♛ 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝔹𝕪 𝔻𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕪 (𝔸𝕞𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘) ♛

Chapter 42: CLASH OF ICE & FIRE

"Mom… Red's hurt… What do I do…?" Serena began hyperventilating, her mind spinning from the myriad of macabre thoughts plaguing it.

'Nonono, please be okay...'

Seeing her baby girl trembling uncontrollably, Grace wrapped her into a hug, trying to calm her down.

Just then, the HoloProjector's screen turned brighter as familiar orange wings spread with all their splendour.

{ LET'S HEAT THE PLACE UP, SHALL WE? }

Charizard had entered the battle.

But what happened next had everyone's jaws agape.
__________________

"Can we get a timeout? Charizard, the usual but behind please," Ash requested.

The orange dragon nodded and shot a stream of flames onto Ash's back. Much to the audience's disbelief, the flames were lukewarm to the boy who had to deal with Charizard's excitement multiple times in the past. The flames melted the throbbing cold pain and cauterized the wounds while leaving the red vest unharmed.

'Man, it's a good thing my clothes are red, or Yellow might start bawling her eyes out if she sees the blood,' he chuckled to himself, completely oblivious to said honey blonde's current distress.

"You've gotten better at controlling your fire, Charizard. I don't have to go naked this time around," Ash quipped, prompting a nuzzle from the Flame Pokémon.

The raven-haired boy now turned towards a worried Lorelei who watched the flames behind the boy fade after doing their job.

"It's alright, Miss Lorelei! I know you didn't mean it!" he assured the woman.

"Plus, it'll be a shame to end such a fun battle this earlier, right?"

The vermilion-haired woman gave a light laugh and shook her head.

"You're correct. I'm having a great time now," she smiled.

"It's been so long since I've been driven to a corner like this."

The Witch of Frost returned into full force and showed a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Show me more, Ash Ketchum!"

{ RED'S NEXT POKÉMON IS CHARIZARD! }

{ LOOKS LIKE ITS FINALLY A BATTLE OF TYPE EFFECTIVENESS! }

The orange dragon roared as if thunder incarnate at his opponent. The black mollusc still panting from the damage it sustained from Snorlax.

"[Fire Spin]!" Ash started with a howl.

Charizard's tail flame grew larger and the starter flung it towards Cloyster. The orb of orange ignited around the mollusc and expanded into a vortex of fire.

"[Surf]!" Lorelei commanded.

In response, Cloyster summoned a large wave of water and extinguished the vortex before the flames could touch it. The two moves clashed, and the battlefield was invaded by clouds of smoke.

'This is?!' Lorelei widened her eyes at the wall of smoke.

"[Smokescreen (Fake)]! Plus…" Ash cried out.

The confused Cloyster heard a jet-like sound zooming to its direction. The next thing it knew, a pair of claws grabbed onto the front spikes of its shell. The wing beats of its opponent blew off [Smokescreen (Fake)] as if to show who it was about to be defeated by.

"Point blank [Flamethrower]!"

With that, Charizard spewed a torrent of flames onto the exposed mollusc. The flames ran rampant inside the shell and only the sizzling smoke in its wake signalled the end.