Indigo League 4: Charizard

**"Indigo League 4: Charizard"** is the is the forty-seventh (forty-ninth in Archive of Our Own and Royal Road) chapter of *Pokémon Reset Bloodlines.* The night before the sixth round, Misty and Anabel discuss future plans, including the Whirl Cup for the former and for the latter her first date with Ash. The sixth round begins and Ash is set to fight Cross, who despite having made quite a bad first impression seems to have more in common with Ash than it seems at first glance. For his part, Charizard is eager to have a rematch with Cross' Incineroar, who previously defeated and called him trash back when he was a Charmander.

## Plot

The night after the fifth round, Misty and Anabel are watching a video of a Whirl Cup edition from several decades ago, where Misty's grandmother Ondine took part. Misty comments that her grandmother and her Pokémon seem a lot more skilled than she is, but Anabel attributes it to her being older and more experienced, and she still has time to prepare for the Whirl Cup next year. Anabel also mentions that no matter what happens, she will make sure Misty makes it in time for the tournament, while also telling her she knows how hard she's been training and assures her she'll be ready when the time comes.

From his own room, Ash overhears the girls' conversation, but doesn't pay much attention to it as he's too tired and focused on his match tomorrow with Cross, and Pikachu's nagging about sleeping with the girls only continues to annoy him and makes it hard for him to fall asleep.

Anabel then mentions to Misty of her plans for her date with Ash tomorrow after his match, asking her if she's fine with it. Misty replies that she is, since she and Iris can take care of Yellow for Red during his matches, and perhaps go and have some fun of their own in the meantime while she and Ash enjoy their time alone.

After falling asleep, Ash finds himself having a strange dream, and this time around he's accompanied by Charizard. The place looks a lot like the Hero's Ruin from Unova that he once visited back in The Old Timeline. Three doors are in front of them, one with a Golett, another with a Krokorok, and another with a Darumaka. They choose the Golett door and suddenly the passageway is surrounded by a pink mist, and they reach the next area only to be attacked by a Cofagrigus that Ash strikes with a Metal Claw, giving Charizard the opening to knock it out, and then a Dream Ball appears in Ash's hand. After a few minutes of silence, Charizard questions Ash about dealing with two pasts, since he's been thinking about it since his meeting with Kaia, as she wasn't part of his life back in The Old Timeline and that bothers him. Ash assures him they are who they are, since he still feels as himself even as he ages, and that Misty and Iris are still his friends and perhaps will be something more in the future. Charizard begins to talk about his relationship with the girls, but Ash cuts him off, saying he has enough with accepting that he's grown to like them as more than just his friends and enjoying the idea of having more dates with them, but he's not ready to go into that territory so fast, and tells Charizard to tell the others to please lay it off for a while. Charizard promises to deliver the message, but can't guarantee the others will comply. As they continue moving forward, Charizard asks if he wants to catch the Cofagrigus, but Ash refuses, though Charizard continues to carry it in case he changes his mind. They reach the center of the ruins, where there's a golden gemstone that looks like an Odd Keystone, and Ash recounts what happened in the original timeline, when an old man took it and unleashed a Sygiliph and a bunch of more Cofagrigus on them. Before Ash can take it, however, the Pokédex sounds the alarm and wakes Ash up.

The group heads off for their morning run, though they end up having to go a little further due to the city being too crowded. They land themselves in an island surrounded by whirlpools and populated only by the Dragonite line, where Lucario mentions he and Sir Aaron were rescued by them after getting lost in a storm. Iris too finds the island familiar, with Misty guessing she might have been here too, and the wild girl suggests they could go bathe under some waterfalls she spotted before in order to save some time. Misty is a bit reluctant, embarrassed at the idea of bathing with Ash, but seeing Ash is busy helping a Dragonair who apparently has difficulties to fly, she ends up agreeing.

Ash is helping the Dragonair fly using a net of Butterfree's creation as a spring so he can jump high, and in doing so perfects a Dragon Dance. Primeape questions whether this'll help them beat Cross in their match, but Ash just felt the urge to help the dragon without expecting any reward. Dragonair seems curious about the Pokémon League, so after Ash explains it, offers to have a sparring match with Charizard for a warmup, with they gladly accept. Primeape is surprised that the Dragonair is so strong despite being unable to fly, and during the match Charizard ends up, at Ash's suggestion, channeling the energy of his Dragon Tail into his claws, changing the attack into Dragon Claw. Ash thanks Dragonair for the training, who wraps him into a hug and seems dismayed that they have to leave.

Sometime later, Ash's Pokédex finishes the analysis on Cross and his Pokémon for the upcoming match. The data includes that he comes from Alola, where he built his initial team before heading off to Kanto to participate in the Indigo League, as well that he often visits libraries and prepares for an excursion to Mount Tensei for reasons unknown, much to Ash's surprise. The Pokédex begins listing on the twelve known Pokémon that Cross has used thus far, the Lycanroc that Ash saw before, whom he carries outside the Poké Ball; his Incineroar, who defeated Charizard back when he was with Damian; a Vikavolt, who apparently isn't very keen on following Cross' orders and thus only used sparingly; a Toucannon, who doesn't move much but packs a lot of power with its Beak Blast; a Lurantis that can use a very powerful Solar Blade; a Toxapex who seemingly has a knack for playing pranks around; others including Pangoro, Mudsdale and Bewear; a Mantine used mostly for water transport; a Crabrawler who sweeped Cross' first round opponent; and lastly an Alolan Muk. Ash can't help but notice the similarities between several of his Pokémon and Cross's, and wonders if there's more to him than it seemed during their first encounter the day before. Nevertheless, Ash decides he's going to defeat Cross, one way or another.

The Top 32 round gets underway, and Paul finds himself facing Jeanette Fisher. They send out Hypno and Golduck respectively for the first bout. The fight begins with a Signal Beam clash that explodes in a blinding multicolored light, which Hypno takes advantage of to teleport away and land a Drain Punch on Golduck. The Water-type counters with Hydro Pump that Hypno avoids by teleporting yet again and prepares to attack again with Drain Punch. Golduck however anticipates and grabs Hypno from behind. Paul orders Hypno to teleport away, but Jeanette counters ordering Golduck to use Disable, stopping his escape, and then calling for a Zen Headbutt. Hypno uses his own Disable to deactivate Golduck's attack before it lands, and in retaliation Golduck uses Encore, leaving Hypno forced to use his last move and unable to use attacks, before using Fling to toss him across the field and knocking him out. Paul returns Hypno and throws a Net Ball, revealing a Starmie. The bout starts with Golduck firing Signal Beam and Starmie Thunderbolt, the latter of which ends up winning in the clash, and Paul capitalizes on it to launch a second one and knock Golduck out, evening the tables.

Jeanette sends out her Beedrill, who starts out with an X-Scissor that meets Starmie's Gyro Ball, with both of them evenly matched. Beedrill uses Agility for a speed boost, while Starmie counters with Psyshock for supereffective damage. Beedrill dodges and lands a Poison Jab. Starmie continues to attack, but Beedrill's speed makes it impossible to land a hit. Paul briefly considers ordering Starmie to use Rain Dance to hamper Beedrill, but he discards it as Erika's strategy didn't quite meld with his battle style. Instead, when Beedrill fires a Pin Missile, he orders Starmie to counter with Blizzard, which proves effective on stopping the projectiles and freezing Beedrill's wings to hamper its flight. Capitalizing on it, Starmie quickly fires another Psyshock. As Beedrill begins to fall from the air, Jeanette returns it to its ball before crashing, with the judge declaring it unable to battle. Jeanette then sends out her Scizor, which gives Paul a sense of early victory with the Pokémon he has in reserve. Jeanette however catches wind of this and reveals her ace in the hole: a necklace holding her Key Stone, and it's then Paul notices the item holder on Scizor holding a Mega Stone. Both the commentator and Paul's Pokédex explain the Mega Evolution to Paul, who is caught off-guard by this. Scizor then charges using Bullet Punch. Starmie tries to defend with Gyro Ball, but Scizor's increased speed gets the hit too fast, leaving huge damage afterwards. Starmie attempts to launch a Thunderbolt to at least leave some damage, but Scizor blocks it with a Ground-type Hidden Power, before delivering another Bullet Punch to finish the bout.

Down to only one Pokémon, Paul considers his options. He quickly discards Magmar and Fearow, and after struggling between Nidoking and Torterra, he ultimately chooses the latter, thinking him the most reliable option he has at the moment. The bout begins with Torterra using Curse to power himself up, and Scizor striking with X-Scissor. Paul snaps his fingers to get Torterra to fire a Seed Bomb at point-blank range for maximum impact, and after driving Scizor away begins a barrage of Stone Edge. Scizor deflects the sharp stones with Bullet Punch, even sending a few shards back at Torterra, who is unable to dodge and Paul orders another Curse to power up attack and defense even more. Jeanette orders Scizor to "perform a feint", which briefly confuses Paul as he expects the move called Feint, but turns out it's just swerving to dodge the incoming Stone Edge and strike with X-Scissor from the side, which triggers Torterra's Overgrow. Jeanette explains she taught Scizor some grammar lessons to codify those orders, much like Paul does with his finger snaps, which annoys him. Scizor fires another Hidden Power, and Torterra counters with Leaf Storm. The latter overpowers the former, but barely strikes damage on Scizor himself, who then fires a Flash Cannon. The second Leaf Storm barely holds it back and causes an explosion, but he knows he can't risk on them attacking with Flash Cannon until Leaf Storm fully drains, so he calls for a Light Screen to even things up a bit. Hoping to lure them into close-range combat, Paul orders Torterra to rain down Stone Edge all over except a small area around, and Jeanette and Scizor take the bait and charge in. Torterra fires a Seed Bomb that Scizor dodges, and prepares for the final strike. As soon as Scizor jumps above Torterra, the turtle swallows the Seed Bomb he was preparing, charging up with additional energy, and immediately traps Scizor with a Giga Drain, flinging the Bug/Steel-type to the ground. Immediately, Paul orders Torterra to use Earthquake on Scizor directly, which causes enough damage to win them the match by the hair. He returns Torterra and sees how Jeanette carries Scizor on her own, and feels relieved that he managed to win the match.

Sometime later, Ash's match against Cross gets underway. Cross begins with Incineroar and Ash goes with Kingler. Incineroar fires a Will-O-Wisp, which Kingler douses with Mud Shot, before firing a Bubblebeam that Incineroar dodges. Kingler then charges with a double Crabhammer, while Incineroar prepares a Thunder Punch. However, Kingler wasn't planning on using the Crabhammers to attack, instead using them to strike the ground with enough force to shake the field and its surroundings, making Incineroar stumble and leaving him wide open for a clean hit. Cross decides to switch Incineroar out and sends out his Lurantis, who quickly opens with a Leaf Storm, which Kingler counters with Rock Slide before striking again with Crabhammer. Lurantis begins to charge a Solar Blade, and Kingler blasts it with Bubblebeam as he tries to scutter away. The attack finishes charging and Lurantis tries to bring down the giant sword on Kingler, who blocks it with Metal Claw. After disengaging, Lurantis fires another Leaf Storm that Kingler blocks the same way as before, but Ash quickly takes notice that the attack is stronger than before, breaking through Kingler's defense and hitting him. Ash confirms with his Pokédex that Lurantis has Contrary, and Cross proceeds to capitalize on it using Superpower repeatedly. Kingler manages to dodge the attacks, but each of them leaves a bigger crater on the field, and quickly this becomes a problem as it makes it hard for the crab to move around. As they're unable to use a Z-Move since Kingler no longer has Stomp, Ash orders Kingler to use Crabhammer with both claws once more. Cross, thinking that they're trying to land a critical hit on them, prepares to fire another Leaf Storm at them. However, Kingler instead slams the ground and causes another tremor, throwing Lurantis off-balance enough to miss its attack, and giving him the opening to get close and strike. The blow knocks Lurantis into one of the craters, and Kingler finishes the job using a Bubblebeam, winning the first bout for Ash.

In the stands, Misty is excited as she loves seeing Ash's Water-type in action, though she's also worried because Kingler didn't come out unscathed. Oak comments that he's specially worried about Cross' Incineroar, who looks fairly strong as is and will probably be his trump card. Iris questions this, wondering why he would bring him out first, and Oak speculates that Cross might have tried to intimidate Ash with overwhelming power from the get-go, but since that didn't work, he switched tactics. Misty glances at the holes on the field, and realizes that was something Ash would probably do given the chance, and this similarity bothers her.

Back on the field, Cross recalls Lurantis and sends out his Lycanroc. Despite being tired, Kingler decides to keep going and see what Lycanroc can do since he won't be able to rest anyway. Lycanroc starts out summoning Stone Edge pillars on each crater, making them explode to fill them up, sending some stone shards in Kingler's direction. While the crab tried to shield himself, Lycanroc quickly charges in from a side and strikes him with a Thunder Punch, knocking him out and evening the score. In the stands, Delia comments that wasn't too great, but Oak adds that it wasn't too bad either, as Kingler forced Cross to reveal his team entirely, while Ash still has his two remaining Pokémon hidden, which gives him an edge in surprise factor.

Ash recalls Kingler and goes over his remaining Pokémon. He wants to save Charizard for last for obvious reasons, which leaves him with Muk, Yanma, a Tauros he has yet to use, and Serperior. He ends up choosing Muk, which leaves Cross unimpressed. Lycanroc opens the bout with a Snarl, which Muk dodges by turning into a flat puddle on the ground, before countering with a Sludge Bomb. Lycanroc evades it and charges in to attack with Crush Claw, but Muk dodges every slash by morphing his body so he only strikes thin air, which seemingly surprises Cross. As it turns out, his Alolan Muk has a more solid structure that makes it less flexible compared to his Kantonian counterpart. Muk attacks with Brick Break landing a hit, while Lycanroc retaliates with a point-blank Snarl. Muk then escapes underground using Dig, while Lycanroc, rather than waiting for him to come out, decides to try and force him out using Stone Edge. However, Muk manages to punch Lycanroc in the back with Brick Break before getting struck by two rocky pillars. After a barrage of Sludge Bomb from Muk, he and Lycanroc engage in a Brick Break versus Crush Claw clash, but Lycanroc uses his other paw to prepare a Thunder Punch to electrocute Muk by surprise, getting him in the arm. Trying to minimize the damage, Muk cuts off his own arm and escapes underground, much to the shock of everyone present, although he quickly reabsorbs it shortly after.

In the stands, Delia comments that something about Cross is bothering her, but isn't sure what it is. Misty mentions that Cross has similarities to Ash, which Oak confirming that the two have similar battling styles, of using their Pokémon abilities and the terrain in creative and unorthodox ways, with Delia recalling how Ash defeated Lilo's Mudsdale using Pikachu in what seemed like an unwinnable scenario. Oak adds that when two trainers who have similar enough styles, victory can be uncertain, coming down to factors like power, speed, cleverness, creativity and even luck. Delia doesn't like the comparison, but agrees Oak has a point.

Back on the field, Lycanroc attacks Muk using Crush Claw but fails again, and when Muk tries to go underground for another sneak attack, Lycanroc uses Stone Edge to block the tunnels, leaving them at a stalemate. Muk says he wants to try something he perfected the other day, and seeing nothing to lose, Ash allows him. Muk fires an attack that turns out to be Moonblast, a Fairy-type move that tears through Lycanroc's Snarl, much to the surprise of Ash and everyone else. Once he snaps out of the shock, Cross orders Lycanroc to use Stone Edge, while Ash orders Muk to use Moonblast once more, destroying the stone pillars before they cause damage. Getting an idea, Ash orders Muk to use Dig and then Moonblast. Lycanroc attempts a preemptive Stone Edge to force Muk out, but the Moonblast explodes first, causing a harsh burst of light that leaves Lycanroc temporarily blinded. Muk jumps over Lycanroc with a Body Slam and tries to suffocate him under his body, but in a last desperate move Lycanroc summons a Stone Edge pillar and makes it explode to get Muk off of him, knocking him out and winning the bout, but looking a lot worse for wear.

Ash recalls Muk and sends out Charizard, who finishes Lycanroc with a single Flamethrower, leaving Cross only with Incineroar for the final bout. In the stands, Anabel thinks to herself that the result of the battle will be determined by a duel of willpower, and the one with the strongest drive to win will prevail. Cross brings back Incineroar, and the two start out firing similarly powerful Flamethrowers at each other. Charizard attacks with a Flame Charge to capitalize on speed, using it to dodge Incineroar's Thunder Punch and get behind to attack with Dragon Claw. Incineroar replies with Throat Chop. Seeing they're evenly matched on ranged and melee attacks, Charizard uses Flame Charge for another speed boost, and manages to push Incineroar back, albeit not causing severe damage. Cross orders Incineroar to use Will O' Wisp, which surprises Ash since that attack won't cause them any damage, but it turns out Incineroar was aiming for Charizard's face in order to blind him, giving Incineroar the chance to shoot him a Flamethrower to the chest. As he gets back on his feet, Incineroar boasts that while Kingler did a number on him, it won't be enough for Charizard to beat him, no matter that he has a better trainer now. Charizard uses Flame Charge once more and flies at Incineroar, who prepares for another Will O'Wisp to defend himself. Ash orders Charizard to use Flamethrower again mid-flight, which Charizard does, albeit sucking out the Flame Charge's energy to give it an extra power boost. After getting hit, Incineroar fires a Flamethrower of his own, which Charizard dodges by flying, before launching yet another Flamethrower, and then using a Flame Charge to get in range. As Incineroar replies with Iron Head, the two engage in a close-range arm-wrestling with each other, with Charizard using his wings to push harder, while Incineroar digs his toe claws on the ground for more leverage.

Charizard tells Incineroar he should just give up, as he has more limbs, which Incineroar replies that he won't lose to someone without goals. Charizard is about to reply that Ash has the goal to save the world, but before he can finish, Incineroar boasts about his and Cross' goal to defeat Ho-Oh, and that all that matters is being the strongest. Charizard however counters that he and Ash have grown stronger together, and that they have more to do with their lives even after achieving their goal, while Cross and Incineroar have nothing beyond theirs, leaving Incineroar unable to reply. He then headbutts Incineroar before using Slash followed by Dragon Claw. Incineroar replies with Will O'Wisp and Thunder Punch. However, as Incineroar attempts to continue capitalizing on the supereffectiveness of the latter attack, Charizard uses Metal Claw to nullify the damage, much to the shock of both Cross and Incineroar. Charizard then strikes Incineroar in the chin, throwing him off-balance before spewing another Flamethrower boosted by Flame Charge. Despite the damage, Incineroar refuses to give up, telling him that not even a Z-Move would save them. Charizard shrugs it off, feeling like there's not even need for that before attacking again. When Charizard manages to overpower Incineroar's Flamethrower, the latter uses the explosion to get close and pushes him into a wall, leaving his wings pinned and unable to get away flying. He then charges Thunder Punch on both hands and traps Charizard in a grapple to electrocute him, and this time he can't use Metal Claw to cancel it. Charizard tries to blow a Flamethrower at Incineroar, but he just laughs it off. In a desperate move, Ash yells at Charizard to use Metal Claw and do what he did in Dragonite Island, but in reverse. Charizard activates the attack, but then channels the energy to his tail, turning it into Iron Tail and stabbing it to the ground, sending the electricity to the ground. In the middle of the shock of Cross and Incineroar, Charizard grabs Incineroar by the wrists to avoid electric contact, and after one last Flame Charge, he prepares to use his Seismic Toss to finish the battle. Incineroar gets tossed to the ground and doesn't get back up, so the battle has ended with a victory for them.

After Ash congratulates Charizard, Cross recalls Incineroar and leaves without a word. Ash wonders why Cross seemed so determined to prove himself, and Charizard tells him what he heard from Incineroar, prompting Ash to follow after Cross before he leaves. Upon reaching him, Cross thinks Ash has come to rub his victory on him even more, but Ash denies it, revealing that he knows of his goal and that he too saw Ho-Oh at the beginning of his own journey. A surprised Cross asks him if he got a Rainbow Wing, but Ash reveals that he doesn't and asks him if it's important. Cross replies that it's a sign of acknowledgement from Ho-Oh, and wonders why he didn't get it, despite being seemingly acknowledged by Kahuna Hala and Tapu Koko. Ash replies that he doesn't know and doesn't think it matters, and that he's only acknowledged because of everything he's done to be here, and the same applies for Cross himself and his Pokémon. Incineroar and Lycanroc then come out of their Poké Balls upon hearing this, and Cross voices that they should be resting, but they deny it, wanting to be there for him and showing Ash there's care on both sides. Ash then states that he won't pretend he understands Cross, but he acknowledges he has the same drive to win and show the efforts of his training, and thanks him for the battle hoping they can have a rematch one day. Cross, confused, replies that if Ash could train Charizard to be as strong as he is, he must have skills, and tells him to meet again in Johto, after he's done with Ho-Oh, before leaving followed by Incineroar and Lycanroc. Ash wonders if Cross got the message, and Charizard assures him he did, as he knows from experience what is to be that stubborn. The two then head off to leave the stadium, wanting to take a well-earned rest.

## Continuity

* The Indigo League Conference continues, going through the sixth round.
* Ash has his first experience in the Dream World.
* First appearance of the Dragonair that will eventually become Ash's Dragonite.
* Charizard continues to recount some events from the *Charmander Gaiden*, namely his loss to Incineroar. He also references Butterfree's new relationship with Viv as told in the *Butterfree Interlude II.*
* Cross references Black Gaiman, the recent winner in the Unova League, and his habit of having a Musharna eat his dreams, as revealed in the *Head Gym Leader Drake Interlude*.
* Muk is revealed to have broken the four-move limit, learning Moonblast.