"It all feels so complicated. Good thing the Pokémon I want to capture is Arcanine. Among these dragon messengers, there shouldn't be anyone who uses Arcanine, right?"
Naira stuck out her tongue playfully, then fixed her beautiful gaze back on the battlefield.
Without exception, the two dragon messengers who stepped onto the stage also sent out Dragon-type pseudo-legendary Pokémon. This made Ethan's expression darken slightly, since he did not have a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary on his team.
There were three ways to enter Dragon Valley, and these people clearly belonged to the second generation of dragon messengers. Under such circumstances, the difficulty of obtaining a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary was extremely low; in fact, most "second-generation dragon messengers" even started with a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary as their initial Pokémon.
Soon, as the battles continued, it was finally number seven's turn: Ethan.
Riding on Charizard, Ethan arrived at the battlefield.
Then, instead of recalling Charizard, he left it directly in battle.
"Charizard?"
Seeing the Pokémon Ethan sent out, the dragon messengers present were momentarily stunned.
In the previous battles, almost everything had been clashes between pseudo-legendaries. Now, upon seeing that Ethan was using a Charizard, a peculiar expression appeared in everyone's eyes.
"It's that guy... the Pokémon Researcher." Seeing Ethan step onto the stage, Kevin from the Tavaria League smiled.
"It looks like I'm in luck today. This fight is already in the bag." Beside him, Clyde, also from the Tavaria League, showed a relaxed expression and mounted his Salamence as he entered the battlefield.
"It's those two."
Seeing his opponent, Ethan was also briefly surprised.
Then he recalled the information about them, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
When he had previously noticed their looks of disdain, Ethan had said he would hit them with reality. He hadn't expected the opportunity to come so soon.
"Then, let's fight."
Ethan and Clyde stared at each other.
"Charizard, use Sunny Day!"
Since both sides were already in position, the battle began immediately.
Ethan was not polite at all and directly ordered Charizard to use Sunny Day.
"A weather move?"
"As expected of a Pokémon Researcher."
Clyde watched Charizard use Sunny Day without trying to stop it immediately.
Charizard could be seen condensing fire in its mouth, then forcefully spitting it out, forming a small sun in midair that radiated scorching light.
"Now, Salamence, use Flamethrower!"
The instant the Sunny Day move was completed, Clyde gave the order decisively.
Flames erupted from Salamence's mouth and, immediately benefiting from the sunny weather, transformed into a tide of fire that surged toward Charizard.
"Absorb it and return it!"
Upon hearing Ethan's command, Charizard let out a powerful roar.
Wrapped in flames, it slightly twisted its body and inhaled the approaching Flamethrower.
Then, under the astonished gazes of the entire audience, Charizard directly swallowed the opponent's flames.
"Go, Fire Dragon Roar!"
As Ethan's voice fell, Charizard could be seen opening its mouth and slightly throwing its head back.
In the next instant, a roaring inferno, resembling a gigantic fire dragon, shot straight toward Salamence.
Boom!
A deafening explosion was heard.
The fire dragon completely engulfed Salamence.
Seeing this scene, the Charizard present in the area immediately erupted into excited roars.
Although the Charizard clan was also a large family within Dragon Valley, compared to the pseudo-legendary clans, it was still at a disadvantage.
Moreover, in previous editions of the Battle of the Dragon Messengers, Charizard rarely had the opportunity to enter combat.
Now, finally seeing one of their own on the battlefield and dominating Salamence with fire, all of them became extremely excited.
"This Charizard... is very strong!"
"It even managed to withstand and absorb flames of that level!"
"And the power of that Flamethrower is simply terrifying!"
At the same time, the other dragon messengers also sensed Charizard's strength, and their pupils contracted.
After absorbing Salamence's fire and further boosting itself with the Sunny Day weather and the Solar Power ability, Charizard's Fire Dragon Roar was simply too terrifying.
"It hasn't already fallen, has it?"
Several dragon messengers from weaker Leagues showed tense expressions.
"Fallen?"
"With just that level of attack, it's still far from falling!"
Kevin let out a mocking laugh, showing complete disdain.
Just as his voice faded, Salamence roared in fury.
The flames surrounding it began to churn violently, gradually revealing its body.
At that moment, Salamence's face looked extremely ferocious. Under the glow of the fire, it resembled an enraged demonic dragon, and as it roared, a terrifying pressure overflowed from its body.
"Is this... rage energy?"
Watching Salamence wrapped in flames, Ethan's expression became serious.
Thanks to his research on emotional energy, he had vaguely guessed the change that was occurring in Salamence.
As he pondered, the pupils of the other dragon messengers also contracted. Salamence's presence in that state was truly terrifying.
"It's appeared... Salamence's Blazing Fury Form."
Seeing this, Kevin broke into a smile.
From his point of view, once Salamence entered the Blazing Fury Form, the battle was already decided.
"CHAARRZZ!"
But in the very next instant, a new cry echoed across the field.
Kevin, startled, turned his gaze toward Charizard and immediately saw that its body was also wrapped in raging flames.
Waves of heat continuously emanated from Charizard, as if it had transformed into a blazing sun in the sky, releasing terrifying energy fluctuations.
"What is that?"
"Could it be that this Charizard also masters the Blazing Fury Form?"
A dragon messenger asked in astonishment. He hadn't expected to see two different fire forms appear already in the very first battle.
"No, if I'm not mistaken... that should be the 'Sunny Day Dragon,' a secret technique of the Daleron League."
Another dragon messenger spoke uncertainly, but with the same shock in his eyes.
"Sunny Day Dragon?"
"The Sunny Day Dragon of the Fire-type Champion of the Daleron League?!"
As the audience discussed heatedly, the two beasts on the field had already begun to clash.
Salamence, its eyes dyed blood-red, locked its gaze onto Charizard. It violently flapped its crimson wings and, wrapped in flames of rage, charged straight forward.
Charizard, seeing this, condensed all the flames on its body and unleashed a Flamethrower empowered by multiple layers of reinforcement, striking Salamence head-on.
(End of chapter)