Chapter 84

"Wartortle!"

"Nin!!"

The powerful Hydro Pump and Overheat clashed, and to the dismay of the indigo-tortoise, the terrifying white fire with spiralling orange-red flame around it cancelled out its Hydro Pump and still headed its way.

Wartortle immediately caged itself inside its shell, and even if it was resistant to Fire-Type moves, it still got hurt.

"Nin!"

Arcanine was right behind the tortoise with its tail shining in steel energy, ready to deliver a powerful Iron Tail, but Wartortle managed to use Protect in time. However, it was sent flying into the woods and crashed against a tree.

Aizen and the girls patiently waited by the side of the clearing, watching the two Pokemon duel it out. The Power of Arcanine shocked Misty and Leaf to the core. Its speed was terrifying, and when it used Extreme Speed, Wartortle was at its mercy as no attack would land on it.

The indigo-toroise had tried everything in its arsenal, and even managed to deal some damage to Arcanine, but it was all in vain. Arcanine was just too strong for it.

The haggard indigo-tortoise staggered back into the clearing, panting heavily, and apprehensively looked at the giant puppy. The evolution had changed Arcanine's personality as well, and it was now ruthless in battle, not showing any mercy. It was scary.

Arcanine roared proudly, and it made Wartortle's heart tremble in fear. Its deep red eyes were looking intently at the tortoise, waiting patiently for its next move. And Wartortle being stubborn as ever, used Waterfall to surround Arcanine, deciding to continue the fight.

The Fire-Type Pokemon did not dodge and took the damage from the Warerfall. The indigo-tortoise saw the chance and rushed at it using Aqua Jet, ready to deliver a powerful Skull Bash, but then its heart froze in fear at what awaited him.

A terrifying Fire Energy spread from Arcanine, evaporating the Waterfall, and then Fire burst around him, engulfing everything in its range in flames.

The poor tortoise could not even retreat now, and was soon surround by the menacing fire that vaporised the water around its body. The heat of the powerful Burn Up was not something it could deal with, and it fainted as soon as the flames started scorching its body.

"Enough!" Aizen called out and sent out a burst Psychic Wave in the clearing, containing the fire and protecting Wartortle from more harm.

Misty imemdiately used her Golduck to help put out the Fire. And Arcanine managed to regain control over itself and retracted the Fire Energy from the flames in the area, diminishing them, and worriedly looked at its fallen friend.

Blissey ardently worked on healing Wartortle, and soon the indigo-tortoise had no blisters and brusies on its body.

The giant orange puppy was relieved to see that its friend was fine, and lowered its head in shame.

"It's okay." Aizen approched it and gently caressed its head, running his fingers through its mane. "I know you lost control in the battle, and we will work on it. No need to feel bad."

"Nin..."

"Wartortle won't be mad at you. You know him. He would only be more pumped up for another battle with you." Aizen chuckled and assured the orange puppy. "And I forbid you from using Burn Up against friends without my permission, even in an all-out battle." He sternly said.

"Nin.." And Arcanine apologised again but was now in a better mood.

"You are strong, Archie!" Anira and Leaf happily hugged it and complimented, and the orange puppy seemed happy at receiving their compliments.

"That was scary." Misty came over to their side after all the fire had been put out.

"Awoo!" The little Houndour behind her happily yelped and looked at Arcanine in worship. It had watched the entire battle unfold, and to see a Fire-Type Pokemon toy with a strong Water-Type Pokemon like that was something it had never witnessed before. It was in awe of the power Arcanine displayed.

Sabrina's Delphox was intently looking at Arcacine as well, and approvingly nodded in its direction before closing its eyes and continuing meditating with its Trainer.

The little Pichu and Togepi were scared after witnessing the fight, but under Eevee's lead they approached Arcanine and congratulated it on the win before taking it away to play with them. And everything returned to normal.

The gang spent another hour in the clearing and then wrapped up their stuff, ready to enter the territory of Eastern Mountains of Cinnabar Island.

They had visited the Cinnbar Pokemon Center in the morning, and Misty switched out her Politoed, sending it to Blanc Island, to make space for Houndour on her roster.

Aizen called back Nidoran from the Blanc Lab, and Leaf did the same by swicthing out Exeggutor for her Nidoran. The initial training plan for the two Poison-Pokemon was the same, and they trained them a little while their lunch was being prepared.

And now, they were searching for a Charmander in the valleys of the Eastern Mountains.

Leaf was using her Pidgeotto to help them find a Charmander. She wanted to find one herself, and so, she asked Aizen not to help her by using his Pokemon.

They spent hours in the valleys, coming across all sorts of Pokemon, but found none from the Charizard-line.

The sun set down, and the group decided to camp at a safe place for the night. After a round of training exercises, where all of them, including Sabrina, trained their Pokemon, they called it a day and went to their beds.

The next morning, they continued their search after a light breakfast and their morning training session. And it just happened to be Leaf's lucky day.

Pidgeotto managed to find their target an hour before lunch, and they came across a cute little Charmander, who was using its claws on a boulder. It was alarmed at their arrival, but when it saw them make no move, it continued what it had been doing, completely focusing on scratching the boulder with its claws.

"Why is it doing that?" Misty frowned when she saw the brusies on its claws with some blood as well. It was painful to watch it madly scratch the boulder, not caring about the harm it was doing to its claws.

"It must have seen some Pokemon use Metal Claw and wants to learn it to fight against the rock type Pokemon in the Valley." Aizen guessed. "But the training method it is using is wrong." He whispered and glanced at Leaf. The hazel-eyed girl was intently looking at the Fire-Type Pokemon, and he knew she had decided on this one. "Let's camp here. It's lunchtime."

All of them left Leaf on her own and provided her with no help in this matter. She had to make a decision herself.

Aizen had made her go through enough research on Draconic Pokemon, and she had read enough on Charizard-line to know the correct manner to handle them without hurting their pride. Now it was a test for her, how she would handle such a stubborn Charmander.

The girl from Pallet Town fastened her heart and turned away from the Charmander, not paying attention to it. After their lunch, she trained her Pokemon as usual, and even had a mock battle with her Floette against Misty's Golduck.

Anira took away Togepi, Pichu, Eevee, and Diancie and then called out Sky and Aerius to give them all rides in the sky. She loved heights and the brush of wind that fluttered her hair as she flew at the breakneck speed. It was exhilarating, and even the little Pichu and Togepi enjoyed it.

The Diamond Fairy was addicted to flying now, and her cute laughter melted the hearts of nearby Pokemon as Aerius circled around the Island, showing her all the places.

Anira and Diancie returned back to their campsite at the sunset, and they found everyone still busy training their Pokemon.

Aizen was working on helping Elekid learn some Fighting-Type Moves. The two Nidoran were on stamina exercises, and Gengar was under the care of Mega Metagross, learning Ice Punch.

Sabrina was away from everyone, as she and her Delphox were helping Magby get better control over its Fire-Type Attacks.

Misty was busy training her Misdreavus and Krabby. It had taken a while, but she had managed to get some control over the little mischievous Ghost-Type Pokemon that loved playing with her hair. She would usually keep it out at night and allow it to nestle in her hair, and in the evenings, she would train it to get better at duelling.

Leaf too was focusing on her Duskull, and its training partner was Staryu. The two Pokemon were mock duelling against each other, and the girl from Pallet Town was pointing out their mistakes and teaching them how they could have executed their moves better. It was nothing intense, but very helpful for the two Pokemon.

"Hey, Bliss!" The Orayen Princess and her party sat by the side of her Pokemon, who was taking care of the Swablu Egg of Leaf.

"Bliss!" The pink Pokemon happily greeted her and handed her the Egg before getting up and bringing them all some snacks.

Diancie loved the Pokepuffs, and Floette rushed over as soon as she smelled them, making the Diamond Fairy share some with her. And the two of them happily chatted about how their day was.

An hour later, everyone gathered and prepared for the night.

Charmander was sleeping on top of the boulder when its eyes briefly opened after it smelled their delicious dinner.

All of them had to suppress their laughter as the little Fire-Type Pokemon was openly drooling but still pretending to be asleep.

Leaf had prepared some spicy food for it that all Fire-Type Pokemon loved, and she had floette silently deliver it to its boulder.

The little Pokemon resisted the temptation for quite a while, but eventually, its growling stomach won over its pride and it quietly sat up and started eating it.

To the surprise of everyone, the little Charmander approached them and politely returned them the bowl after finishing its meal.

"Char!" It thanked them and then turned around, walking back to its boulder.

Leaf had the urge to stop it and have it stay with them, but she fastened her heart and remained patient. She could have simply challenged it to a duel and captured it, but she aimed to win its trust and gain its acknowledgement. They were not in a rush, so she could take her time with this little one.