Kanto - Celadon City

The rest of the days till the competition was spent in practising for the contest for Ash, training for Misty and Ritchie. Asking and learning about the grass type Pokemon from the gym leader for Gou and Horace. And lastly practicing the Pokemon caring skills on the tired Pokemon for Brock. The nights were spent talking mostly and with Ash teaching Ritchie the lyrics to the song, 'All is Found', Ritchie got the lyrics down to pat by the third night. The two boys would talk past midnight sometimes before falling asleep surrounded by the Pokemon, Lucario had taken to teaching Zippo how to use his aura to help keep Ritchie calm. As it was obvious Ritchie would go on a different route after Fuchisa city gym challenge.

Lucario, -It will be difficult, as you are a fire Pokemon not an Aura Pokemon but it's not impossible.-

Charizard rumbled, -As long as I can help Ritchie, I don't mind extra training.-

Lily blushed a bit, -Can you teach me how to use aromatherapy?-

Bulbasaur blinked, -Sure, I don't mind, sit, we will learn sunny day with Charmeleon first, it'll help in boosting your stats which will help in learning other moves.-

Lily smiled, -Thank you! I appreciate it.-

The bulb Pokemon looked at the blush on the female Grovyle's face and felt a little flattered by it and grumped when he saw Charmeleon's smirk. He had seen how happy Butterfree and Beedrill and Fearrow and Pidgeot were together and although he was not against it, he couldn't help but wonder how it would work out, if they decided to get together. Maybe they would be like Gou and Misty's two Butterfrees, something to think about later on, for now training. Pikachu took to training with Primeape, Jumpy and Spirit while Krabby took to learning rain dance with Bulbasaur and Lily after he finished learning sunny day. At one point the three of them practiced rain dance with Misty's Pokemon so many times they caused a slight heavy rain early one morning right before the breeder's competition started.

Ash sweatdropped, "They are hell bent on mastering that move huh?"

Misty sweatdropped, "A little too much."

Ritchie, "Sunny day?"

Jessilina, "Sunny day!"

Jameson, "I'll have my little Weeping Bell use it too."

Brock, "They are your two Victreebell's kid right?"

Jameson, "Yes, Weeping Bell sunny day please."

Ritchie, "You too Zippo, Lily, Sunny day!"

Ash, "Bulbasaur, Lucario, Charmeleon, Sunny day as well."

The combined sunny day move helped in dispersing the heavy rain making the sun come out and create a rainbow. Ash was congratulating Bulbasaur and Krabby on being able to use rain dance and not feeling exhausted, the stat move would help in increasing their stats. Misty was congratulating her own Pokemon who were very happy with the praise and Ritchie was congratulating Lily getting a glomp from her.

Jameson, "A lovely rainbow, I say that's probably a very good sign to start our day, don't you?"

Brock looked at the rainbow, "Yes, it is, although waking up to rain at 07:00 in the morning was a surprise."

Jessilina laughed, "They mean well, are you ready for today Brock?"

Brock, "Nervous but yes I am ready."

Misty, "You can do it Brock."

Ash, "We are rooting for you."

Ritchie, "You can win the match."

Gou, "First breakfast!"

Horace, "Good breakfast to start a great day."

Ash and the others grinned as they took Brock to eat a good breakfast consisting of buttered toasts, fruit salad, bacon, fried sausage and some Earl Grey tea. Brock relaxed his tense nerves sitting with all his friends around him and had a good meal before it was time to go to the competition. The competition hall in Celadon was quite big and in the shape of an open stadium, Erika was one of the few patrons of the competition. She felt breeding and caring for Pokemon went hand in hand with aromatherapy, something she was known for using.

Erika, "Welcome to the Breeder's Competition, where breeders from many places can show off their abilities and skills. I hope everyone will enjoy this event, I'm definitely looking forward to how the contestants will do."

The crowd cheered as the hostess took over, "Beautiful words from our dear Gym Leader, herself. Hello everyone I'm Stella, your hostess for today and we'll be starting our competition by welcoming the judges. First up is our very own Nurse Joy!"

Nurse Joy, "Hello everyone!"

Stella, "Next we have the lovely doctor Abbey."

Dr Abbey, "Nice to meet you all!"

Stella, "Last but not the least our very own aromatherapist, Mr Helia Evergreen."

Helia, "I can't wait to see how this will turn out."

Stella, "Next let's welcome the contestants for the competition."

Amidst the cheers and applause Brock and the other Breeders to be walked in and bowed to the audience. Ash and the others cheered as they saw him and waved banners that said, 'Go Brock!', much to his amusement and mortification.

Stella, "Now let's begin our first round, people. Are you ready?"

At the deafening roar Stella picked up a pokeball, "Now these pokeballs belong to a specific Pokemon. Depending on which ball you pick you, dear contestants will receive the Pokemon that you are to take care of in the first round. The care you give to the Pokemon and how well you handle them will be the defining point of whether you will pass on to the next round or not. Now step forward and pick your pokeball."

Brock waited till it was his turn to choose a pokeball and released what was inside only to get surprised yet relieved, his friends allowed him to practice on their Pokemon. Brock had received a Charizard who looked very very very annoyed and looked at him irritated as if asking why him. Brock started talking to him softly knowing very well an annoyed Charizard can become very dangerous to deal with, especially if the annoyance turns into anger. On the stands Ash and Ritchie were looking at Brock worried about him, taking care of and training with Charmeleon and Charizard showed them how powerful they were, and the two unlike the rest of their Pokemon would not allow Brock to touch them. So imagine how painful it will be if they turned and took out their ire on a stranger, that Brock currently was to the Charizard with him, they hoped Brock will be alright.

Stella, "Alright then everyone, your time starts now!"

Brock, "I know you are annoyed big guy, but just hang on please. Once this thirty minutes are up, you don't need to do this, yeah."

Ash cursed, "It had to be the one Pokemon, he couldn't touch or practice with."

Lucario, -They are prideful Meema and they take pride in the fact their trainers can take care of them. In fact according to Pikachu, Charmender loves bragging to other Charmenders how you are the best trainers.-

Pikachu nodded sweatdropping, "Piiiiiikachu!"

Ash giggled looking at Charmeleon who insisted on being out with them look away, "Is that so?"

Lucario, -He's gonna brag more now that he has evolved and honestly is bigger in size than most Charmeleons normally are.-

Ash, "Oh sweet macaroons! I hope Brock will be okay. I can only imagine how annoyed that Charizard is right now."

Ritchie, "What's wrong?"

Gou, "You look seriously worried!"

Misty, "Did something happen?"

Horace, "Yeah Ash!"

Ash explained what Lucario told him getting a frown from Ritchie who put a hand on his Charizard's pokeball, "So that's why Charizard was... Oh!"

Gou ⊙_⊙, "Wao!"

Horace nodded ๏︿๏, "Well we can only hope for the best."

Misty (｡ŏ_ŏ), "Are we sure Charizard's not a dragon type?"

Jessilina, "Pretty sure although it is said the dragon typing just gets pushed back behind as the fire and flying type moves are stronger."

Jameson, "They are rumoured to have a fourth evolution that brings out the dragon typing, but nothing concrete of course. It's only rumours."

Down on the stage the Charizard observed the dark skinned man as he went about mixing certain herbs and heating water till it was hot enough. He put the mixture in and took a towel that he dipped in the solution before wringing out the excess and approached the large fire type from the front. The breeder had observed Ash as he handled Charmender then later on Charmeleon and even Ritchie while he was taking care of Charizard. The two always made it a point to approach them from the front and he noticed the Charizard in front of him didn't act out. He half wondered as he started cleaning up the large fire type if Ash noticed how he acted or if it was just a natural instinct talking.

Brock started with the wings first and got them cleaned up in five minutes, next he went for the back from the shoulder to the tail end before going for the paws. The Charizard rumbled and Brock whispered, he just had to wait a few more minutes, before going to clean the tail. The underbelly was cleaned up next before he went to clean Charizard's long neck, Brock approached him from the front while telling him what he was going to do. The fire lizard was looking at the dark skinned man with a deadpanned look that said, 'No shit!', before sitting down.

Brock gave out a mental sigh of relief before cleaning up his neck then asking if he could clean his head too. Charizard looked at him in consideration before nodding and lowering his head that was as broad as Brock's shoulders for him to clean up. Once that was done Brock only had five minutes left to clean the nails which the Charizard did not mind and sat back as his nails were cleaned up and trimmed. The bell rang once the last nail was cleaned signaling the end of the first round, Brock gave a sigh before thanking the large Charizard for being patient with him.

Charizard rumbled amused at the human, who had a very familiar smell of the human cub, his mate sometimes smelled as. It was the main reason why he didn't attack him like he did the last one, he could bet his dear trainer was probably looking at him with incredulity right now. The fire type watched as the young adult was chosen to go to the next round and he sniffed the air as he got a whiff of the human cub. The little one his mate was so fond of was in the arena, the fire type scanned the crowds till his eyes fell on a group cheering the young adult. He rumbled curious as he realized, he could also smell his own cub among them, the young Charmender was now a Charmeleon.

Their eyes met and the Charizard gave a wicked grin at the young cub getting an excited roar back in return when the cub's eyes lit up in recognition, which surprised the group. The humans shrugged it off and cheered figuring the young fire type was probably excited about the contest. The stage was soon being cleared for the next round to start and Charizard returned to his trainer who was just like he expected looking at him incredulously.

Lance looked at his proud Pokemon a bit exasperated, "You surprised me today big guy. I thought you would act out like last time, then I would not have to return next time."

Charizard rumbled in answer showing off the clean scales, "Rrrrrrrrrr!"

Lance gave a huff sitting back on his chair on the VIP lounge, "Is there a reason you decided to play nice?"

Charizard shrugged as if to say, 'Was in a good mood.'

Lance shook his head before turning to the competition, he had been a little worried when he saw his Charizard's pokeball was picked by ex gym leader Brock of all people. But now he supposed his worry was for naught, the young man aspiring to become a breeder was able to handle his temperamental Pokemon really well and pass the first round. Perhaps he should consider to have the young man come work directly for the league, if he could handle his temperamental Charizard, then he can definitely handle his dragons. Down on the stage Brock sneezed as he waited for the next round to start which was Pokefood making round. They had to collect ingredients from the many berries, fruits, vegetables, nuts, meat and spices in front of them on the shelves and make food. The best cook would go on to the third round which was a battle round, Brock got ready to cook up a storm.

[A. N.: I based loosely off Charizard's general personality over what Charlie Weasley told Harry in a fanfic called 'Chosen Wizard of the Dragons'.

It's a very interesting fanfic where Harry bonded with Noberta during first year!

I don't know if that fanfic is still up or not, it was in ffn.]