As the trumpet sounded, every Charizard in the valley, from the entrance all the way to the deepest reaches, including the strongest one, raised their head at the same instant. The last time that trumpet had sounded was a year ago, during the earth-shaking battle that had rippled across the entire valley. Many of the Charizards still remembered it vividly.
They hadn't expected another Charizard to take on that same challenge after only a year. Who was bold enough to try?
Under the trumpet's call, large numbers of Charizards converged on the valley entrance. The entrance area was a wide, open field, and that was where the trial would be conducted. As more and more Charizards arrived, the entrance became increasingly packed.
Despite the crowd, Ash and Charizard remained in a clear pocket, untouched by any of the approaching dragons. Centered on Ash, a wide circle had been instinctively cleared at the entrance. Anyone with a discerning eye would have known that the figure standing there was the one who had issued the challenge.
Many of the Charizards turned their gaze on Ash's Charizard. So this was the Charizard who wanted to challenge all of them this time. Looking him over, he was clearly well-trained, but he didn't carry the kind of overwhelming aura they remembered.
They still remembered last year's challenger vividly. For one thing, that Charizard had trained at Charicific Valley itself, and although the stay hadn't been long, its formidable strength had left a deep impression on the rest.
For another, when that Charizard had begun his challenge of every dragon in the valley, the aura he gave off had been hard to even look at directly.
The battle hadn't yet started, and he'd already imprinted himself on the memory of every Charizard there.
This new Charizard didn't carry the same kind of aura. He was strong, sure, but the watching Charizards didn't believe he could match the feats of the previous challenger. And even that previous Charizard had ultimately fallen at the hands of their strongest.
Regardless of whatever else factored in, defeat was defeat. That was the cruel trial. This new challenge would surely end even worse than the last.
"All right, Ash. All the Charizards in the valley have arrived. Which one do you want to start with?" Liza glanced across the gathering and assessed the situation in an instant.
The number of Charizards was vast, and they all looked similar to each other. A normal person would have been overwhelmed just trying to count the dense crowd, let alone confirm whether every single Charizard had actually shown up. Liza, though, could do it on sight. In her understanding of Charizards, she was second to none.
The clearing was now completely packed, and the numbers far exceeded what Ash and his group had expected. There were over two hundred Charizards in total. Two hundred and eighty-seven, to be precise. Even if dealing with one Charizard took only a minute, that was 287 minutes total. Just shy of five hours. If a single fight took five minutes, the total climbed to a full twenty-five hours.
Lance had taken roughly six hours to clear the trial back then. At that time the valley had held fewer Charizards, only around two hundred or so.
In the past year, the valley had added over sixty new Charizards. By any honest measure, the trial today was much harder than the one Lance had faced. Those sixty-plus newer Charizards varied in strength, but the sheer number was overwhelming.
Even if each of them was only High tier, that alone would crush most challengers, and there were Mid tier dragons mixed in with them. Lance had taken six hours, and Ash's Charizard was clearly weaker than Lance's Charizard.
Up against an even larger field, even if Ash succeeded, it would likely take ten hours or more. And even if there were a one-in-ten-thousand chance of completing the first stage, ten hours of nonstop battle would drain Charizard down to nothing. Challenging the strongest Charizard afterward would be flatly impossible.
In the end, Charicific Valley's trial only grew harder each successive year, because the number of Charizards in the valley kept climbing, and the rate of arrivals was steep. To outside Trainers, Charicific Valley was a sacred ground for training Charizards. Countless dragon Trainers wanted to send theirs here.
Even though the valley lost Charizards each year to age, war damage, and so on, the rate of arrivals far outpaced the losses. So challenging the Charicific Valley trial was inevitably more difficult each year. Ash's Charizard wouldn't only fail to pass the second stage. He probably wouldn't get past the first.
For now, Liza just wanted to see how many Charizards Ash and his Charizard could endure. If Ash's Charizard could defeat two hundred, that alone would be a remarkable achievement, even in defeat.
"Then I'll start with that one over there." Ash casually pointed at one of the Charizards. That one was larger than Ash's own Charizard.
Going head-on with such a strong opponent first would inevitably cost Ash's Charizard a significant chunk of stamina, and whether Ash's Charizard could even beat him in the first place was an open question.
Liza hadn't expected Ash to choose such a strong opponent right out of the gate. No warmup at all. Going straight to one of the heavy hitters? Even Lance hadn't been that arrogant. It seemed the hype from the outside world had somewhat misled Ash.
Hopefully this trial would humble him. She sighed inwardly, already preparing the words she'd use to comfort him afterward. It was normal for talented young Trainers to be a little reckless. She just didn't want to watch a rising Charizard Trainer have his promise extinguished like this.
"Roar!"
The chosen Charizard let out a roar. With a beat of its wings, it flew over from the crowd and finally landed in front of Ash's Charizard. The huge dragon's eyes burned with fighting spirit. As the opening representative on the valley's side, it had to perform. Winning would be best, but if it couldn't win, the minimum was to wear down the challenger's stamina.
"We go full power from the start. Charizard, Mega Evolution!" Ash didn't hesitate. He raised the bracelet on his wrist. A dazzling light flickered across Charizard's body, and his form transformed.
The original orange Charizard became a pitch-black one. Blue flame burned at the corners of Charizard X's mouth, and the terrifying appearance directly intimidated the opposing Charizard. Not only the Charizard standing across from him. Even the surrounding Charizards watching from the crowd flinched at the sight of Mega Evolution.
Clearly, this was the first time they'd seen Mega Evolution. After all, this was a valley full of Charizards.
In Charicific Valley, only Liza's place had a TV. If you hadn't seen Ash's battle against Lorelei, you wouldn't have known Mega Charizard even existed. In the entire world, only Ash's Charizard could Mega Evolve.
As for Liza herself, she was only surprised by seeing it in person. As a devoted Charizard fan, she'd naturally watched Ash's battle against Lorelei on TV. Even then, she'd been just as shaken as everyone else was now. And Charizard's transformation still had more stages beyond this one. Honestly, the pitch-black Mega form was much more striking than the original orange one.
After Mega Evolution, Charizard's strength climbed another notch. His strength had improved a step compared to when he'd fought Norman's Blissey. Even so, breaking through Charicific Valley was still going to be difficult.
"Roar!"
After a few seconds, the chosen Charizard shook off the shock and roared back at Ash's Charizard. The furious cry was both a declaration of war and an attempt to shake off some of the pressure and fear pressing on it.
"Then let's begin. Charizard, Dragon Claw!"
Ash waved a hand, giving the first command. Charizard spread his arms wide, and sharp, emerald-green energy formed claws around his hands as he faced the opponent.
The opposing Charizard took a deep breath and immediately spat out a stream of orange-red flame. Flamethrower. For the species in general, Charizards were actually better suited to long-range attacks. There weren't many Charizards like Ash's who preferred close combat.
The flame shot straight toward Ash's Charizard, but he beat his toothed wings once, and his dark figure vanished instantly. The opposing Charizard's attack burned through empty air. Before it could react, Ash's Charizard had already appeared above its head, sharp dragon claws slamming down.
A deafening crash rolled across the field. The massive Charizard crashed into the ground with a resounding thud. Ash's Charizard dropped from mid-air a second later, landing hard beside it. Blood was still dripping faintly from the tips of his claws.
One move.
The thing that had looked no less powerful than Ash's Charizard had been dismantled in a single strike. Even Misty and the others, who had complete trust in Ash's Charizard, found this hard to believe. Ash's Charizard was strong, sure, but shouldn't it have at least traded a few blows first before overwhelming an opponent? A one-shot victory like this looked almost careless. If you didn't know better, you'd think the opposing Charizard had let Ash's Charizard win on purpose.
Misty and the others were startled. Liza's reaction was even worse. Pure disbelief. If Lance's Charizard had defeated it in one blow, she wouldn't have been so surprised, since Lance's Charizard had already been at Champion level. But Ash's Charizard was only at Elite Four.
"Next!" Ash's voice rang out, signaling the end of the first round.
Charizard flew back to Ash's side, his eyes sharp as blades as he swept the assembled valley Charizards with his gaze. He'd already established his opening presence. Whatever tier of Charizard came next, they'd all be starting from a disadvantage in raw aura alone.
"Roar!"
After a few dozen seconds of silence, another Charizard flew up, its ferocious presence roaring furiously at Ash. Then another, and another.
In the valley, deafening roars filled the air, the sound of burning flame, the crashing thuds of explosions, and the cries of the defeated. Four hours passed. The Charizards of Charicific Valley had been nearly wiped out.
Liza's eyes widened, her expression frozen in shock. She'd never imagined Ash and his Charizard could reach this point. Every Elite Four-tier Charizard and below in the valley had been defeated by Ash and his partner.
Over eighty percent of the High level Charizards had also fallen, and the Charizards left standing were all top-tier existences in the valley, but their numbers had dropped to almost nothing.
Of the original two hundred and eighty-seven Charizards, only seven remained. Three at Elite Four Low, three at Elite Four High, and one at Champion level. Although these were all top-tier Charizards of the valley, after watching Ash's dazzling display of fire techniques and his Charizard's ability to end fights in an instant, even these battle-hardened veterans were somewhat intimidated.
Ash's Charizard's strength had visibly surged partway through. That was undoubtedly Ash using Aura Power. If he'd used Aura fusion from the very start, Charizard wouldn't have been able to sustain it to the end. But if he hadn't used Aura fusion at all, once they got locked in against a similarly strong Charizard, defeating the strongest one at the end would have been impossible.
So from the very beginning, Ash hadn't used Aura fusion. He'd simply relied on Mega Evolution and let Charizard use brute strength and Tough Claws to quickly overwhelm the weaker Charizards.
Only once an Elite Four-tier Charizard actually entered the arena would Ash activate Aura fusion to directly boost his strength and then finish the opponent in one strike. If the opponent was below Elite Four, Charizard's own power was more than enough to win a one-shot.
The good news was that, apart from the strongest Charizard in the valley, there was only one other Champion-level Charizard here. If there had been two or three more at that tier, this trial would have been genuinely difficult. As things stood, sorry, but they intended to win this trial.