Facing Lorelei once again, Ash's first Pokémon was Charizard. The memory of their last battle and the narrow defeat that came with it was still vivid. Charizard had grown since then, and Ash wasn't here to settle for anything less than victory.
This time, Lorelei sent out Cloyster. Unlike the Glaceon from their previous match, this was one of her true powerhouses. Through his Eye of Insight, Ash could see that Cloyster's level sat at Champion-Intermediate, the weakest tier among Lorelei's team, but that meant little.
Every one of its stats had been trained to the absolute limit. Attack at S-rank, both defenses and HP at A-rank. A Pokémon like this couldn't be measured by level alone.
"Charizard, as expected," Lorelei said, unsurprised. "I had a feeling it would be you, Ash. After that last battle, it could only be Charizard."
"We've been waiting for this rematch, Miss Lorelei." Ash's voice was steady, his fists clenched at his sides. "This time, we won't lose."
In the front row of the audience, Misty and Serena sat close enough to feel the tension rolling off the field like a wave. As contestants, they'd been given the closest seats available, and right now, Misty almost wished she were a little farther back.
She had watched their last duel. Ash had come so close. He was stronger now, she could see that, but the Pokémon Lorelei had just sent out felt nothing like that Glaceon. The air around Cloyster was colder, heavier.
"Can he win?" Serena whispered.
"He won't lose in the same place twice." Misty's voice left no room for doubt. Even if Lorelei was her idol, in this duel, she was completely on Ash's side.
Something in Misty's certainty steadied Serena. She took a breath and raised her voice. "Go, Ash! You've got this!"
On the field, Ash met Charizard's eyes.
Charizard roared. The flames on its tail flared wide, burning off the chill Cloyster had brought with it.
Ash closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. Power built in his chest, quiet at first, then surging outward through the invisible thread that connected him to his partner. When he opened his eyes, the flames on Charizard's back had erupted into a fierce, rolling blaze.
Lorelei went still.
"Champion-level," she murmured. She had known about Ash's ability and had seen it push Charizard in their last match. But pushing a Pokémon across that gap into Champion territory was something else entirely.
Then there was Charizard's growth to consider. Less than a month ago it had been sitting at Peak. From Peak to Elite Four in a matter of weeks.
Even Cynthia, the fastest on record, had taken five years to build a team at that level, and she had started training at ten. Ash had done this in seven months.
She filed that away. There would be time to think about what it meant later.
For now, a Champion level Charizard was standing across from her Champion-Intermediate Cloyster. The gap had closed. This was going to be a real fight.
"Miss Lorelei, here we go! Charizard, Flamethrower!"
Charizard drew a deep breath. Then it unleashed a wall of scorching flame that bent the light around it into a brilliant, roaring arc across the battlefield.
Right from the start, Charizard unleashed a Flamethrower supercharged with Sacred Fire. Facing Lorelei, whose strength rivaled a Champion despite her Elite Four title, Ash and Charizard couldn't afford to hold anything back. They came out swinging.
A transparent barrier silently enclosed the entire arena. From within its Poké Ball, Mewtwo had already extended its power outward, shielding the audience without a word. It was necessary.
A Champion-level Sacred Fire blast wasn't just dangerous to what it hit directly. The radiant heat alone could have scorched the seats clean and reduced every piece of clothing in the stands to cinders. That was the nature of Champion-level power, and the particular terror of a God-level Pokémon behind it.
"Cloyster, Hydro Pump!" Lorelei's expression hardened.
Twin jets of water erupted from Cloyster's shells and slammed into the incoming wall of flame. The collision was deafening. A mountain of steam exploded from the center of the field, swallowing the arena whole and cutting off the audience's view entirely.
"Move collision!" Alan's voice cut through the roar of the crowd. "Both attacks met dead center and neither gave an inch! The field is completely blanketed in steam now. Who came out on top?"
Something struck Alan as odd, though. All that steam, and not a single wisp of it was drifting into the stands. It hung over the field like it was being held there by an invisible hand.
The shockwaves from the impact were rattling the ground beneath their feet, yet somehow nothing was reaching the audience. He filed the thought away before he could finish it.
On the field, Ash was already moving.
"Charizard, Dragon Claw!"
Charizard beat its wings once. The resulting gust tore through the steam curtain, and in the brief window it opened, Charizard was already there, right in front of Cloyster, claws drawn back and swinging before the mist had fully cleared.
The steam meant nothing to Ash and Charizard. Aura Power gave them sight that no amount of obstruction could block. Lorelei, for all her experience, was still working blind.
"Withdraw!" she called out, her instincts snapping into action before her eyes could catch up.
Cloyster's shells clamped shut. Its surface shimmered with a cold, steely light as its already formidable defense hardened further.
Dragon Claw connected with a sound like a hammer striking an anvil. The impact rang out across the arena. Cloyster skidded backward from the force, and when the dust settled, a thin crack had split across the surface of its shell.
The audience exploded.
"Unbelievable!" Alan's voice cracked with excitement. "Charizard cracked Cloyster's shell through a Withdraw! That's a Champion-Intermediate Pokémon with a type advantage, and Ash just took the first hit!"
It wasn't a small thing. Earlier in the tournament, Lorelei's Glaceon had been a warm-up pick. Cloyster was her real arsenal, a Water-type with a defense stat that most physical attackers bounced off of harmlessly. And yet.
"That physical strength is something else," Lorelei admitted, studying Charizard with open curiosity. "Charizard's strength is in its Special Attack. Training one like this, focused entirely on physical power, is rare. I'd genuinely like to know how you pulled it off."
"He just loves hitting things up close." Ash grinned. "Charizard, Fire Punch!"
Charizard's fist burst into flame, light dancing across its narrowed eyes, and it drove the punch straight at Cloyster.
"Protect." Lorelei's voice was calm.
A pale blue barrier materialized in front of Cloyster just in time. Fire Punch crashed into it and the flames spread outward along its surface in a ring of sparks, but the barrier held. Charizard staggered back half a step from the recoil.
"Razor Shell, now!"
The opening was small but Lorelei took it without hesitation. Twin water blades formed along Cloyster's shells, gleaming like drawn knives, and it snapped them forward. Both streaked toward the off-balance Charizard like twin bolts of blue lightning.
Ash's eyes went sharp.
"Thunder Punch!"
Golden electricity crackled to life across Charizard's fist and surged outward to meet them.