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Every time Scizor launched an attack, it would quickly distance itself and blend back into its clone formation, making it impossible for Charizard to distinguish which one was real.
Slowly, Charizard began to realize that relying on sight alone would never reveal Scizor's true form among all the doubles.
Gradually, Charizard stopped trying to track Scizor with its eyes. Instead, it simply closed them and allowed itself to fall into complete darkness.
"Hmm? Can you sense it now?"
Ash watched Charizard's movements with admiration. At least this proved that Charizard wasn't stubbornly fixated on trying to catch its opponent using only its vision.
With its eyes closed, Charizard couldn't see, but it could still rely on its other senses. Scizor noticed that Charizard had closed its eyes but didn't pause its offensive strategy.
Brandishing its pincers, Scizor used Metal Claw again and rushed directly toward Charizard.
Buzz buzz!
This time, Charizard clearly heard a distinct buzzing sound near its ears. While airborne, its body instinctively adjusted its wings and moved directly toward the source of the noise.
Scizor's attack missed completely. As Scizor passed by, Charizard suddenly opened its eyes.
With a sharp glint in its gaze, Charizard seized that crucial moment and lunged forward, identifying Scizor's real body among all the duplicates.
Charizard grabbed Scizor from above and clasped the Bug-type Pokemon tightly with its powerful claws.
Caught off guard, Scizor was trapped by Charizard before it could react properly. Its expression changed as it tried to break free, but with its arms already controlled, there was no time to struggle effectively.
Charizard took advantage of this perfect opportunity and flew directly to a higher altitude while carrying Scizor in its grip.
Soaring high into the sky, Charizard held Scizor firmly and executed Seismic Toss, diving down from the heavens with tremendous force.
BOOM!
A thunderous crash echoed across the battlefield. The ground shook violently, and smoke filled the air instantly. The earth trembled from the impact, and all of Scizor's clones scattered throughout the sky vanished one by one.
Ash and the other Pokemon moved forward, watching as the dust cloud in front of them gradually settled. Soon, Charizard's figure emerged, slightly covered with dirt.
Although Charizard had been struck several times by Scizor's attacks, it wasn't seriously injured. On the other side, Scizor's form also appeared, its body similarly coated with dust.
The originally gleaming metallic armor was now somewhat dulled by the debris. Using its pincers to support itself against the ground, Scizor struggled to stand up, breathing heavily.
While Scizor's multiple attacks hadn't caused much damage, Charizard's single devastating blow had already dealt considerable harm to the Steel-type Pokemon.
In reality, the Fighting-type move Seismic Toss deals neutral damage to Scizor, and Scizor's Bug/Steel type combination is indeed nearly perfect defensively.
There are almost no obvious weaknesses in this typing. The only double weakness is to Fire-type moves. No other type can exploit a super effective advantage against Scizor.
However, Charizard's raw power was simply too overwhelming, so even using a neutral-damage move like Seismic Toss still caused significant physical trauma.
This had to be Scizor's credit. If this had been any other Pokemon, or even Scyther before its evolution, it would have been knocked out long ago without the protection of that heavy steel armor.
"Sciz!"
Scizor's eyes still burned with an unyielding flame, and its pincers remained raised, still ready for battle.
"Alright, that's enough!" Seeing this determination, Ash stepped onto the field and raised his hands to signal both Pokemon to stop fighting.
Charizard didn't seem particularly concerned when Ash came out to interrupt the match. It opened its mouth slightly, released a small yawn, and breathed out a puff of embers. On the other side, although Scizor was reluctant to stop, it eventually lowered its pincers in compliance.
Ash had only wanted to let them release some tension, but he didn't want them to have a full-scale battle here. If they had continued fighting seriously, something dangerous could have happened.
After this period of combat, he was confident they now understood each other's strength levels.
Scizor was unwilling to concede, but it also listened to Ash's instructions. In truth, it had come to recognize that Charizard was indeed stronger.
Throughout the entire battle, its continuous attacks hadn't caused any significant damage to Charizard, and Charizard hadn't even used many Fire-type techniques.
Scizor had attacked multiple times, while Charizard had only struck once, yet Scizor was more severely injured than its opponent. This clearly demonstrated that there was a substantial gap in strength between them. So even though there was no official winner declared, Scizor had already acknowledged its rival in its heart. However, it wasn't discouraged. Given another opportunity, it would definitely challenge Charizard again.
Ash couldn't help but smile when he observed this dynamic. For now, Charizard remained the senior member of the team.
Being powerful was one factor, but being able to locate Scizor's true body among all the clones was enough to demonstrate Charizard's exceptional battle instincts.
Actually, how Charizard had found the real Scizor just moments ago was primarily through sound detection, but there was also another factor: temperature differences.
The reason Ash believed that Scizor's Double Team technique was more disadvantageous than Scyther's version was mainly due to the changes that occurred during evolution.
Scyther's movements are incredibly fast, and Double Team was originally designed to confuse opponents visually. However, since the other clones are merely illusions, they don't produce any sound or cause environmental changes.
In other words, only the real body generates noise. But when it was still Scyther, the Pokemon didn't need to use its wings for heat regulation, so it moved almost silently.
This made it relatively difficult for Charmeleon to deal with back then, but Scizor is different now.
Due to its thick steel armor and natural abilities, rapid movement generates overheating within its body.
Therefore, Scizor must continuously use its wings to dissipate excess heat, which creates a constant buzzing sound. Since Scyther didn't require heat dissipation, it never had this problem.
Combined with its elevated body temperature—although it's actively cooling itself, Scizor's body temperature remains higher than normal during battle—while the clones have no body temperature at all.
Charizard had grasped these subtle differences and was able to identify the real Scizor, striking its target with perfect accuracy.
If Charizard had used a Fire-type special attack at that moment, Scizor would have been defeated instantly. This showed both the strength and the generous nature of the team's leader.
Seeing that Scizor had just recently evolved, Charizard probably didn't want to crush its newfound confidence so completely.