“Arcanine, use Extreme Speed to dodge!” Blaine commanded.

Arcanine instantly became a blur, avoiding the Dragon Pulse attack and smoothly appearing in front of Charizard, fiercely ramming into the dragon’s body.

“Arcanine, use Close Combat!”

Arcanine chose to abandon all defense, using its body to continuously attack Charizard, not giving the Fire-Dragon type a single chance to counterattack.

“BANG!”

“BANG!”

Being attacked like this by Arcanine, Charizard also became angry. Did this old dog really think it would just take this beating?

Charizard spread its massive wings, whipping up a fierce hurricane that swept forward, forcing Arcanine’s relentless assault to slow down.

Then Charizard’s sharp claws were covered with emerald energy. With just its thick right claw, Charizard withstood Arcanine’s barrage, then used its free left claw to heavily strike Arcanine’s body.

“Use Flare Blitz!”

Arcanine’s body was immediately covered in scorching flames, enduring the Dragon Claw damage and landing a close-range hit on Charizard’s body.

Charizard wiped its mouth with slight fatigue, nodding approvingly at the Arcanine ahead. Although the aged Arcanine was no longer its match, Charizard still admired this old veteran’s persistence.

“This is actually the first time using this move,” Red announced with growing excitement. “Usually, Charizard and I feel that opponents aren’t strong enough to warrant this technique, but since our opponent is Mr. Blaine and Arcanine, we won’t hide our strength anymore.”

As soon as the words fell, Charizard flying above suddenly spun itself, performing a mysterious dance that emanated a powerful aura.

After completing the ancient dragon dance, Charizard’s momentum was enhanced once again. The faintly emanating powerful aura even made the ancient Gengar beside Red tremble all over.

“Geez, how many more tricks does this guy have hidden!” the thousand-year-old Gengar complained.

“It’s actually Dragon Dance!” Blaine said in surprise, not expecting Charizard to have this strength-enhancing technique hidden.

“Old friend, it seems our era has truly come to an end,” Blaine couldn’t help but sigh with melancholy.

Arcanine also let out a few low growls, reminiscing about the glory of its youth, but it also understood that those were just memories of the past. The current era should belong to Red and Charizard before them, not to itself and Blaine.

“Arcanine, let’s go wild one more time! After all, Lord Red will heal our injuries!” Blaine shouted with renewed vigor.

“Naturally, I’ll heal all of Arcanine’s injuries!” Red replied with enthusiasm.

“Arcanine, use Fire Blast followed by Flare Blitz!” Blaine commanded.

Arcanine decisively used two Fire-type ultimate moves. Cross-shaped explosive flames shot from Arcanine’s mouth, swiftly attacking Charizard ahead. Then Arcanine’s body was covered in scorching flames, transforming into a flame chariot that rushed to Charizard’s front with lightning speed.

“Bring it on!” Red said excitedly, slowly pressing down his cap, revealing only his left eye, which gradually turned crimson red, triggering the Battle Intent Realm.

“Battle Intent Realm, no wonder…” Blaine murmured with understanding.

With the Battle Intent Realm’s enhancement and the Tough Claws ability’s boost, Charizard decisively used Dragon Rush, planning to face Arcanine head-on.

Under Red and Blaine’s watchful eyes, Charizard and Arcanine clashed fiercely in the center of the battlefield. The aura they unleashed even shattered the surrounding rock walls, and even the chains suspending the battle platform began to shake from the impact force, showing signs of collapse.

But neither side was distracted by these details, continuing to use their own power to overwhelm the other in momentum.

‘You’re excellent, so excellent that I admire you!’ Arcanine praised with genuine respect.

‘You’re not bad either. Though you’re getting old, you’re at least stronger than many opponents I’ve faced before. It would be even better if I could battle you in your true prime,’ Charizard replied with acknowledgment.

Under Arcanine’s slightly helpless gaze, Dragon Rush’s momentum devoured the flames on Arcanine’s body, and the legendary Fire-type was knocked to the ground by Charizard’s overwhelming assault.

‘Perhaps I really should choose to retire. The new era has no place for me anymore… But… I’m still proud of my glorious life!’

Thinking this, Arcanine closed its heavy eyes, having lost its ability to battle.

After defeating Arcanine, Charizard raised both hands and spread its massive wings, then let out a roar that echoed through the mountain pass, proving it was the victor of this match.

“I’m completely convinced of my defeat, Lord Red! I can’t help but want to tip my hat to you, but unfortunately I’m not wearing a toupee right now!” Blaine looked up and sighed, closing his eyes reminiscently.

“Time spares no one, Mr. Blaine. I merely had the advantage of youth,” Red said modestly, not becoming overly proud from this victory.

In Red’s view, to become a truly strong person, one must always maintain a humble and studious heart, rather than letting momentary arrogance affect one’s inner self.

“What’s something deep, deep red? Deep, deep red, deep red, deep red—it’s this Cinnabar Badge!”

After speaking, Blaine took out the Cinnabar Badge from his sleeve under Red’s speechless gaze and threw it forcefully in Red’s direction.

Red caught the Cinnabar Badge and nodded gratefully to Blaine.

After the battle ended, Red immediately went to Arcanine’s side, using Viridian Power to heal it, preventing the previous high-intensity battle from causing hidden damage to Arcanine’s body.

After a moment, Red and Blaine each recalled their respective Pokémon and left the battlefield together.

At Blaine’s unilateral suggestion, Red accompanied the gym leader back into the comfortable hot springs.

After a while, Blaine proactively told Red about the past.

“Lord Red, I believe you encountered an old man named Fuji somewhere,” Blaine began.

Red was stunned for a moment, didn’t answer Blaine’s words, but still nodded silently.

“Fuji and I were close friends who once worked together at the Cinnabar Research Institute. I’m ashamed to say that Fuji once ignored my advice and worked for Team Rocket for a period, specifically researching the terrifying experiment of cloning Mew for Team Rocket.”

Blaine’s expression was mixed with pain, regretting that he hadn’t been able to save Mr. Fuji from Team Rocket’s hands in time, allowing Mr. Fuji to make mistake after mistake.

But to learn of Mr. Fuji’s whereabouts from Red, Blaine still resolutely told Red everything.

“Team Rocket used Fuji, and Fuji also wanted to use Team Rocket’s technological assets. He wanted to use the Mew cloning gene experiment to save his deceased child, but this foolish idea ultimately fell apart.”

“After awakening, Fuji chose to leave Team Rocket and went into hiding. Even I never learned of Fuji’s whereabouts, but seeing the Mega Evolution that Fuji once mentioned on you, I roughly understand the situation.”

“Mr. Fuji has been taking in abandoned Pokémon to atone for his sins. Mr. Fuji even converted his residence into a Pokémon House,” Red explained.

“Is that so? That’s naturally for the best.”

Blaine learned from Red that Mr. Fuji was living in Lavender Town, but at this moment, Blaine strangely didn’t want to disturb Mr. Fuji’s life anymore.

‘Let you continue your atonement!’ he thought with quiet resolution.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep