Damian walked to his side but Cross was giving him his 'pep talk' Meanwhile Ash brought Charmander close, "Hey buddy are you ready."

Charmander looked back at his old trainer Damian and was nervous, "Char"

Ash got to him and gave him a head pat, "You know if you don't want to battle you just have to say so, you must be pretty tired, and you're about to face your old trainer, there is no shame in giving up now."

Ash gave a smile and Pikachu also came forward to pat him, "Pika"

Charmander looked at Ash and Pikachu then back to Damian, then Cross, before giving a resounding, "Char-Mander"

"Alright then, tell you what if you win I'll make you something really special tonight," Ash said and Charmander looked excited and ran up to his side of the field.

Meanwhile, Damian also stepped up and pulled out a Pokeball, then looked at it for a second before throwing it out revealing a Ninetales. Cross was also behind him ready to backseat game.

Ash was looking at the scene and analyzing what he could do, Charmander was tired and Ninetales had the advantage, fire moves were out, and for a fire type it is surprisingly bulky, the only advantage he had in this situation was that he had better tactics meanwhile Damian only does what Cross tells him.

When the match started, Damian commanded, "Ninetales, try a Will-O-Wisp," 4 purple flames came out of the fox's tails and sent them blasting toward Charmander, however, they were slow, very slow.

"Dragon Claw and go nuts," Charmander's claws glowed purple as he dashed forward and started slicing the balls of fire closing the distance. He was dashing and jumping over them until he reached the fox and used the claws on his feet.

Ninetales was pushed back and Damian got Concerned, "Are you o-" but he was cut off when Cross told him something, so he straightened his back, "Get up and use Extrasensory then shoot a Shadow Ball."

The Fox got up and sent a psychic attack at Charmander that made him hold his head, then the fox raised its head, gathered a green ball, and sent it toward Charmander who was on the ground.

Charmander picked himself up and easily jumped over the green ball, but that was what Damian, or rather Cross, wanted.

"Night Shade," Ninetales got a dark aura as it shot a black beam at the airborne Charmander not letting him dodge.

Charmander got pushed back but got back up anyway and made a sound towards Ash signaling he wasn't done.

"Alright then, Smokescreen into the ground then use your tail." Charmander started spitting out black mist and disappearing causing everyone to lose sight of him, until Cross noticed a fire in the mist and commanded Damian.

"Right, Fire Blast right there," Damian said pointing towards the fire he saw, however as soon as the large fire hit they saw nothing releasing it was just an ember left as a decoy Damian wanted to get Ninetales out of there but it was too late.

Charmander jumped out from behind and hit the fox on the head with his tail glowing purple then jumped past him returning to his original position. Ninetales was still standing but barely.

Cross was getting angry that Ninetales was losing, he specifically made Damian train him in a very particular way, he grabbed Damian by the shirt and shouted something in his ear.

Once Damian was let go he got back into the battle, "Fire Spin and trap Charmander now," Ninetales sent its psychic flames out to surround Charmander trapping him in one space.

"N-now finish this Flamethrower full power." the fox started charging up a stream of fire in its mouth, meanwhile Cross was Grinning at Ash acting like he won and getting ready to say his 3rd rate villain speech.

Ash however was not worried, "Charmander let's finish this, you remember that one move we practiced."

Charmander immediately smiled knowing exactly what he wanted him to do, so he got into a stance.

As soon as the fire came out of the fox's mouth it quickly approached Charmander and everyone got worried thinking this was where it was going to end when suddenly a voice came forward.

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Charmander's claws started glowing, "Iron Dragon's Claw (Metal Claw + Dragon Claw)," Charmander Dashed through the flames and used his claws to split the fire coming at him, he was pushed back for a second before he started glowing and pushing forward, he grew larger and started dashing through the fire and the flames revealing himself as a Charmeleon.

As soon as he was through the flames he disappeared for a second and appeared on the other side of the fox, with the remaining fire almost forming wings behind him as Ninetales fell.

The stadium was silent until the sounds of Cheers erupted from the crowd, Ash got the 10th win crowning him the king of the Hill.

Sorrel and Verity also came forward, Verity jumped up and put her arm around Ash, "Wow, so that's what you have been doing, you have been practicing that and you didn't tell us."

"Indeed that battle was impressive, and Charmander, or should I say Charmeleon was very admirable."

Charmeleon was listening to the praise and was happy but didn't want to show it: (○｀3′○)

Ash finally checked his dex to see what he was working with now.

—

[Charmeleon (M)]

[(Ability: Drought) (Hidden Ability: Tough Claws)]

[Current moves: Metal Claw, Smokescreen, Dragon Tail, Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw, Iron Dragon's Claw, Slash, Flamethrower, Shadow Claw]

[Dragonborn]

—

The celebration continued and everyone was excited, but over in the corner Damian and Cross were standing, Cross was fuming and got up to Damian, "What was that?"

"U-um I don't know I j-just lost w-," Damian stuttered before Cross interrupted him.

"I don't care, you lost and in turn made me look worse, I said to never get in my way or I get rid of you, well you can get lost I don't need a weakling following me around like a lost Pup."

"B-" Damian was about to say something before Cross interrupted him.

"I said get lost," Cross looked like he was about to punch Damian until a familiar hand grabbed his flying fist.

Both Damian and Cross looked and saw Ash standing there with a smile, "Well, well, well it seems like my message never really got through to you, do I need to give you another lesson."

Cross immediately pulled his arm back, which Ash let him, "You know maybe he would have had a better chance if someone wasn't yelling commands in his ear."

Cross felt angry looking at Ash talk with a carefree smile, but he knew he couldn't do anything to him, especially in a town, so he just grunted, "Whatever," and walked away.

Damian looked back at Ash, "Thank you, but can I ask a request?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Can I apologize to Charmeleon?"

Charmeleon was standing behind Ash and kinda flinched hearing that, "Don't ask me, ask Charmeleon." Ash wasn't really afraid of Damian trying to take his fire lizard; he didn't seem like the type this time around. Besides, even if he did he already did a lot of bonding with Charmeleon.

Damian approached Charmeleon and then bowed, "Charmeleon I'm sorry, I know you probably don't want to see me after I left you, but I just wanted to let you know."

Charmeleon looked surprised and then looked at Ash. but he just shrugged letting him make the decision himself, Charmeleon looked at Damian then put his claw on his shoulder and gave him a "meleon"

"Thank you,"

Sorrel and Verity also came forward at this time.

"So what are you going to do now that you got left behind?" Ash said, half-jokingly, "You going to keep being a trainer?"

"No, I'm done being a trainer, it's not for me, to be honest, I only started because my father paid the professor a lot of money, and he wanted me to be independent, nevermind he inherited a few fortunes from his parents."

"Yeah about that, do you know how much money your father paid Oak?" Ash asked since he never got an answer.

"Well technically I'm not allowed to say it but…" Damian got closer and whispered something in his ear, which made Ash almost choke.

"Wait like actually, did he throw in a few Dragonite eggs why would he pay that much."

Damian shrugged, "Beats me, but anyway thank you, and please take care of Charmeleon for me."

"Here just give me your number, that way you can see him when he evolves again," Ash said holding out his Pokedex, Damian smiled, pulled out his phone, and taped them together, exchanging numbers.

After that, Damian waved away and went on his way.

Ash sighed and put Charmeleon back into his ball, "Alright then, let's get healed up then let's get some take out,"

Back on the road they got the Pokemon's version of Chinese, Ash also got Charmeleon some spicy food. Pikachu wanted to try it, so he gave him a piece and immediately started crying.

Pikachu: ﾍ(;´Д｀ﾍ)

Pikachu took a water bottle and drank all of it, then looked at Ash in betrayal, "Hey you're the one who wanted to try it."

Pikachu: " Pika (╬▔皿▔)╯"

Sorrel and Verity were watching the scene unfold and laughed at Pikachu.

"Alright Here this one's for you" He handed him a sweet version which he actually enjoyed,

Pikachu: " Pika (✪ω✪)"

They sat down and looked over the cliff to see that Butterfree was flying around going in a direction.

"Hey look, Why do you think all those Butterfree are going to," Verity asked.

"Don't you know, Butterfree mating season is coming up," Sorrel said while pulling out his tablet and showing the event that was going to happen soon.

"Yeah during this time trainers release their Butterfree so they can go and find their other half, boy oh boy I would really hate to have a Butterfree right about now" Ash said jokingly.

"It really doesn't seem that bad besides if other trainers are doing it, besides I'm sure eventually the trainers come back to get them after it finishes, it only lasts a few days," Verity said looking at Sorrel's tablet.

"I mean yeah, as long as a trainer can remember to come back for any Pokemon they leave behind. I mean what kinda idiot forgets Pokemon they said they'd be back for." Ash said, chuckling to themselves.

Sorrel and Verity looked at each other wondering why that felt personal before he changed the subject, "Look it's a pink one" Ash said painting at that one pink butterfly that was never explained.