Inn___
"Kota! We found a secret passage in the hot spring!, " Ash came together with Brock and Misty in the living room where Kota laid himself in a relaxing pose.
"A secret passage?, " Said Kota, then he remembered the path that led Ash to the Cinnabar Gym.
"Yes, we found it because of Togepi, " Ash was eager to explore the passage.
"Then what are you waiting for? Go and search what's inside the secret passage, " Kota closed his eyes and went to continue sleeping on the sofa.
"You are not coming?, " Misty asked as she looked at Kota who waved his hand at them.
"Okay, let's go!, " Ash then took the lead towards the secret passage followed by Misty and Brock.
"I will battle the gym when the time is right, " Muttered Kota, he crossed his legs and put them on the table.
* * *
*Clank*
The door to the inn opened, footsteps were heard till the living room.
"Is it already over?, " Kota rubbed his eyes and slowly got up from the sofa.
Stretching his arms and legs, Kota saw Ash returned back with Misty, Brock and Blaine.
"Already over?, " Asked Kota, making them surprised by how he knew.
"You already knew about the gym?, " Asked Misty, Kota nodded his head and picked up a fruit from the fruit basket.
"How did you know about the gym?, " Blaine was confused and also perplexed.
"My secrets have their own secrets, " Said Kota as he walked towards his room to spend time.
Next day___
Kota didn't go with Ash and the group to battle for the gym yet.
Because he knew that Team Rocket would definitely come and cause problems.
So he planned to wait. He will challenge the gym tomorrow when Blaine's pokemons has healed.
As time passed, Kota was strength training together with Charizard behind the inn.
*Boom*
The loud explosion sound made Kota and Charizard look towards the mountain.
"Come on!, " Kota said while jumping on top of Charizard who flew in the sky.
As they near the mountain, Kota and Charizard could hear screams.
"Charizard, Fire Blast!, " Kota ordered Charizard to attack on the mountain.
"Chaa!"
Charizard shot a fire pattern on the mountain which caused a great explosion.
*Boom!*
With continuous use of Fire Blast, Charizard opened a huge crater of the mountain wall.
"Dragon Claw!, " Charizard had already learnt all of the moves he could.
With the light green shining claws, Charizard slash towards the crater.
*Boom*
The crater was shattered and a hole formed from where Kota could see Ash, Misty, Brock and Blaine.
Multiple pokemons were helping them to block the lava from flowing towards the passage.
"Chaaa!"
Charizard roared and flew inside the hole with Kota on his back.
*Thud*
As he landed, the ground trembled. Kota came down and looked at the situation.
"Kota!, " Everyone was shocked by how Kota and Charizard managed to come in by creating a hole in the mountain wall.
"Charizard, block the lava!, " Kota turned towards Charizard and pointed at the flowing lava.
"Chaaa!"
Charizard nodded his head and immediately flew right between the path of the lava.
With a very huge piece of rock from the battleground, Charizard placed it in the path.
With nowhere to flow, the lava settled down in a pool which didn't overflow.
"Thank you so much, Kota, " Blaine showed his gratitude towards Kota.
"Is he your starter pokemon?, " Misty came forward and looked at the huge figure of Charizard.
"But why does it look so big?, " Brock muttered, but then Ash's Charizard flew and stood in front of Kota's Charizard.
When everyone looked at the two Charizards, they had the same thoughts.
"Why is Ash's Charizard so small compared to Kota's?, " Misty asked, Ash's Charizard was half the size of Kota's Charizard.
"You could say that every pokemon of the same species can also be different in many ways, " Kota explained the few small details to Misty.
"Chaa!"
Ash's Charizard had to look up to see Kota's Charizard, the height difference was that wide.
"Magmar!"
A red and yellow pokemon about 1.7 meters tall came forward and stood next to Ash's Charizard.
Magmar, a fire-type pokemon. It's skin is so hot that it can boil water with just a single touch.
Magmar, standing in front of Kota's Charizard, was even smaller. It could only reach the waist part.
"I gym match!, " Suddenly, Ash remembered that he was actually having a gym battle.
"This place can no longer have gym matches, " Said Brock looking around the cave and only destruction was visible.
"Don't worry, Ash. I have another place where we can continue our gym match, " Blaine's words made Ash immediately pumped up in energy.
"Ya, I will definitely get the Volcano Badge, " Ash flared up and then the group came down the lava filled mountain.
With the battlefield destroyed, Ash and Blaine agree to battle one-on-one on the summit of the volcano, Blaine with Magmar, and Ash with Charizard.
As the battle begins, both sides trade Flamethrowers, and Magmar counters with a Fire Blast, which Charizard digs in and manages to deflect.
Magmar then proceeds to hit Charizard with a Skull Bash, pushing him into a pillar. Charizard begins to fall towards the lava, but he recovers and locks up with Magmar.
Magmar then uses Charizard's own momentum against him by flipping him over and pushing the two into the lava.
Although Ash calls foul, Blaine reminds him that under the volcano is still part of their agreed-upon battlefield.
However, once the two emerge from the lava, Charizard is now the one with the upper hand, using his flight to create an aerial Submission attack to then finish off Magmar with Seismic Toss.
Having won the battle, Ash proceeds to congratulate Charizard and return him, only to be blasted in the face with another Flamethrower.
As it turns out, Charizard only obeyed Ash in order to satisfy his competitive streak against Magmar, and nothing more. Still, Ash had earned his Volcano Badge.
As all of this happened, Kota stood on the back of Charizard and smiled.
"How should I win?".