168 The legendary bird Articuno
Sabrina's still and slow-paced life gained momentum after she quit Team Rocket.
From fighting a man-made legendary Pokemon to participating in one of the most reputed events.
She learned about training methods that she had never thought about and visiting places that she only wished to visit if dreamed of in her shacked life.
Staying around Aoki gave her a new thrill in life as she felt like she could let herself free without always being cautious as he proved to be a sense of security.
Today was one such day where everything she knew was going to be shattered again.
A strange feeling of excitement filled Sabrina as she watched the ring on Aoki's finger glow in a bright light.
A similar stone that was attached to the bracelet in Charizard's arm glowed in a similar light as Sabrina with her psychic power could see red lines connect the two stones.
Sabrina's eyes glowed purple as she tried to absorb as much as she could from what she was witnessing.
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Aoki challenged the legendary birds Articuno in his own domain.
Articuno accepted Aoki's challenge as he exerted his champion-level pressure.
If Aoki won, Articuno shall obey Aoki if but if he loses Aoki shall face the wrath of intruding into the domain of the legendary.
"Get ready Charizard, we are taking an important step toward becoming the world's strongest "
Aoki said as the keystone on his ring started glowing.
"Burn your enemies to ashes Charizard!
Mega Evolution!!"
The energy of primal evolution of Dark aura filled every cell of Charizard as his form changed to a black dragon whose champion level.
The temperature of the cave immediately started going up as purple flames enveloped Charizard.
The dragon and fire-type energy within Mega Charizard reached a perfect harmony giving rise to purple flames that had both their properties and lowering each other's weakness.
Sabrina became shocked to see the new form of Charizard.
Seeing a Pokemon gain a new evolution line was different from seeing a Pokemon go beyond its third evolution stage was different.
It was proven to be impossible by the researchers but she was witnessing it in front of her.
Sabrina had a ton of questions but it was not the right time for questions.
Articuno released a cry recognizing Mega Charizard as a worthy opponent and applied multiple boosts like Tailwind, snowscape, light screen, and Reflect.
A strong hail storm started inside the cave as Articuno waved his wings almost lowering the visibility to zero as the temperature began to decrease again.
Boom!
Articuno's champion level heavily compressed Ice beam clashed with Charizard's flamethrower creating an explosion.
Before Charizad's next attack can connect, Articuno disappears into the snow.
This action is repeated again as Articuno seems to be perfectly blended into the ice storm inside the cave and attacks Charizard from any direction.
Aoki let out Salamence and climbed on his back to get out of the cave while he let Sabrina ride on Pidgeot.
Sabrina didn't utter a word and watched every second of the battle with utmost focus not willing to miss even a single moment.
"Turn the cave into a furnace Charizard, use blast burn and heat waves"
Boom!
Like an erupting volcano, a pillar of purple flames rose from Articuno's lair into the sky as Articuno could be seen coming out of the pillar.
Articuno's body was covered in Charizard's purple flames which were immediately suppressed and replaced by a coating of ice.
Charizard followed Articuno with a miniature Sun floating beside him.
The island completely went silent as almost all Pokemon looked at the sky to witness the battle between Charizard and Articuno.
"Don't let him gain an edge, use flame claws "
Large claws of flames appeared around Charizard's hands as he flew towards Articuno.
Articuno waved his wings as large shards of ice were launched at Charizard-like missiles.
Charizard became a ball of purple flames as flew towards Articuno and slashed down his flame claws.
But Articuno burst into mist as an attack came from above that Charizard could not react.
"Harden your neck Charizard, use Flame Shockwave"
Articuno's sharp claws stabbed into Charizard's neck but Charizard instantly condensed energy around his neck stopping Articuno's claws but was not completely successful.
Charizard gritted his teeth with pain as Articuno applied more power.
Charizard released a bast of fire-type energy repelling Articuno away from him.
'Articuno went straight for the kill….
Articuno's speed and reaction is speed is more than I expected.
Its ability to dodge attack is outstanding….' Aoki thought.
Charizard could feel chilling cold spreading through his bones from the wound on his neck but it immediately started healing as the effect of Dark Aura kicked in.
Boom!
A sphere of ice-type energy formed around Articuno and exploded releasing a huge amount of chilling mist.
Articuno disappeared again from Charizard's senses and appeared near the clouds as a storm covered the entire island.
A hail storm that was more severe than the time Aoki entered the island was started by Articuno.
Mega Charizard increased his body temperature as the purple flames around the body started to go wild.
Seeing that Articuno didn't attack yet, Aoki made Charizard use Bellydrum and dragon dance to increase his speed and attack power.
Just as Charizard completed booting his attack, he used a flamethrower at full power in front of him as an ice beam stronger than anything he had ever faced before clashed with his attack.
This time Chairzard lost the confrontation as he began falling but balanced himself midway.
This outcome was expected as Aoki was fighting a champion-level legendary even if it was a third-rate legendary.
The hailstorm set up by Articuno had given Artiunco a boost in power and evasiveness.
Aoki could use his other Pokemon to deal with Articuno together but Aoki's main objective was not to just capture Articunoi but to gain experience too.
This fight would let both Aoki and Charizard have crucial experiences while giving spectators like Sabrina, Pidgeot, and Salamence motivation.
Seeing that the current way of battle was not working, Aoki decided to change his approach.
Till now, he was only giving commands from a distance but with Articuno could not be defeated like that even with Mega Chairzard's power.
"Let's go Salamence, fly close to Charizard. I need to read the battlefield better"
Salamence flew beside Charizard as all three of them began looking for Artinuno who perfectly blended with the environment.
"There!" Aoki pointed in a direction making Charizard use FireBlast.
His guess was right as Charizard's fireblast was met with an equally strong Ice-type attack.
"Increase your flying speed Charizard, don't let Articuno disappear again"
Using all of his physical strength in his wings Charizard shot toward Artiuno rereleasing waves upon waves of flames.
Clang!
Articuno's blade-like wings clashed with Charizard's claws as both Pokemon began fighting in close combat.
In the mega-evolution state, both Aoki and Charizard had their minds connected to a level that they would read each other's thoughts and see a glimpse of what each of them was seeing.
Aoki used this power to read Articuno's movements along with Charizard to get some strong hits on Articuno.
As the battle progressed, Aoki noticed something.
Every time Articuno used a strong attack, it went into defensive mode and disappeared.
This meant that Artiucno needed time to charge those attacks and would be vulnerable for a short amount of time.
It's been some time since Articuno used a strong attack so the next one coming would be devastating.
Through their link, Charizard knew what Aoki was thinking about and began conserving his power.
Just as Aoki guessed, the air grew even colder as the air started freezing.
Articuno used Blizzard and it was stronger than anything Aoki had ever faced. Darkrai appeared beside Aoki and created a strong psychic barrier to protect him.
Charizard immediately condensed a huge amount of flames and became a spiral of flames as he used Flair Flitz.
As this time Charizard was prepared, he could face the Blizzard without taking too much damage.
Just as Aoki expected, Articuno disappeared again but this time was prepared too, and immediately found Artiuno by analyzing Artiuno's blending pattern.
Boom!
Charizard's Hyper Beam hit Articuno in the chest during his short vulnerability.
Not giving Articunco time to rest, Charizard used multiple Fire Blasts with all of them connecting dealing huge damage to Articuno.
Articuno became stunned for a moment giving Charizard a chance to reach Articuno.
Charizard used a flame uppercut following but a tail slam mid-air.
Not letting Articuno any chance, Charizard grabbed Articuno by the neck and stabbed his nails into his neck drawing out blood.
"Got you bitch!" Charizard roared.
Artincuno struggled and began releasing ice-type attacks from his body but Charizard did the same suppressing the ice.
Charizard smirked and use a point-blank Fire Blast on Artiuno's face.
"End it Charizard, use Seismic toss"
Charizard smirked and flew even higher as he removed his hand from Articuno's neck to grab his legs.
Using his entire strength with the added power of momentum and rotation, Charizard threw Articuno toward the ground.
If that was not enough Charizard use Dragon Rush mid-air making Articuno slam to the ground and forming a huge crater unable to move anymore.
Articuno barely managed to keep his consciousness and released a cry of defeat before losing consciousness.
Seeing that Artiunco was defeated, Charizard flew down and released a roar of victory with one of his feet on Articuno as his mega evolution came off.
Charizard almost fell to the floor as the exhaustion and the backlash from Mega Evolution came rushing all together but he balanced himself pretty quickly due to the effect of Dark aura.
"Good job Charizard, you can take some rest " Aoki called back Chairzard to his Pokeball.
Aoki landed near Articuno and threw an Ultraball at Articuno successfully catching it.
"You shall be by my side when I reach the top of the world Articuno "
