Chapter 113: Preliminary Round, Charizard's Return
After parting ways with Ash and the others, Ron and his group found the Silver town. Compared to the previous Indigo League, the Silver Conference was clearly receiving a much bigger investment. The accommodations for participants were essentially hotel-level, with restaurants and a Pokémon Center nearby. The dormitories were also fully equipped.
Pushing open the room door and looking at the facilities inside, Rosa couldn't help but exclaim, "This really is nice. You can even see the sea from the window. It's like a hotel-style setup."
"And there's a computer. We should be able to browse contestant info," Ruby said, looking at the computer on the desk.
"Alright, let's head to the qualifying arena first," Ron said after putting down his backpack. "After all, I still have three battles to do, and I need to call my Charizard over."
"You have a Charizard, Ron?" Rosa asked.
"Yeah, it's my starter Pokémon. It's currently training at Charizard Valley. I promised it would fight in the tournament," Ron said.
The three headed downstairs, and Ron made a call to Lisa. After a while, Charizard's Ultra Ball was transmitted over. Ron took the ball and said, "It's been a while, Charizard."
He finished speaking and released Charizard. Charizard was extremely excited to see Ron and gave him a powerful hug. Ron felt like his ribs were going to be crushed.
Charizard let go and called out softly toward him. Ron rubbed his aching chest and said, "It's okay, take your time. You're on the right path. After all, understanding comes from talent and moments of inspiration."
Looking at his proud Charizard, Ron felt a little emotional. Charizard had chosen the path of burning—pure firepower, the primal force to incinerate any opponent.
With Charizard, the three arrived at the qualifying arena.
Seeing trainers battling on the different fields, Ron smiled. He planned to use Charizard for all three matches, to improve their synergy.
The preliminary matches were one-on-one, with a single round deciding the winner. However, losing didn't necessarily mean elimination—it depended on performance scores. Out of over 200 trainers, 48 would be selected for the main tournament.
Soon, the announcement came calling Ron:
"Contestant Ron from Pallet Town, Contestant Fei from Fuchsia City, please proceed to Arena A."
Ron paused: Fei from Fuchsia City?!
Entering Arena A and looking across the field, it really was Fei. Fei also saw Ron and made a frustrated face. "Ron? Seriously? I'm doomed. I'm going to lose this one."
"Haha, it really is you, Fei," Ron laughed. "Let's give it a go. I'm using Charizard, counter it however you like."
The referee was speechless. They were supposed to use the roulette to decide who sent out their Pokémon first, but that was apparently skipped. The referee just waved the flag and said, "Begin!"
"Go, Crobat!" Fei sent out a Crobat.
Ron took one look—an excellent specimen, definitely not weak. He signaled Charizard, who snorted disdainfully, flames flaring from its nostrils. Charizard had the strength to be arrogant. During its time at Charizard Valley, it wasn't just understanding its primal power.
Every day, it had to face countless challenges from other Charizard, all for the chance to claim the flame of Ho-Oh and grasp its primal strength. After all this time, Charizard had already reached level 100. Now, it could confidently say: below primal-level, it was invincible!
Fei said heavily, "As expected, your Charizard's gotten even stronger. But we'll still give it a shot. Crobat! Cross Poison!"
Crobat flapped its wings and shot a cross-shaped purple energy blade at Charizard. Charizard didn't rush. It synced with Ron through their bond. Its gaze turned sharp, and a metallic sheen coated its claws. It thrust its claws forward, caught the Cross Poison, and then tore it apart with a burst of strength.
Ron smiled: Metal Claw—a Steel-type move. Steel-types are immune to Poison-types!
The Cross Poison didn't even scratch Charizard's health bar. Fei bit his lip, then said, "Crobat, Air Slash!"
Crobat flapped its wings, sending out countless air blades toward Charizard. Ron chuckled, "That move is outdated. Watch this—Charizard, Air Slash!"
Charizard hesitated for a second but quickly understood the release method. As it flapped its wings, it created a vortex-like force, then launched numerous circular, sawblade-like air blades at Crobat.
The sawblade-shaped air blades collided with Crobat's Air Slash and tore it apart like a hot knife through butter. The remaining blades struck Crobat before it could dodge, and in an explosive impact, Crobat was blasted away and hit the ground, losing its ability to battle.
"Crobat is unable to battle. The winner is Ron from Pallet Town," the referee announced.
"Crobat!" Fei ran over in concern and checked on his Crobat's injuries—thankfully, not too serious. He sighed in relief and recalled Crobat. Looking at Ron and Charizard, he said, "Ron, you've gotten stronger. I feel like I can't catch up anymore. But I won't give up. Beating you is my new goal—!"
"Then give it your all," Ron replied. He patted Charizard's back and noticed it seemed to have grown taller.
He checked the data. Sure enough, Charizard was now 2.2 meters tall. Over the past year, Ron had grown quickly too—he was now 1.7 meters. Still, standing next to Charizard, he looked short. He figured he'd have to hang out with Ash's Charizard to feel taller again.
After all, Ash was 1.5 meters, and his Charizard was 1.7. Not far away, Ash sneezed twice and rubbed his nose, thinking he was catching a cold.
Soon, Ash entered Arena C for his match. His opponent used a Furret, while Ash used Pikachu and easily won the first round.
Ron saw it too and rubbed his chin. He remembered that Ash had a tough battle in the original story. But then he remembered Ash had grown, and chuckled softly, deciding not to pay further attention to Ash's situation.
The next two matches were easy wins. Each ended with a single Air Slash. Charizard had mastered this sawblade-shaped Air Slash, a move Ron had seen used by a trainer with a Skarmory. However, that trainer's version was unrefined—it just involved spinning crescent-shaped air blades to enhance their power.
Ron built on that concept and developed this circular saw Air Slash. Sure enough, increasing the rotation speed gave it a buzzsaw effect. The results were fantastic—there wasn't a single Pokémon who could endure it.
With three straight wins, Ron returned to the Pokémon Center to await the results list.
After some time, the rankings were released. Ron made the list. So did Ash, Gary, Leaf, and Fei.