Pokémon: Dreams Come True Starting in Sinnoh

Chapter 564 The First Scene of Despair: The Final Explosion and Burning

"Whoosh—!!!"

The azure dragon claw slashed with unparalleled precision at the joint where Lugia's left wing connected to his body.

"Whoosh—!!!!"

A mournful cry escaped from Lugia's mouth.

The excruciating pain from the wing joints caused the waterfall it had been concentrating to lose control of instantly, and the massive flow of water scattered in all directions, turning into a shower of spray.

Taking advantage of Lugia's momentary loss of balance, Charizard swung its massive claws upwards, gripping Lugia's long neck like iron pincers.

"Now! Charizard!"

Ash understood that Charizard was almost completely exhausted at this point. This opportunity was something Charizard had found after giving it its all, and this final blow would be Charizard's most powerful attack.

"Overheating—!!!"

"boom--!!!"

Ash's shout was met with Charizard's all-out, desperate burst of power.

The intensely hot flames, with their extreme temperature, exploded suddenly from Lugia's long neck, leaving it no way to dodge.

The flames engulfed Lugia's head in an instant, then spread irresistibly down its body, causing a series of violent explosions wherever they went. The flames from the explosions quickly spread from head to toe across Lugia's white body.

Each explosion was accompanied by flying feathers and sparks, and at that moment it seemed that even a downpour was insignificant in the face of the scorching flames.

The large plumes of white water vapor, which had been rising from the rain, were quickly dispersed by the subsequent flames.

Lugia's massive body trembled violently amidst the successive explosions. The mournful cry that had torn the sky apart had not yet completely dissipated before it was completely drowned out by the continuous explosions.

Finally, as it burned out due to overheating, Lugia's proud silver-white body could no longer maintain its position in the air and fell helplessly towards the shattered ground below.

"Boom—"

A heavy thud followed as Lugia's heavy body landed on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Charizard in mid-air, after unleashing its full power through overheating, finally reached its limit.

Its strong wings could no longer flap, and the strength that sustained its flight receded like the tide.

Its massive body swayed slightly before finally falling to the ground along with Lugia. However, compared to Lugia's heavy slam, Charizard's landing was more like a collapse from exhaustion.

"boom."

Charizard landed not far from the crater Lugia had created, kicking up a cloud of dust.

It was breathing heavily, its chest heaving violently, and only a small, relatively weak flame remained on its tail, stubbornly flickering in the rain.

At this moment, Charizard, which was struggling to even stand, could no longer maintain its Mega Evolution form. After a flash of light, its body returned to its normal appearance.

.....

The cold rain relentlessly lashed at Lugia, who lay sprawled on the ground, and also poured down on Charizard, who was panting heavily.

The entire Lily of the Valley Stadium was silent, except for the patter of raindrops and the weary breathing of the two Pokémon.

All eyes were focused on the figure lying in the center of the huge crater in the middle of the field. An indescribable sense of tension enveloped the entire area, and a thought involuntarily arose in everyone's mind.

Was Lugia really defeated by Charizard?

However, on the other side of the field, Dakdo showed no sign of defeat.

He remained standing quietly, letting the rain soak his clothes, but when he saw Lugia fall and Charizard also fall to the ground exhausted, he let out a faint sigh.

The sigh was so soft that it was almost drowned out by the sound of the rain.

But this sigh contained no regret for failure, no astonishment at the reversal of fortune; instead, it carried a complex emotion that was hard to describe, as if it were not caused by Lugia's predicament, but by something else entirely.

Just as Ash subconsciously thought that Charizard's all-out attack had succeeded, even if it didn't win, it had at least put Lugia's condition very low.

The next second, his wave-guiding power and his gaze detected the anomaly almost simultaneously.

Within the massive crater created by Lugia, tiny green specks of light began to slowly emerge on the outline of Lugia's enormous body, growing more numerous and brighter over time.

That's... self-regeneration?

The thought flashed through Ash's mind like an electric current. He immediately realized something was wrong and almost instinctively shouted, "Charizard! Use Flamethrower!"

Upon hearing Ash's urgent command, Charizard struggled to lift its head.

It attempted to draw upon the remaining flame energy within its body, and indeed, a faint flame began to condense in its mouth.

However, the flame only flickered for a moment before being completely extinguished amidst the Charizard's pained expression.

Its stamina was already exhausted. It was a miracle that it hadn't lost consciousness yet, let alone used its flamethrower to attack.

"Roar……"

Charizard let out a low, unwilling whimper; the will that had kept it standing seemed to have reached its breaking point.

Its strong body could no longer support it; its heavy head drooped, its forelimbs went limp, and its whole body slowly bent toward the ground, finally kneeling helplessly in the mud.

Meanwhile, the green light spots on Lugia's body in the opposite crater had converged to their maximum.

A dazzling green light suddenly erupted, sweeping over Lugia's entire body like a tidal wave.

Bathed in this sacred light, all the wounds, large and small, on its body healed rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In just a few seconds, as the green light gradually faded, Lugia reappeared before everyone's eyes, without a trace of injury on his body.

Its snow-white feathers remained pristine even after being washed by the rain, and its eyes regained their original clarity and majesty.

"Waaaaah!!!"

A deafening roar erupted from Lugia's mouth.

This loud roar seemed to proclaim the power of legendary Pokémon, and also seemed to deny all the efforts Charizard had made before.

All the experience, skill, strength, and will that Charizard displayed in this battle completely collapsed with this self-regeneration.

It was just like how Darkrai used to deal with other Pokémon from other trainers.

This sense of despair was deeply imprinted in everyone's hearts.

.......

So it really does use self-regeneration?

Ash sighed slightly upon seeing this.

Ash knew that Lugia could use Recover, but he was never sure if the Lugia Darkrai sent out could use it. If this Lugia could use Recover, the situation would be completely different for Ash.

Even after using its self-regeneration ability, Lugia's stamina was clearly not fully restored, and it still had a chance to win, but...

To win, you must deplete Lugia's stamina in one go, which increases the difficulty by more than one level.

Ash looked at Charizard, who was kneeling in the rain and struggling to stand, and felt a surge of sorrow and gratitude.

It has done a good enough job, and could even be said to have far exceeded its own expectations.

He raised his hand and pointed the Poké Ball at Charizard.

"Come back, Charizard. You've done your best. Now leave the rest to us."

Upon hearing Ash's words, Charizard, which had been half-closing its eyes and seemed on the verge of collapsing, suddenly opened its eyes wide.

It didn't look at Lugia, but instead turned its head with difficulty and cast its gaze at Ash, its eyes filled with an almost stubborn determination.

Ash's hand stopped in mid-air, feeling the will transmitted by Charizard through the power of Aura.

He remained silent for a moment, then finally put the baby ball back in his hand.

"Okay...I understand." Ash replied softly, choosing to respect Charizard's decision at this moment.

On the other side of the field, Dakdo watched this scene and sighed helplessly.

Lugia's ability to regenerate itself can indeed be devastating, something he himself had already experienced firsthand.

In one of his matches against Lugia, after finally cornering Lugia, he considered giving up the moment Lugia used Regeneration.

However, the Pokémon he sent out to battle at that time, like the Charizard in front of him, refused to give up.

It withstood Lugia's attacks until the very last second.

In that challenge, it was the last Pokémon it chose. There was no one behind it to help it, and it didn't have the ability to say "it's up to us" like Ash did.

Darko regained his composure and refocused his gaze on the Charizard that was teetering on the edge of the field.

In any case, this battle has come to an end. Lugia's trump cards have been exhausted by Charizard.

"Lugia, Storm," Darkor calmly gave the command.

Lugia let out a majestic growl, its massive wings flapping wildly, sending a gust of wind sweeping towards Charizard.

Charizard's orange-red eyes still gleamed with an indomitable light.

It took a few difficult, quick steps forward, seemingly trying to face the terrifying storm and use its last bit of willpower to resist it.

However, this is already an impossible task.

It exhausted all its remaining strength by taking just a few steps forward.

"Roar……"

A deep roar escaped from the fire-breathing dragon's mouth.

Its massive body was blown away by the violent force the moment it came into contact with the storm.

It tumbled through the air, the rain and gale relentlessly pounding against it, taking away its last bit of strength.

Finally, Charizard collapsed helplessly onto the muddy ground, motionless.

The entire Lily of the Valley Stadium fell silent once again.

The sound of rain seemed to subside at that moment.

The audience members were perfectly in sync; no one dared to make a sound at that moment, and everyone simply watched the figure fall to the ground in silence.

Is it over?

Ash stood still, the Aura Force was almost unable to affect Charizard, leaving only a tiny, negligible amount of Aura on it, so weak that it was almost imperceptible.

Charizard has probably indeed been defeated, but it has done its best; it fought to the very last moment.

Seeing this, the referee quickly stepped forward, came to the Charizard's side, and carefully observed its condition.

No matter how you look at it, Charizard had clearly lost its ability to fight at this point.

So he raised the flag high, ready to announce Charizard's defeat.

The next second, just as the referee's hand was about to swing down...

The Charizard, which had been lying motionless on the ground just a second ago, suddenly twitched its sharp fingertips almost imperceptibly.

Immediately afterwards, a faint flame, like a candle flame about to go out, suddenly condensed on the body of the fire-breathing dragon.

Although the firelight was faint at first, it was particularly conspicuous in the rain.

The referee was startled by this sudden change, and the flag in his hand stopped in mid-air.

At this moment, the referee seemed to have anticipated Charizard's next move. Instinctively, he quickly ran off the field and distanced himself from Charizard.

Darkdoll never expected that Charizard, which was already so badly injured, could still move.

Lugia also looked over with a hint of doubt.

The faint flame did not go out over time; instead, it began to grow stronger and gather.

Before long, a dazzling flame lit up again, though it was not as intense as it had been in its heyday, it was still dazzling in the rain.

Just as Darkrod was on high alert, expecting Charizard to use its last bit of power to attack Lugia, he discovered that Charizard's target was not Lugia at all.

The gathered flames were actually heading towards the battlefield below.

All the flames plunged into the battlefield, without causing much of a ripple.

Only a muffled explosion came from underground, then it disappeared without a trace, as if nothing had happened.

Explosion and fire...

Ash recognized the move, of course.

After using Overheat, this is Charizard's most powerful move to date.

But why...?

Xiao Zhi's questions could not be answered at this point.

In a last-ditch effort, Charizard inexplicably unleashed an explosive burning attack on the battlefield, ultimately rendering it unable to continue fighting.

Its strong body had completely lost its strength and could no longer support itself.

Before losing consciousness completely, it glanced meaningfully in the direction of Ash and Pikachu.

There seemed to be a sense of entrustment and confidence in them in his eyes.

Then, it struggled to move its body, using the last of its strength, and staggered to a huge rock scattered on the ground.

It leaned its body against the cold rock and slowly closed its eyes. Even at this moment, Charizard was unwilling to fall to the ground, but instead chose to use the rock to support its body.

At this point, there were no more doubts.

The referee raised his flag high, and his voice resounded clearly throughout the stadium.

Charizard is unable to battle! Lugia wins!

……