some rest; it's probably just your hallucination. We all watched the battle, but none of us saw it, so take some rest," Steven said, thinking logically.

'The Ash I know can never even think of hurting someone, let alone killing someone. What's gotten into you, my friend?' Brock thought to himself. "Everyone, I think you should let him rest up for now; we can ask him everything once he's up and fit," Brock said to everyone, and they agreed with him.

Everyone, except Brock and Cynthia, left. "Aren't you going?" Brock asked. "I think I'll stay beside him for now," Cynthia said.

"Did you really mean it when you said you saw Pokémon beside Ash?" Brock asked, and Cynthia nodded. "It must've been his Pokémon," Brock said with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes. "How do..." Cynthia couldn't say anything back as Brock reminisced.

"Even death can't pull them apart; they will always be there for him, just like he was there for them," Brock said with a contented smile, and Cynthia didn't say a word because she didn't know what to say.

"Very well, I'll go check on Charizard; please take care of Ash till I get back," Brock said. "Sure," Cynthia said.

"I'll always be there for you; you can tell me anything!" Cynthia whispered in Ash's ears.

"Don't make promises that won't be easy to keep," Ash remarked from his bed.

"Uhhhh," Cynthia was left speechless for a moment, but she smiled and told him, "It won't be that hard. Besides, without challenges, life won't be worth living, will it?" The question intrigued Ash.

"Maybe you are right, no, no, no, you are right," Ash laughed to himself.

"Ash, does your head still hurt or something?" Cynthia asked him caringly. "Of course, it does; he did hit really hard," Ash said, and Cynthia caressed his bandaged forehead.

"You know what? You're acting like my Mom now," Cynthia blushed at Ash's remark. "No, I'm not," Cynthia defended herself. "Yes, you are," Ash teased, grinning.

"Why are you two arguing?" Ash's mom entered the room with Brock in her wheelchair. Brock looked at Ash.

"We weren't arguing, but Cynthia was acting a bit too much like you, so I pointed it out to her," Ash explained. "No, I wasn't. He's lying," Cynthia said. "Oh, come on, you were," Ash argued back. Brock sweatdropped as he totally wasn't expecting Ash to get back up so soon and start arguing.

"What's so wrong about that?" Delia asked. "The only thing is, it's weird seeing her act like that," Ash replied. "......." Cynthia didn't say a thing.

"It's not weird; she just took care of you in my absence. I see nothing wrong about it," Delia said in an ultimatum tone, and Ash shut his mouth.

"Cynthia, can I talk to you alone for a bit?" Delia requested, but Ash interrupted before Cynthia could reply. "Hey, I'm the one who's hurt, and you want to talk to her, why??" Ash whined like a child. "Stop being such a child, Ash; grow up," Delia raised her voice, and Brock and Cynthia sweat dropped. "Now go sleep," Delia said in a threatening manner. Ash didn't utter a word back.

"Now, where were we... ah, can we talk?" Delia said calmly again.

'Its surprising how she can speak in a mad tone and then switch to a sweet tone in the blink of an eye, just like how my Mom used to be,' Cynthia thought to herself.

"Hello?" Delia asked again as Cynthia was kind of spacing out. "Oh, yeah, sure, we can talk," Cynthia replied. "Great," Delia replied in a sweet tone.

Chapter done~~~~~~~~

What do u guys think Delia has to say to Cynthia??