Charizard was on fire, quite literally. It flew off with the combination of 'Flame wings' and 'Wing attack'. Darmanitan didn't dare to block it this time and moved left, but it was still hit by the attack. After the 'Blaze' was activated, it had already come out of confusion. It was able to save its vital parts; however, its right arm had been separated from its body.
ROARRR!!!!
It cried in pain. It had never in its life been so humiliated before. It knew that the best thing to do now was to run, but its pride held it in. It faced Charizard again, and a whitish aura enveloped itself. This was 'Icy Force'. The whitish aura expanded and moved towards Charizard. Darmanitan didn't have good mastery over this move, but it still chose to do it for two reasons.
First, it was very hot here due to Charizard's 'Blaze.' Even Darmanitan, a genuine Fire-type Pokémon, was not able to fully withstand it. So, it used 'Icy Force' to lessen the temperature.
Secondly, most of its attacks were Fire-types, and seeing Charizard's almost white flame, full of power, it figured that its flames would have next to no effect.
Charizard saw that attack, but it was not scared. It could feel ample amounts of energy inside its body. It had never felt like this before. It felt that all of its body senses had been heightened, its raw power had reached another level, and it could freely manipulate fire as much as it wanted.
Seeing the attack, it fired up a full-power 'Flamethrower.' Before 'Blaze', the color of Charizard's flames was a mixture of red and white with 80% red and 20% white. Now, the color was a mixture of 40% red and 60% white.
The temperature and power of its flames had also increased massively. Since the 'Flamethrower' was at close range, both of the attacks clashed with each other.
BOMMMMMM
Axel could see something fly out from the impact, and it was Darmanitan. Darmanitan could not contend with Charizard's flames now. Most of its arm seemed to have serious burn marks, and the skin seemed to be melting. It must be known that Darmanitan was a Fire-type Pokémon, so it obviously had natural resistance to fire. Moreover, it was a pseudo-king rank Pokémon. So, seeing such an injury shocked Axel to his core.
'Charizard had powered up a lot,' he thought with a smile on his face.
However, he was worried. 'Blaze' would make Charizard very powerful, but Charizard would also lose its senses. After the battle, how was he going to control Charizard? That was going to be a massive headache.
Just as he was thinking about how to deal with the issue, the battle was already over. Charizard used another combination of 'Wing attack' and 'Flame armor,' and Darmanitan was finished. The fight was over in less than 30 seconds. Previously, Charizard could hold up its Blaze for 5 minutes and more. Even by rough calculation, it still had 4 and a half minutes left.
After finishing the battle, it started to look around and found Axel a bit farther from before. It stared at him.
This was the moment. What was going to happen? Axel was ready to tell Rome to help him out, but it turned out that he didn't need any help. Suddenly, Charizard gave a soft smile, showing its canines towards Axel.
"It has not lost its mind?" asked Axel to himself.
Charizard was acting like it was in complete control of its mind and body. Even though its eyes were completely red, it had not attacked Axel till now. Why was that so?
---
Ding!
This is the result of 'Blaze' (mastered)
---
Now it made all sense. Axel didn't know the exact changes that happened after 'Blaze' was mastered, but not losing its mind must be one of them. Axel was so preoccupied with all other things like saving his life, finding his lost team, and winning against the leader Darmanitan that he had not considered the possibility of Charizard controlling itself.
Charizard then looked at the side of Arcanine, where it was fighting against 2 Darmanitans. It had already defeated one of them, but it came at a price. One of its rear limbs had a big cut, and Axel could see white bone from it. This had basically decreased its speed and evasion capability to an all-time low. So, now it was trying to defend against all the attacks that were coming to it.
Arcanine was a speed-type Pokémon. It was not proficient in defending, but due to its high speed, it could dodge the attacks. Now, since its limb was injured, it was in a pickle. Just when one of the Darmanitans was going for 'Fire punch,' it was hit by Charizard's 'Dragon claw'. The huge claw tore through its skin and muscles.
Charizard then fired up a point-blank range 'Flamethrower' towards the newly injured Darmanitan. That Darmanitan had no chance to win this battle now. It was now heavily injured, and Charizard could finish it off in any second.
With Charizard assisting Arcanine, the tables had turned. The pressure on Arcanine had reduced to a comfortable position, and just after 2 minutes, the battle was over.
They had WON!!.
It looked unbelievable, but they had won. If Axel had been asked the same questions 4 days ago, his answer might have been different. If he was asked whether Charizard could have won against the leader Darmanitan, then the answer would have been a resounding NO.
However, due to a series of good luck and encounters, Charizard had ranked up from rare rank to pseudo-king rank in just 3-4 months. This was an unbelievable achievement. Charizard could be a part of his main team. He had made a list of 6 Pokémon he would use in battle for the league. Now, adding Charizard would give him a huge advantage.
"Charizard, can you control 'Blaze'?" asked Axel with curiosity.
Charizard nodded its head in confirmation.
"If you can, then deactivate it right now."
Charizard closed its eyes for a few seconds, and the ferocity and the powerful aura it gave before vanished. The fire surrounding it started to decrease, and when it opened its eyes, it looked normal. Its eyes right now were not red like before.
Axel helped Rome and gave him the remaining potions that he had for Arcanine. The process took some minutes, and now Arcanine was out of danger.
"Roarr…." it cried in pain.
It was out of danger, but that didn't mean that it could fight. Rome called out Arcanine inside its master ball.
"So, what do you think we should do now?" asked Axel.
"The radio and communication system are still not working. I think we should slowly descend the mountain while keeping an eye on our team. This place is too hot for us to stay," replied Rome.
"Okay, let's do that," Axel also confirmed Rome's way of proceeding.
Both of them were on the back of Charizard, and they slowly started to descend. After around 20 minutes, they were on the ground. Rome took a deep breath.
"I really didn't think that I could survive. I must thank you, Axel. Also, thanks, Charizard, for helping us," said Rome while giving a low bow to them.
ROARRR….
Charizard was saying that it was okay. This was its job. If Charizard had not ranked up and powered up greatly, they could never have left that mountain alive. Rome was very thankful to them from the bottom of his heart.
However, he was also very worried about his teammates. He didn't know if they had survived, and seeing the power of the leader Darmanitan, he was very skeptical.
"Did the radio work?" asked Axel.
"No, it is still not working. I think we should move a little closer to the base for it to work."
They started to move, but before that, Axel called out Venusaur and Gogoat to heal Arcanine as much as they could. The temperature was now normal (for this island), and both of them could come out. Arcanine was still not fully healed, but it was better than before. They started to move slowly.
Arcanine was still inside its ball. Charizard was also inside its ball. Even though it had won the battle and become the MVP of the match, it was also injured. It had also activated 'Blaze,' so now its stamina and energy were at an all-time low.
Trikkkkk.. Trikkkkkk….
"Wait! Wait!! I think I am getting the signal. Hello, Hello, is anybody there?" said Rome while turning the radio for better clarity.
"Trik….. Rome.. Trik… Rome, is that you?"
"General! Are you okay? Yes, I and Axel are fine. Where are you?" asked Rome with excitement. At least their leader was alive. That gave Rome a lot of confidence.
"Trik… Trik... Rome, we are on the base right now. Adam is seriously injured, but there is nothing to worry about. I will send a rescue team to get you. Open your GPS so we could track you.. Trik.. Trik…"
"No, we are fine here. We could come up to the base. Just wait for us," replied Rome.
"Alright, you can reach here in 3-4 days. We would be waiting. If you are in any trouble, send us the signal."
The connection was not very good, so they decided to directly meet the team at the base.
Rome took a deep breath in relief. Axel may not have any closeness to the team, but that could not be said for Rome. He had been with this team for many years, and now they were like his family.
They started to move towards the base, but before that, Axel said, "Rome, I have something to do before."