"Charizard, let me have you train this little guy for a bit," Red instructed. Charizard immediately nodded in response.
"This is the difference between brothers~" Misty teased, shrugging helplessly as she glanced at Ash, who stood awkwardly to the side.
"Red's Charizard is not only powerful, but it also never resists his commands. It has absolute faith in him," Misty praised, though her words clearly carried a jab at the subtle tension between Ash and his Charmeleon.
A green aura emerged from Red's body, drifting toward Charmeleon and healing its injuries, restoring it to peak battle condition.
Just as Charmeleon was still feeling its fully recovered body, a thick, blazing pillar of fire shot from Charizard's mouth, instantly closing in. Luckily, Ash shouted a warning in time—otherwise, Charmeleon would have been burned again.
"Don't lose focus in battle!" Charizard coldly snapped, beating its wings as it soared into the air and unleashed a continuous barrage of flames downward.
Charmeleon initially wanted to stubbornly fire back, but after Ash's reminder, it chose to dodge instead. That moment nearly brought Ash to tears—his Charmeleon was finally willing to listen to him.
"Save the emotional talk for after training. Focus!" Red scolded sharply. His stern tone instantly made both Ash and Charmeleon tense up, not daring to lose concentration.
"Maybe only a strict older brother can help Ash grow quickly…" Brock murmured, fully understanding Red's approach as a fellow older brother.
"Before talking about becoming stronger, get rid of that useless pride first!"
Charizard harshly reprimanded, flapping its massive wings to unleash a powerful gust that swept across the entire battlefield. The force nearly blew Pikachu away, but Ash quickly grabbed it, avoiding an embarrassing situation.
"I want to become stronger—I want to be Ash's strength!"
Charmeleon gritted its teeth, muscles tensed as its claws dug into the ground, refusing to be blown over.
To Charmeleon, falling didn't just mean weakness—it meant its resolve wasn't as strong as it believed.
"I will never give up like this!" Charmeleon roared, forcing itself to take a step forward, determined to become truly strong.
"I can't believe that lazy Charmeleon is this stubborn now!" Misty exclaimed.
"Then let me test your resolve!"
With that, Charizard's claws glowed green, forming massive dragon claws. It swooped down and struck Charmeleon with a light blow that sent it flying—Charmeleon had no chance to resist.
"Just give up. Isn't being the 'king of kids' easier?" Charizard mocked, unleashing Flamethrower again, the blazing fire striking Charmeleon head-on.
"Until I become Ash's main force, I will never surrender!"
Charmeleon roared furiously, its voice echoing around. Then, a brilliant light of evolution burst from its body, even absorbing the flames from Charizard.
(I hope you can grow from this…)
Charizard watched as Charmeleon's body underwent a dramatic transformation, its gaze filled with expectation.
Before everyone's eyes, Charmeleon's body grew larger. A pair of massive wings sprouted from its back, its lower limbs became short and sturdy, and its upper limbs relatively smaller, each with three sharp claws. Its feet also developed three pointed talons.
Because it wasn't forced into evolution, the newly evolved Charizard reached a height of 1.8 meters. Though not as tall as the Dragon-Scale Charizard, it still exceeded the average.
The Charizard looked at its evolved body with joy, but before it could smile, it noticed how different it looked compared to the Dragon-Scale Charizard—almost like an incomplete, malformed version.
"Don't worry. You've evolved normally. My Charizard looks like this due to special circumstances and its extraordinary dragon bloodline," Red patiently explained, easing its concerns.
"Let me show you the true power after evolution!"
With that, the Dragon-Scale Charizard rushed forward and struck with Dragon Claw.
Since a normal Charizard is Fire/Flying-type, it didn't take double damage, but the massive gap in strength still nearly knocked it down.
"Training has only just begun—you're in for it!" Red said calmly.
That single sentence made both Ash and Charizard show expressions of despair—in perfect sync.
...
The next day
To fully showcase Charizard's strength, Blaine made an exception and brought Ash and the others to a special battlefield. Built around a volcanic crater discovered by Magmar, stone pillars had been set up to form a simple arena.
Originally, this was Blaine's personal training ground for his Pokémon, but today it served as the stage for his battle with Ash.
After a night of intense training, Charizard felt its strength had multiplied. Whenever it became exhausted, Red would patiently use the Power of Viridian to heal it, pushing it back into training without rest—it was nothing short of brutal.
Fortunately, Charizard was determined to grow stronger. Even without being told, it would actively ask Red to heal it so it could continue adapting to the Dragon-Scale Charizard's training.
"This match will be 1-on-1. My Pokémon is Magmar!" Blaine announced. Magmar stepped forward, casting a provocative glance at Charizard.
"Just what I wanted! My Pokémon is Charizard!"
Ash's Charizard stepped forward as well, its eyes burning with fighting spirit, determined to avenge its past self.
Both Charizard and Magmar stood atop the stone pillars, their eyes blazing with battle intent.
"Use Flamethrower!" ×2
Ash and Blaine gave the command simultaneously.
Both Pokémon unleashed their flames, the two fire pillars colliding at the center of the arena and exploding shortly after. This alone showed that Charizard's current strength was enough to challenge Magmar.
"They're evenly matched!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.
But Red remained calm. After all, Magmar was only at the level of a Gym challenge—it couldn't truly threaten Charizard now.
In the original story, even an untrained, forcibly evolved Charizard could defeat Magmar—let alone this naturally evolved, rigorously trained one.