The dream of becoming a Pokémon master

"This is a Pokémon battle. You may use only one Pokémon. The battle ends when the Pokémon is unable to battle or submits. Any objections?" Brock stood in the middle of the basin, acting as the referee.

Kyosuke and Shiba stood on either side.

"Ash, battles of this level are rare. You should learn from this," Misty instructed Ash.

Ash said impatiently, "I know, everyone come out and let's take a look." He then summoned all his Pokémon.

Including the fire-breathing dragon.

As soon as Charizard appeared, it lay down and aimed at Ash, ready to use Flamethrower, but then it saw Kyosuke in the arena and quickly stood up.

"Phew, I still have a long way to go." Ash sighed silently, looking at Charizard's expression.

"Then, let the match begin!" After saying that, Xiao Gang quickly stepped aside.

Shiba pulled a Poké Ball from his pocket: "Go, Hitmonlee!"

On the other side, Kyosuke also took a Poké Ball from his waist: "I choose you, Charizard!"

Hitman and Charizard make their appearance at the same time!

Seeing Kyosuke's Charizard appear, Ash and his Charizard stood up even straighter.

"Is that the same Charmander from before? It's grown so much already! But thinking you can defeat me with a type advantage is too naive!" Shiba shouted at Kaikou in the arena, "Kaikou, use Mach Punch!"

"Old man, fly!" Kyosuke shouted. "Trying to get the upper hand with a sonic punch, huh...?"

The Charizard in the arena was flapping its wings when the Hitman in the distance appeared in front of it in an instant!

A punch landed on Charizard's belly, sending it flying backward and crashing into a rock!

"So fast?" Although it's nothing compared to Kyosuke, none of his Pokémon, apart from the two legendary birds, can reach this speed!

"Quick Punch, unleash a barrage of Thunder Punches to finish him off!" Shiba wasn't going to hold back; as a trainer, he had to give it his all in every battle!

"Old man, air slash!" The battle with Shiba really didn't allow for any rest. This intense battle made Kyosuke feel passionate!

The sharp air rushed towards Hitmonchan, who calmly dodged it all, but this also gave Charizard an opening, allowing it to finally fly into the sky!

"Now that you're in the sky, what are you going to do?" Kyosuke looked at Shiba. "Old man, Flame Vortex!"

"Get out of the way!" Shiba showed no sign of difficulty. "Do you really think Flying-types are invincible against Fighting-types? I'm the Fighting King!"

"Vacuum wave!"

Kaikou dodged the flame vortex, came behind Charizard, and unleashed Vacuum Wave!

However, even though Kyosuke didn't give the order and Charizard didn't see it, it still avoided it!

This is also the result of the training I did some time ago!

"It's not over yet, Skyward Fist!"

Vacuum waves are just a starting point!

It's just a setup that lets Charizard dodge the first attack but can't dodge the second!

The Sky-Piercing Fist is the real killing move!

In terms of command, Kyosuke is ultimately no match for the Four Heavenly Kings!

But Kyosuke spotted Kaikenrou leaping up before Shiba could give the order, and his corrective command came even faster than Shiba's: "Attack with your hind wings!"

Just as Old Pen thought Kyosuke was about to praise his quick reflexes, he heard Kyosuke's new command and immediately did a somersault, only to see Quick Fist flying upwards!

The wings gathered power, flashed with white light, and with the added momentum from above, they collided fiercely with Quick Fist's fist!

Then, both of them flew backwards!

Quick Punch crashed hard to the ground, while Old Punch regained control of his body just before falling and barely managed to avoid landing.

"Did we win?" Xiao Zhi asked Xiao Gang in a trembling voice.

This battle was swift and intense, and Ash finally realized the gap between himself and a true powerhouse.

"It should be over by now, right?" Xiaoxia looked at the spot where Kaikenrou had fallen, where a cloud of dust covered the area, and Kaikenrou hadn't reappeared.

Xiao Gang didn't say anything.

He knew the Four Heavenly Kings couldn't be that simple.

Kyosuke looked at Charizard, whose tail flames had begun to burn fiercely, and the Blaze ability had been triggered once again.

"The final blow!" Kyosuke shouted.

To Shiba, to Lao Pian, and to myself.

"Alright, the final blow." Shiba nodded.

As the dust settled, Quick-Punchman's figure reappeared before everyone.

There were some marks on his body, and Kyosuke couldn't tell if they were wounds or dust, but he could feel that Kaikenrou's breathing was perfectly steady.

"Thunder Fist!"

"Burn Out! Wing Attack!"

Hitmonchan and Charizard collided violently, and then a large amount of flames began to erupt from Charizard's body, as if it was about to set Hitmonchan on fire!

The final showdown!

Boxing and wings!

The Charizard fell down.

There was no comic-book-like scenario where the opponent would lose their ability to fight after falling and getting back up; Charizard simply fell.

He realized he was still a long way from the Elite Four. Silently recalling his old flame, Kyosuke approached Shiba and extended his hand.

"A fantastic battle. I look forward to your performance at the Indigo League," Shiba said, repeating the usual platitudes.

Kyosuke suddenly didn't want to shake hands anymore.

"Now that the battle is over, I should be going." After shaking hands with Kyosuke, Shiba waved to everyone. "Goodbye! I look forward to the day you all grow up, Kyosuke, and Ash!"

"So our score is now tied at one to one!" Kyosuke shouted loudly.

Shiba resisted the urge to turn back and fight again, and quickly left.

"Kyosuke." Ash walked up to Kyosuke, his voice low.

Kyosuke didn't know what to say.

"You might be in the lead now, but I'll definitely give it my all in this tournament!" Ash suddenly looked up and shouted at Kyosuke!

"On the road to becoming a Pokémon Master, I acknowledge you as my rival," Kyosuke said jokingly, looking at Ash.

"Hmph! I'm the one who'll become the world's number one Pokémon Master! Right, Pikachu!"

"Pikachu, Pikachu!"

Seeing Kyosuke suddenly become like a child, Brock and Misty realized that this powerful trainer had only been traveling for less than a year.

"Let's go back to Pallet Town first," Xiao Gang interrupted the two.

"Want to have a match?" Kyosuke asked, looking at Satoshi with a provocative expression.

"Let's compete!" Ash blurted out instinctively, but then immediately realized he couldn't possibly win physically, so he quickly added, "We can rely on Pokémon!"

"Okay, if I get there first, I'm going to eat at your house for a week! If I lose, you can give me any feedback you want!"

"No problem! Pidgey, please!"

"Phoenix, give me a ride!"

"Wait, how could this happen! Come back, Pidgeotto, Charizard, please help me!"

"puff."

Charizard used Flamethrower on Ash, and it was incredibly effective!

The game was over as soon as it started!