+"Sizzle—" Thunder clashed with water, golden lightning and deep blue water splashed everywhere!
"It even knows Thunder Punch; this Charizard really knows a lot of moves!" Lorelei exclaimed once more, as the Charizard hadn't shown skills like Thunder Punch during its previous battles.
Judging from the speed and precision of Charizard's Thunder Punch now, it didn't seem like a recently learned move but rather one honed to perfection. Where on earth did he find the time to train moves, six attributes, and its level all at once?
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It's not that Pokémon can't develop comprehensively, but comprehensive development requires time. And what Ash lacks most is time. Training one such Pokémon in just over half a year is already incredibly unbelievable, yet Ash doesn't have just one such Pokémon!
Thunder Punch collided with Razor Shell, and the two sides were once again evenly matched. The power of thunder countered water, but Cloyster ultimately had a higher level. Plus, its Water-type move was a STAB move, so even facing the countering thunder, it could still press the advantage.
However, Charizard had specifically trained this Thunder Punch to deal with Water-type Pokémon, and its proficiency was high enough. Thus, they ended in a draw—no, saying it was a draw, Charizard was actually at a slight disadvantage.
If one looked closely, they could see some sharp, blade-like cuts on Charizard's fists, caused by the water power of the Razor Shell.
This indicated that Charizard's Thunder Punch couldn't completely block Cloyster's Razor Shell.
In reality, without using Fire-type moves, Charizard still couldn't face Cloyster head-on. If Charizard had genuinely reached the early Champion-level on its own, then even using the non-STAB Thunder Punch in a direct confrontation wouldn't put it at a disadvantage—it might even overpower the opponent!
Because Charizard's dual attack stats were a solid S-rank.
But now, Charizard had only reached the early Champion-level by relying on Ash's power. Forget about fighting above its level; if it weren't for its four attributes reaching S-rank, Charizard's strength probably wouldn't even reach the early Champion-level.
Forcibly elevated levels ultimately don't belong to oneself. Levels like Superior, Professional, and Gym could be controlled immediately after being raised, but at the Champion-level—the difference in energy levels is not insignificant.
Even though Ash used Aura Fusion multiple times after Charizard reached the Champion-level to help it adapt to the Champion's power, Charizard still struggled to control this energy. Being able to barely exhibit early Champion-level strength now was already no small feat.
If stacked with the divine power of Sacred Fire, its strength could surpass the early Champion-level. But using other moves would pale in comparison.
Plus, Cloyster's defense is notoriously strong, and Lorelei had Cloyster use Withdraw for defense once, making it extremely disadvantageous for the Close Combat oriented Charizard.
The best choice was to use long-range fire attacks for a guerrilla tactic against it. After all, Cloyster's types are Ice and Water. Fire-type moves aren't super effective against Cloyster, but they aren't not very effective either.
But neither Ash nor Charizard wanted to do that. Close Combat was their style. If they abandoned that and constantly used hit-and-run tactics, winning just wouldn't feel satisfying.
"Are you okay, Charizard?"
"Roar!!"
"Great! That's the spirit! Let Miss Lorelei witness our full power!!" Ash crossed his arms in front of him, and the key stone on his wrist erupted with a brilliant light.
"Charizard, MEGA Evolution!!!"
Lorelei:!!!
Charizard's MEGA Evolution? When did Ash get a new mega stone? And it's for Charizard?
Nowadays, with the emergence of MEGA Evolution, a frenzy for finding key stones and mega stones has actually been ignited. Everyone knows the prerequisites for MEGA Evolution. The price of a single mega stone has been driven to astronomical heights, and the key stone goes without saying—it's even rarer than mega stones, with a price only higher, not lower.
Because of the public frenzy for MEGA Evolution, mega stones for many Pokémon have been unearthed, such as for the Hoenn starters, the Kalos starters, Hawlucha, Metagross, and so on.
However, among them, there hasn't been a single mega stone for the highly popular Charizard. Not one!
Charizard's cool appearance, its relatively easy acquisition method for some, and its ease of training have earned it the affection of many. Plus, research shows that Charizard possesses latent MEGA Evolution genes, so it's undeniable that Charizard can undergo MEGA
Evolution.
Yet, despite such a large-scale search, no one has managed to find a mega stone related to Charizard. This is a very strange thing.
Moreover, research suggests that Charizard's evolutionary path might not be limited to just one—
Having two types of MEGA Evolution or something like that—aside from Charizard, no other Pokémon seems to have this, at least none have been discovered for now. So, for such a special and powerful Pokémon, whoever could discover its mega stone first would not only become famous but, by selling the stone, would undoubtedly become a super-wealthy individual!
The price for such a never-before-seen mega stone would be at least several times that of other mega stones!
Even so, Charizard's mega stone still hasn't appeared, not even one variety.
Yet Ash actually has one! As expected of him—
As the light enveloped Charizard, its body shape changed within the radiance. The next second, the rainbow light encasing Charizard shattered, and a Charizard in a brand-new form appeared before everyone!
The Pitch-Black Dragon—Charizard X!
Its originally orange-red body had completely turned black, its white belly had become blue, and the wings on its back had transformed into irregular, jagged shapes. Four sharp, tooth-like protrusions grew on Charizard's arms, and blue flames resembling fangs ignited on its mouth, making it look even more majestic and imposing than the original Charizard!
Behind its slender tail, the red flames had turned blue. This was due to the change in flame color caused by increased temperature. Infernape also converts red flames to blue when using Flare Blitz. But now, after Charizard's MEGA Evolution, even its normal flames could reach the blue level.
"So this is Charizard's MEGA Evolution? The change in appearance is really significant, and it's become much cooler too. Ash, when did you get Charizard's mega stone?" Lorelei nodded in praise of Charizard's appearance, then asked curiously.
"I found this on the Orange Islands, on an uninhabited island. Guess I just got lucky," Ash replied with a grin.
He wasn't lying to Lorelei, he had just omitted a few minor details.
Every time he reached an uninhabited island, Ash would use his Aura to scan the entire island. The range his Aura could cover wasn't enough to scan it directly, but by walking around, he could completely scan the whole island.
If there were any places on the island containing special energy or the like, he could find them just by scanning with his Aura.
So, for Ash, uninhabited islands were practically untapped treasure troves. On these islands, he found many pure, natural ores, medicinal herbs, and similar things that were greatly beneficial to Pokémon.
The mega stone on his Charizard was also found on one of those uninhabited islands, and what a coincidence, it was for Charizard X!
In this world, people actually don't understand the two forms of Charizard. They only detect that Charizard's genetic chain has two potential transformation directions, but in reality, the two forms represent two different growth paths.
Charizard X, the evolution form Ash is currently using, develops both attack and special attack, but when paired with the Tough Claws ability, its attack is still slightly better.
As for Charizard Y, it experiences explosive growth in special attack, and coupled with the ability Drought, it can be said to utilize the power of Fire-type special attacks to the extreme!
You can't definitively say which form is stronger. It depends on the training method and direction, choosing the evolution form that's more suitable—assuming you have a choice, that is.
Even before finding the Charizard ite X, Ash's Charizard was already developing towards the attack stat. After gaining MEGA Evolution, it was like adding icing on the cake, completely making up for the inherent shortcoming of Charizard's insufficient attack base stat.
Charizard X might not be the strongest Charizard form, but it is absolutely the most suitable form for Ash's Charizard!
Not only did it add the Dragon-type to Ash's Charizard, which already loved using Dragon-type moves, but it also gained the Tough Claws ability, which is perfectly suited for Close Combat. Overall, this boosted Ash's Charizard's overall combat strength by at least double!
"What a cool Charizard!!! Is this Charizard's MEGA Evolution? It's way too awesome!"
"Holy cow! The world's first MEGA evolved Charizard! Even Leon's Charizard can't MEGA evolve yet, right?"
"This majestic appearance, this jet-black skin, this dazzling flame—I've decided, I'm going to train a Charizard too! With looks like this, what guy wouldn't be mesmerized!"
"Exactly! Strength can be improved through training, but being cool is for a lifetime. Just for this appearance, even if this form of Charizard was weak, I'd still train one!!"
"Hey, you guys, stop dreaming, okay? Talking about training a Charizard... Can you even manage to train one? Chirping away... Don't even mention Charizard's mega stone, first show me your key stones?"
The appearance of Charizard X caused all the surrounding spectators to buzz with discussion. Some were admiring Charizard's coolness, while others set a goal in their hearts to capture a Charizard in the future.
It might be hard to judge whether Charizard X or Y is stronger, but if you ask which is cooler, the former absolutely crushes the latter. That's beyond doubt.
Whether you ask boys or girls, in terms of appearance, they would definitely choose Charizard X. The jet-black body paired with the ghostly blue flames is simply irresistible. This level of aesthetics is among the top tier of all Pokémon!
Therefore, when Charizard X first appeared before everyone, it immediately gained countless fans. Many people wished they could go capture a Charmander or even a Charizard right then and there, and have it MEGA evolve into the Jet-Black Dragon!
But quite a few people immediately poured cold water on that idea. The fact is, currently, there's only one Charizard mega stone that has appeared on the market, and that's the one belonging to Ash, who is currently on the field.
Besides Ash, no second person possessing a Charizard mega stone has appeared. And even if there were, so what? The current rarity of mega stones goes without saying. Even the most common mega stone, like the one for Beedrill, can fetch an astronomical price. To switch that to Charizard's—tsk tsk, expensive, no need to say more!
So, the idea is beautiful, but reality is cruel. If you want to obtain a Charizard mega stone, you'd better weigh your financial resources or luck. If you don't even have a key stone, then don't even dream about it.
"A brand-new Charizard. The aura it's emitting is completely different too. It seems this is the grand gift you prepared for me, Ash." Lorelei's wine-red eyes narrowed slightly as she carefully examined Charizard X. With her discerning eye, she could tell that the evolved Charizard could be described as completely reborn.
The previously somewhat balanced battle situation on the field might be broken from this point on.
"That's right. This is the final trump card that my Charizard and I prepared for this battle. We'll unceremoniously take the victory in this match. Charizard, use Dragon Claw!!" Ash excitedly waved his hand and shouted loudly.
"ROAR!!" Charizard spread its arms, roared to the sky, and a pair of slender, emerald-green Dragon Claws manifested in its hands!
This Dragon Claw was more condensed, sharper, and more powerful than the previous one!
Immediately after, Charizard flapped its wings, and its figure shot out like an arrow from a bowstring, arriving before Cloyster in the blink of an eye!
"Protect!!" Charizard's speed started Lorelei. After MEGA Evolution, its originally not-slow speed became even faster, almost leaving her no time to react.
"Hum—!"
A pale blue, transparent barrier unfolded once again in front of Cloyster. Charizard's Dragon Claw followed closely, slamming hard against it!
"BANG!!" Ripples spread across the barrier. The powerful recoil force acted on Charizard's claws, halting its forward charge.
But this time, Charizard wasn't blasted away. Instead, gritting his teeth with a fierce expression, he continued to exert force. The single Dragon Claw pressed against the Protect barrier, emitting a creaking sound.
"BANG!!" In the end, the Dragon Claw was still repelled, but there was no trace of joy on Lorelei's face. Because from the very beginning, Charizard had only used one arm. The other arm was waiting for this very moment!
"Go for it, Charizard!!"
"ROAR!!" Accompanied by Charizard's furious roar, the other Dragon Claw followed immediately, slamming onto the already dimmed blue barrier!
"BANG!!" Protect shattered!
"SCREECH!" A teeth-grating sound rang out as Cloyster was solidly hit by the Dragon Claw. The sharp claw strike left three deep gashes on its body!