Lance's eyes, sharp as blades, shifted from the raging Red Gyarados to Ethan astride his Mega Charizard Y. His pupils narrowed in disbelief.
At first glance, he had thought it was simply a shiny Charizard. But the longer he looked, the more he realized something was wrong. An extra horn crowned its head. Small winglets sprouted from its wrists. Its very presence warped the air with sunlight.
This was no ordinary mutation. This was power beyond the norm.
Still, Lance's thoughts sharpened on the boy before him. Who was this stranger, flaunting a Mega Evolution and claiming to be Alliance?
"Who are you?" Lance demanded coldly. "And why are you pretending to be with the League?"
Before Ethan could answer, the Red Gyarados roared in fury and unleashed another blinding Hyper Beam, vengeance for the burns Charizard's flames had scorched across its body earlier.
Mega Charizard Y's wings snapped open, propelling them aside in a graceful arc. The beam carved a line across the lake, detonating water in a geyser.
Clinging to Charizard's neck, Ethan answered without missing a beat. "I'm just a good-hearted trainer here to stop a Red Gyarados from hurting people."
Lance's cloak snapped in the wind as he hovered astride Dragonite. His voice rang with authority. "Then your work is done. I am Lance of the Indigo Elite Four, sent by the League to contain this incident."
Ethan smirked. "Contain it all you like. But I'm not leaving without catching that Gyarados."
Lance's eyes hardened. "I can't allow that. It injured innocents. It belongs under League custody."
"Then maybe I'll catch it and hand it over," Ethan said lightly, though his grin was sharp.
Lance's expression chilled instantly, his pride stung by the boy's audacity.
Before either could press the point, a harsh voice boomed from below.
"This Red Gyarados belongs to Team Rocket!" the commander on the fishing vessel barked.
"Pidgeot, Wing Attack!""Tentacruel, Water Pulse!"
The Rocket's Pidgeot soared upward, wings slicing the air toward Ethan. Tentacruel's limbs pulsed, launching a wave of water toward Lance.
"Charizard—brace and use Fire Fang!" Ethan commanded.
Mega Charizard Y growled, spreading its wings wide. It caught Pidgeot's strike head-on, talons locking against the gust, before snapping its jaws forward. Flames whirled between its teeth as they clamped down onto Pidgeot's neck.
The bird shrieked in pain.
"Flamethrower!" Ethan barked.
Charizard exhaled a torrent of fire point-blank. Pidgeot tumbled, engulfed, before crashing into the lake unconscious.
Ethan turned his head—just in time to see Lance's Dragonite swat aside Tentacruel with a brutal Thunder Punch, sending it thrashing helplessly back into the water.
Their eyes met across the battlefield. Neither trainer spoke, but the air between them was thick with challenge.
Lance finally broke the silence. "Not bad… Charizard." His words were clipped, but inwardly he was shaken. This wasn't just a shiny mutation—it was a true Mega Evolution, a power he had only heard rumors of. Yet it belonged not to his Dragon Clan, but to a stranger. What a waste.
Ethan only smirked. "Compliments won't win you the Gyarados."
The Red Gyarados, as if reminded, loosed another Hyper Beam in Charizard's direction. Again, Charizard twisted and soared high, dodging with ease.
"Dragonite—Dragon Rush!" Lance snapped.
Dragonite roared, its whole body enveloped in blazing blue energy. It shot toward Ethan and Charizard with terrifying speed.
Ethan's eyes widened. "Charizard—!"
Too late. Dragonite slammed into them like a meteor, sending Ethan and Charizard crashing into the waters of the Lake of Rage.
Spray erupted skyward as Lance hovered above, his gaze icy. "All mighty Dragon-types should be ruled by my clan. You're fortunate to have such a Charizard, but it belongs under true control—not yours."
He flicked another Poké Ball, releasing a second Pokémon. A massive blue Gyarados erupted from the water, roaring at Team Rocket's boat.
"Destroy them," Lance commanded coldly.
Dragonite wheeled around toward the Red Gyarados, its claws glowing faint red as Lance invoked his family's dragon power. Slowly, impossibly, the rampaging Red Gyarados began to falter, eyes dimming as its fury dulled.
"Your pain will end," Lance murmured, pressing his will through Dragonite. "I'll free you from this rage."
But his concentration was broken when a jet of fire tore upward toward him.
Ethan and Charizard burst from the lake, drenched but defiant. Charizard's eyes burned with rage as it launched a fresh Flamethrower.
Dragonite swerved, dragging Lance clear of the blaze. The aura binding the Red Gyarados flickered and broke.
Lance's gaze darkened. "So you truly mean to oppose the League."
Ethan sneered. "Oppose? Don't flatter yourself. I'm just making sure you don't steal what isn't yours."
He flicked two Poké Balls. Munchlax and Annihilape materialized beside him.
"Infernape," Ethan said—then paused, lips twitching. "No. Not Infernape. Annihilape."
The Ghost/Fighting-type bellowed, pounding its fists against its chest. Ethan pointed at the Rockets scrambling on their sinking boat. "They don't play fair. What do you say?"
"ANNIHI!" Annihilape roared, slamming a fist into its own jaw until blood welled. Its eyes glowed, Rage Fist burning.
Ethan blinked, startled. "You'd hurt yourself just to fuel the anger…" He almost laughed. "Fine. Let's make it count. Hit them!"
Annihilape dove into the lake like a spear, cutting through water with terrifying speed toward the boat and the blue Gyarados.
Charizard circled overhead, sunlight blazing hotter than ever, locking onto Lance's Dragonite.
Lance's eyes narrowed, his voice low and dangerous. "You think you can match me? I only meant to teach you humility. But if you insist on being an enemy of the League… then fall."
"Dragonite, Dragon Rush!"
"Charizard, Flamethrower! Munchlax, Metronome!" Ethan roared.
The battlefield exploded into chaos—Mega Charizard Y trading blows with Dragonite in the skies, Annihilape tearing through Rocket grunts and their Pokémon on the waves, Munchlax waving its stubby arms wildly as its move slot spun like fate's wheel.
The Lake of Rage became a warzone.
And at its center, the Red Gyarados thrashed and roared, still untamed, its crimson coils promising destruction to whoever failed to claim it first.