Since there wasn't a suitable place nearby for a battle, Caster brought Ash and the others back to the resort where he was staying.
The resort had everything they could need, including several battlefields.
"Wow, Caster! You're staying in a luxury villa like this all by yourself?"
The moment Misty stepped inside, her eyes lit up, especially when she saw the feast spread across the dining table.
"Misty, how about treating yourself to a massage? The staff here are really good."
Caster poured her a glass of water and smiled. "The geisha performances are pretty impressive too. I guarantee you'll enjoy them."
"Really? That sounds great!"
Misty and Brock were clearly tempted, nodding eagerly.
Blaine's inn had excellent hot springs, but when it came to everything else, its services and facilities couldn't compare to those of this place. The difference was night and day.
"Psy?"
Just then, one of the Poké Balls at Misty's waist suddenly popped open.
Psyduck appeared in front of everyone with its head tilted to one side. It sniffed the air, spotted the feast on the table, and immediately hurried toward it in excitement.
Maybe it was a little too excited, because it failed to notice everyone's feet. It had barely taken a step before it tripped and went sprawling face-first onto the floor.
"Psyduck! Could you stop coming out just to embarrass yourself?!"
Misty covered her face, completely at a loss for words.
"Psy..."
Psyduck gave an embarrassed laugh, its face turning red, and then scrambled over to the table and began stuffing itself.
Ahhh, delicious!!!
"Slow down. Don't choke!"
Caster walked over and rubbed the Duck God's head. Those three little hairs were as iconic as ever.
Watching her companions chatting and laughing so happily with Caster, Ash started getting jealous.
He couldn't help blurting out, "Hey, Misty, Brock! We didn't come here for a vacation. Caster and I are supposed to have a Pokémon battle, so don't forget why we're here! Once the battle's over, we're leaving Cinnabar Island."
"Huh? Are Pokémon battles really that much fun?"
Misty pulled a long face. She really wanted to ignore Ash.
After all, anyone could see that Ash and Caster weren't even on the same level.
Ash was the only one still brimming with confidence and excitement.
"Don't worry. You should still be able to stay for a day or two."
Caster smiled and quietly reassured Misty and Brock.
At Ash's insistence, the group finally made their way to one of the resort's battlefields.
Misty sat off to the side holding Togepi, while Brock took on the role of referee and announced loudly, "We will now begin a one-on-one Pokémon battle. Both sides, take your positions!"
"Pika! Pika!"
Two yellow mice stood, one on either side of Misty, each waving a little flag and cheering for its own Trainer.
"I choose you, Charizard!"
"Go, Shellder!"
Caster and Ash each threw a Poké Ball.
"Rooaaar!"
With a dragon-like roar, Charizard appeared, baring its claws and fangs as flames flickered from its mouth.
Compared to other Charizard, Ash's was far from impressive in size. It was noticeably smaller than average and looked almost miniature.
That might have had something to do with the fact that, not long after evolving into Charmeleon, it had been provoked by Aerodactyl and evolved into Charizard prematurely, before fully developing its physical potential.
Still, the smaller size was kind of cute. Right now, Charizard looked fierce in an almost adorable way.
"Rooar!"
After barely defeating Blaine's Magmar, Charizard was riding high and itching for another fight.
But when it saw that its opponent was nothing more than a goofy-looking shellfish sticking out its tongue, it immediately lost interest. It yawned, lay down on the ground, and looked like it could fall asleep at any moment.
"Charizard, what are you doing?!"
Ash felt humiliated and shouted angrily, "We're in the middle of a battle!"
Charizard couldn't be bothered to acknowledge him.
Left with no other choice, Ash swallowed his pride, walked over, and pleaded, "Charizard, please listen to me this once. At least give me a little respect in front of everyone."
Unfortunately, it was obvious that Charizard had no respect for Ash whatsoever.
Not only did Charizard completely ignore his desperate pleading, but after listening to him nag for too long, it simply smacked him away with its tail.
"Ash, are you okay?"
Misty hurried over with Togepi in her arms to check on him.
Ash could only laugh awkwardly. "I'm fine, I'm fine! Charizard was just messing around with me!"
Seeing this, Caster knew it was time for him to step in.
"Ash, what's the deal with your Charizard?" he called out. "It doesn't look all that impressive, but it sure thinks it's tough."
Even though Charizard had put Ash through hell countless times, Ash still immediately defended it.
"That's not true, Caster! My Charizard is really strong!"
As luck would have it, Charizard opened its eyes at that exact moment. Offended by the insult, it glared at Caster.
Boom!
Without warning, it fired a Flamethrower straight at him.
"Whoa! The match hasn't even started yet!"
Brock's expression changed.
Charizard had clearly broken the rules.
More importantly, it hadn't attacked the opposing Pokémon. It had attacked the opposing Trainer, which made the situation far more serious.
Caster, however, seemed to have expected it. He sneered.
"What a pathetic little flame. You call that Flamethrower? Shellder, show it what a real Water Gun looks like!"
Pshhh!
A jet of water shot from Shellder's mouth and collided head-on with Charizard's Flamethrower.
Charizard's flames were thick and powerful, while Shellder's stream of water looked thin by comparison. At a glance, the two attacks didn't look remotely equal in power.
But the instant they collided, Water Gun tore through the flames like a hot knife through butter. The blazing fire offered almost no resistance before being blown apart.
The Water Gun kept going and slammed into Charizard.
Charizard howled in pain and staggered back several steps.
"Rooaaar!"
Seeing the contempt on Caster's face, Charizard flew into a rage. It quickly recovered and unleashed another blast of fire.
This time, Charizard was clearly going all out. The flames were far more powerful than before.
It didn't matter.
Shellder did it again, blasting apart the flames with another Water Gun.
This time, however, Charizard was prepared. The moment it realized things were going badly, it spread its wings and shot into the air, narrowly avoiding another direct hit.
Once airborne, Charizard stubbornly continued firing Flamethrower over and over, as though it didn't know any other moves.
"Charizard, calm down! We're facing a Water-type Pokémon, so we should use a move of a different type!"
Ash tried to direct Charizard, but Charizard completely ignored him. It continued doing whatever it wanted, repeatedly using Flamethrower, only for Shellder to blast the flames apart with Water Gun every single time.
Watching Charizard fly all over the battlefield, Caster shook his head.
"That's enough of this. Shellder, use Ice Beam!"
"Bzzzt!"
Shellder's gaze sharpened as Ice-type energy rapidly gathered around its body, eventually condensing into a sphere of white energy.
Zzzap!
Energy burst from the sphere like a stream of white lightning. Frosty air spread wherever it passed, dropping the surrounding temperature by several degrees.
"What an incredible Ice Beam!"
"Yeah. That level of cold is unbelievable."
Misty and Brock both grew serious, their faces filled with concern.
"Rooar!"
At first, Charizard relied on its agility to twist and turn through the air, dodging the attack.
But Shellder's Ice Beam kept sweeping across the battlefield, giving Charizard less and less room to dodge. Eventually, it was hit.
Charizard barely had time to let out a cry before its entire body was frozen inside a massive block of ice.
It dropped straight out of the sky and crashed to the ground, leaving only its tail exposed, the flame at its tip still burning.
Even so, the flame on Charizard's tail was visibly shrinking.
"Charizard!"
Ash was horrified. He quickly grabbed a large rock from nearby and tried to smash the ice apart.
But after Shellder had absorbed the thousand-year Never-Melt Ice, the power of its Ice-type abilities had increased dramatically. The ice it created was now incredibly hard.
An ordinary person had no hope of breaking it apart without tools like an ice pick and would otherwise have to slowly melt it with fire.
Ash refused to give up.
Panic written all over his face, he swung the rock with all his strength again and again, as if his stamina were endless.
"Shellder, go over there and..."
Caster shook his head and was about to have Shellder help by drawing back the cold.
But just then, most of the ice suddenly shattered, revealing Charizard's head inside.
"Hiss..."
Even Caster's eyelids started twitching at the sight.
"As expected of the superhuman rookie from Pallet Town..."