Sevii Islands…

For many, embarking on a treasure hunt would be a unique chance for adventure. For Red, it was more than that: it was a need. If he wanted to level the playing field with his opponents and eventually surpass them, he'd need all of the resources he could gather, which was the reason for him to explore the Sevii Islands from end to end.

Regardless, his trip to One Island had been far from a total waste. Thanks to all those pearls Yellow had gathered, they had a rather nice increase in their funds, after selling them to a man running a small trading post in Two Island. And the perfect place to put to use those new funds was right next door: the Joyful Game Corner. It was like the perfect middle point between a casino and an arcade, where the only restriction was to have a Pokémon Trainer License. While he went to increase their income, Yellow had gone with Pikachu to the center hall, to eat some snacks and watch TV in the meantime. Once Red decided he had earned enough game coins, he picked them up and went to change them for cash.

"*Whistle*, you had quite the lucky streak today, didn't you, boy?" the manager asked him, as he placed his earnings in a coin counter, ready to convert the amount to cash.

Red just shrugged. Slot machines had no secrets for him. It was just a matter of running them eight or ten times to memorize the order of the figures in each of the spinning reels. That way, he'd know when he had bigger chances to stop them in sequence for a higher payout, being able to almost triplicate his game coins in about two hours, enough to increase his current funds by about fifty percent. If he had to walk through every single nook and cranny of the archipelago to find that place, he'd be needing the money to stock up on supplies.

"Red! You gotta see this, come on!"

Yellow's voice got his attention, so picking up his earned cash and muttering a quick "thank you" to the manager, he turned around to see the blonde arriving in a rush. After her insistence, he followed her to the center hall, stopping right before the giant flat-screen TV hanging from the ceiling. A rerun of the Big P Pokémon Race was on, which if he recalled had taken place a few days before the Fuchsia Tag Tournament. At first he had no idea what could be so urgent for him to see, until…

"Well fans, it looks like Dario and his Dodrio will become this year's winners and... hold on! What is that?!"

Right after the commentator said that, the camera, until then focused on the aforementioned Dodrio and its rider as they approached the final stretch, zoomed in to something else coming from behind. A fireball was approaching, and once the flames died out, it revealed a Rapidash running at full gallop, and its rider was none other than…

"Is that… Ketchum?" Red wondered aloud.

"Yeah, that's him," said Yellow. "Wow, but when the race started he was riding a Ponyta. It must have evolved when the video feed was cut."

Intrigued and wondering why Ketchum was participating in that race, Red continued watching. For a moment, it looked like Dario would be the winner, but when he was about to reach the finish line, the Rapidash had a sudden burst of speed and left a blazing trail in its wake, overtaking the Dodrio right at the last second, and won the race with an incredibly close comeback.

"Wow, that was almost a photo finish," said Yellow. "Don't you agree, Red? Red?"

"If that was all, let's go," the boy replied as he walked towards the entrance.

"Hey, at least try to be impressed, will you?" Yellow replied.

Even if he didn't show it, Red had to admit he was mildly impressed. Not so much at Ash's victory; rather, it was the fact that he was competing in that race at all. Why would he do that? Was it a way to kill time while he awaited for the Tag Tournament? Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that, from what he had heard, the winner of that race could become an honorary member of the famous and prestigious Laramie Clan, the owners of one of the most important Pokémon reserves in the Kanto region, which would grant them status and money. Was that his interest?

As he waited for Yellow to catch up to him, a young girl with pink hair in short pigtails and carrying a Dunsparce in her arms bumped into him, pulling him out of his thoughts. After she apologized, he saw her run to the counter where the manager was standing, but otherwise paid no mind to her. As they had nothing else to do there, Red and Yellow left the place.

"So then, what's the plan now?" asked Yellow. "Are we gonna search the island to see if we find the trap, just like before?"

"Not yet," Red answered. "I think… I'll work on my other issue."

"Oh yeah, bonding more with your Pokémon," said Yellow. "The hot spring thing was a nice start, but you could still do better. May I suggest something?"

Red glanced into her eyes and nodded. Yellow then continued. "Maybe you should try to talk to your other Pokémon like you do with Pikachu and Charizard. You've spent more time with them after all."

Red grabbed his Charizard's Pokéball. What Yellow had said made sense, and it seemed the best choice for the time being. Nevertheless, he was unsure as to what to do with them aside from training, and they were no longer close to a hot spring to relax together (and even if they were, Charizard wouldn't join).

"Red, stop overthinking things," said Yellow, as if she had read his thoughts. "You do that and you'll just stay on square one."

Maybe she was right. It would be better if he at least tried to do something. One way or another, he had to work around that issue, and the sooner he did it, the better.

A bit later…

Yellow's advice about trying to talk to his Pokémon was easier said than done. Maybe he could partially blame it on the language barrier, since even though he asked them questions, there was no way to understand their answers, unless they were yes or no. That was another advantage Ash Ketchum had over him; that he could apparently understand his own, or at least his Pikachu. As to how, Red still had no clue.

Even so, he had managed to open up little by little. It was a slow progress, but it didn't turn out so bad after all. Except for one specific member. Red knew something was wrong, very wrong with his Clefairy, and the more time passed, the harder it was to ignore. Perhaps the best way was to deal with it alone, since the rest of his Pokémon were always uncomfortable around it, and the only ones capable of tolerating its presence were Charizard and Pikachu.

At the moment, they were looking for a secluded place to do just that. If Clefairy hadn't become a problem yet, it would soon enough, and just like with Gyarados, Red wouldn't have his conscience at ease letting it loose around there.

"This looks like a good place," said Yellow.

Red nodded, as he gazed at the beach shore they had arrived at. It was a bit far from town, and since they were off-season, it seemed perfect for training, or in that case, to deal with troublesome Pokémon privately, far from everyone's sight. There was a rocky formation in the farthest edge, but they weren't planning to go any further.

At least, they didn't until Red had taken Clefairy's ball, and before he threw it, they heard some loud noises. Namely, explosions, rocks being shattered, and water hitting rock too hard to be from the sea.

"What was that?" Yellow exclaimed alarmed.

Red listened up and waited for them to sound again, and then pointed at the rocky formation. "It's coming from there."

They both went that way. The rocks were a bit sharp and slippery, but they didn't have much trouble climbing them. Once they were up there, they quickly spotted the source of the noises. At the other side of the formation there were plenty more rocks, which served as target practice for four figures, a human and three Pokémon.

"What's going on there?" asked Yellow, and Red pulled her behind the rock. "Hey!"

"Let's only watch for now. We don't know who they might be," said Red as he pulled out a pair of binoculars.

By zooming in, he could see them more clearly. The human figure was an elderly woman short of stature, and the three Pokémon with her were species he hadn't seen before. There was a green one, in all fours with a long neck and some flower petals around the neck like some sort of collar. The second one was cream yellow on the front and black-blue on the rest of the body, with flames burning behind its head and back. Lastly, the third one was a large blue bipedal crocodile with a red spiked crest on the head and similar ones on the back and tail.

The old woman hit the ground with her staff, and the green Pokémon stepped forward. Red saw it began to glow with an emerald aura before stomping hard with its forelegs. Next, a bunch of huge roots emerged in front of it, which then curved inwards against one of the rocks, shattering it to pieces in an instant.

Seeing the fruit of their efforts, the old woman nodded and hit with her staff again, this time being the blue Pokémon who stepped forward, opening its large jaw as it glowed a blue power aura. A large electrified water sphere formed in it, and with a loud growl, it was fired in the form of a powerful water torrent towards another rock, blasting it to bits just like the other one.

Finally, the third Pokémon, the one burning in flames, glowed with a red aura and hit the ground hard with its forepaws, sending out a fire wave that exploded under a third rock, producing similar results, except the fragments fell like fiery meteors to the ground. That last attack especially seemed to get Red's attention.

"Wow! That was amazing!" Yellow exclaimed. "Red, let's go check it out!"

"Wait!" Red shouted, stretching out the hand, but he couldn't stop the blonde from jumping off the rock and run towards the old lady.

"Hey, madam!" she called out. "That was amazing, you've got some pretty powerful Pokémon!"

Red was worried for a moment, and finally left his hiding place to go after Yellow. However, once he got close enough, the elderly lady seemed more amused than annoyed at having some company, and smiled at them.

"Well, well, new faces on Two Island?" she said as she returned her Pokémon. "Did you enjoy the show?"

"You bet!" Yellow answered in excitement, approaching to see her closer. "I had never seen those attacks before."

Despite Yellow's confidence to approach, Red kept his distance. Upon glancing at the old lady's face, he realized that despite her evident age, she had a glow in her eyes, as if under her apparently senile exterior she hid a great power.

"You can come closer, boy, I don't bite," she said with a kindly voice.

Assuming it would be polite to do so, Red walked a little closer, if still somewhat wary. The woman could be an old lady, but someone who could train Pokémon to perform attacks with that kind of power was someone worthy of respect, so he had to be careful to not to offend her or anger her in any way.

"I believe proper introductions are in order. What are your names, young ones?"

"He's Red, and I'm Yellow! Red is training for the Pokémon League!"

"Well, everyone here knows me as Ultima. Pleased to meet you both." The old lady offered them a hand, which Yellow gladly shook. Red wasn't sure at first, but finally gave in at Yellow's insistence, though his shake was still lacking in enthusiasm.

"So then, Ms. Ultima, what kind of attacks were those?" Yellow asked.

"Those, young lady, are the legendary Ultimate Moves," the old lady explained. "Frenzy Plant, Blast Burn and Hydro Cannon. The strongest Grass, Fire and Water-type attacks any fully evolved starter Pokémon is able to learn."

"This is great!" Yellow exclaimed. "Red, you could get your Charizard to learn it!"

"Oh, so that means you have one with you, boy?" the old lady asked. "May I take a look at it?"

Red wasn't sure about it, but since Yellow had said it… he had to admit the idea of learning that move sounded very tempting. An incredible, devastating power. No doubt a powerful weapon to have in his arsenal. Resigned, and perhaps a bit hopeful too, he took Charizard's ball and let him out. The old lady approached and glanced at him from head to toe for several seconds, a thoughtful expression in her face.

"Hmm… I must admit it looks in excellent condition. It evolved recently, am I right?"

"How can you tell?" said Yellow, and Red was surprised too. It wasn't so much a question as it was an observation made with a single glance.

"When you reach my age, you notice many things," the old woman replied. "I've seen my fair share of Charizard during my lifetime. You wouldn't be the first or the last to come to this island interested in learning an Ultimate Move with me. After all, I'm one of the few who keeps the secrets to unlock their full potential."

"Truth to be told, we didn't know about you, no offense," Yellow admitted a little ashamed. "But that doesn't matter. Red, let's forget about that trap for a bit, we need to get your Charizard to learn it! This is well worth it!"

"Not so fast, lass." The old woman's voice turned severe as she said that. "I'm afraid I don't teach my Ultimate Moves to everybody. This power must be passed only to those who prove themselves worthy of it."

"Worthy?" asked Red.

"I usually submit any aspiring trainer to some trials first, but… today I'm feeling generous." As she said those words, she pulled out another Pokéball, popping it open to reveal a Dragonite, who exchanged glances with Red's Charizard. "Let's have a practice battle here and now. My Dragonite here will help in gauging your Charizard's power. Do you accept?"

Red exchanged glances with Charizard, as if asking if he wanted to do it. He smirked and nodded, and that was all the answer he needed. Decided already, Red almost got into battle position, until suddenly, something activated in his belt, and another of his Pokéballs opened on its own, revealing…

"Clefairy…"

"Wha-? Hey you, how did you get-?" Yellow's question was cut short when the Fairy-type gave her a deadly glare, causing her to hide behind Red.

Clefairy then glanced at Dragonite and Ultima, who tensed upon seeing its glare, but not as much when it suddenly gave them a rather macabre smirk.

"I have the feeling your Clefairy wants to fight my Dragonite, boy," the old lady said, struggling to keep her cool.

"If we have to," said Yellow. "Red, only you can control it after all, say something."

Red figured it would be the best choice for the time being. "Clefairy, Metronome."

"Clefairy, fairy, fairy, fairy…" Clefairy raised its fingers and began moving them around, never looking away from Dragonite. Dragonite stood still, as he awaited what would happen. "Fairy!"

Luck rolled on the Fairy-type Pokémon, and the attack it summoned turned out to be a Blizzard. Rather than trying to dodge, Dragonite stepped forward and shielded himself with his arms and wings as he tried to endure it. Once the arctic current ceased, Dragonite shivered a little, but other than having some frost bits over his body, he didn't seem too affected, and managed to remove them.

"Fairy?" Clefairy was shocked. A supereffective attack, yet its foe shook if off like it was nothing? But before it could do anything, its trainer called out.

"Clefairy, use Sing."

"Fairy, fair, clefairy, fairy…"

As it sang the notes and they materialized from its mouth, Red had no idea what was going on in Clefairy's mind at the moment. On the other hand, Ultima and Dragonite had already become wary. The Dragon-type flew out of the musical notes' range to get them to vanish without touching him, and while still in the air, his tail became covered in metallic energy and he used it to slam his smaller opponent, sending it flying through the air, falling back on the ground with a thud.

"Ouch, that had to hurt," Yellow commented.

Red was about to recall Clefairy, but it suddenly sprung back to life. From the back, Red couldn't see it, but its expression had changed completely. It was no longer a macabre smile, now it was a sheer fury about to explode.

"FAIRY!" it shouted as it jumped right to Dragonite's face.

"What's it doing?" asked Yellow. "You didn't even call for an attack!"

Red had no clue what was going on, but when Clefairy jumped him, Dragonite smacked him away with a single hand. Far from being deterred, though, Clefairy jumped him again, only to get another smack for its trouble, repeating the process over and over again. Until at long last, instead of being smacked away, it managed to get a hold of Dragonite's hand when he tried to give him another smack, already having gotten used to them. Dragonite began flailing the arm trying to shake it off, but the more he did, the more Clefairy tightened its grip.

Finally, after quite a while, Dragonite let out a sharp cry, and Clefairy jumped at his face to mercilessly slap him. While the damage was minimal, it was becoming quite a bother, and finally a few sparks of electricity formed in his antennae, unleashing a Thunderbolt to get it off. He then glanced at his hand: there were tooth marks on it, even drawing blood, much to his shock.

"I believe we should end this," said Ultima, and Red silently agreed. "Dragonite, use Iron Tail."

Dragonite nodded, and once again coated his tail in metallic energy. Clefairy jumped on him again, but rather than waiting, Dragonite performed a forward flip and slammed Clefairy face first on the ground with his tail. After that, Clefairy didn't move anymore, so Red and Yellow immediately ran to check it.

"You don't think it's…?" Yellow almost asked.

"No." Red shook his head. That last blow would leave a mark for sure, but after it went rampaging like that, it was necessary.

"Boy, that Clefairy of yours… what's wrong with it?" the old woman asked after he approached.

"I… don't know," Red admitted.

"You don't know?" she asked in a severe tone. "You know, in all of my years, I've learned to read Pokémon with a single look, and that Clefairy has something in its eyes. Something rather common in the Pokémon of old during the pre-Oak era, but today that's more the exception to the norm."

"What do you mean?" asked Yellow, feeling that neither she nor Red would like the answer.

The old woman paused before taking a deep breath and saying it directly. "Killing intent. Some kind of dormant instinct, normally repressed, maybe only out of obedience to its trainer, but… something unleashed it right now. And I can't help but think it had something to do with my Dragonite here."

"Come to think about it, didn't it go mad like this back at the Battle Dome?" asked Yellow. "If memory serves, that girl's Pokémon was a Dragon-type, wasn't it?"

"Hold on a second, lass; are you saying this isn't the first time that Pokémon has acted this way?" the old woman asked, although the question was more directed to Red than Yellow. The former lowered his head in shame, but he nodded.

"I think… it has some aversion for Dragon-types," he theorized, that being the closest thing he could think about.

"I could see that without you telling me. And even so you haven't done anything to find out why or trying to solve it? That's wrong, boy, very wrong."

Red returned Clefairy to its Pokéball. As much as the lecture hurt, he knew it was true. As the trainer, it was his responsibility to control his Pokémon, but to be honest, how was he supposed to do that if he didn't know what was wrong to begin with? He couldn't blame her if she retired her offer to teach his Charizard the Ultimate Move after that.

"In any case, if you're still interested, I need you to wear this," Ultima said as she took one of the rings in her staff. There were three of them, green, red and blue, and she took specifically the red one. She grabbed the boy's hand and placed the ring on his wrist, like a bracelet, leaving him and Yellow confused.

"So… what am I going to do with it?" Red asked.

"These bracelets have the power of the Ultimate Moves sealed inside. The trainer needs to channel their energy and feelings through them, so the power will be passed to the starter Pokémon. That's the secret to learn those moves at their full potential.

Red glanced at the bracelet, and then to his Pokémon. So he had to channel the power into Charizard? Furthermore, the old lady had told him he had to do it with his 'feelings'. There it was again that same issue. Well, since he was already here, he had to try at least.

"Dragonite, you know what to do," said Ultima, and the flying dragon nodded.

Trying to forget the Clefairy for the moment, Red focused on the battle at hand, His Victory Sight was giving him a thirty percent from what he had been able to see until then, but somehow he had the feeling that it would go down, and the old lady's Dragonite hadn't used even a fraction of his full power to make short work of Clefairy. Red finally decided to make the first move.

"Charizard, Dragon Claw!" Red called.

Charizard extended his claws to coat them in blue draconian energy as he rushed to slash at Dragonite. That being one of the only supereffective moves he had against the Dragon-type Pokémon, for the time being he couldn't think of anything else, especially after seeing him endure that Blizzard.

Rather than countering, however, Dragonite just limited himself to dodge the slashes, stepping back to take distance, and when Charizard charged again, he greeted him with a tail strike to the feet to make him fall backwards. Dragonite jumped backwards a bit and began sparking again, ready to fire a Thunderbolt.

"Charizard, step back!" Red shouted.

Charizard frenetically got back on his feet, barely sidestepping before the electric discharge hit the spot where he had been just two seconds before. Red however couldn't help but notice Dragonite could have launched that attack before to hit Charizard, not to mention how powerful it had been. Had he missed on purpose?

"Fly and use Heat Wave!"

Charizard flew up and began flapping his wings, sending out a hot wave all over the place. Even so, if the cold didn't faze Dragonite, heat didn't work either, no matter how much power Charizard put into the attack. For his part, Dragonite began launching Thunderbolts one after the other at his foe still in the air. Charizard could barely dodge them, but like before, Red was under the impression that Dragonite held them back a couple seconds to warn Charizard to dodge them. And Red didn't like that one bit.

"Rock Tomb!"

Charizard summoned several rocks to fall above and around Dragonite, but the latter foresaw his attempt and readied his tail, coating it in metal. He spun violently and shattered all rocks in a single tail strike, reducing them to gravel.

"You're holding back," Red suddenly spoke up.

"So? Is there any problem?" asked Ultima.

"Your Dragonite isn't using its full power. It could overpower my Charizard easily."

"Are you forgetting the real purpose of this battle?" the old woman reminded him. "This is but a test exercise, there's no need for us to go all-out."

"But that isn't right," said Red. "You should give everything you have."

"Boy, I told you Dragonite was going to gauge your Charizard's abilities," said Ultima. "I've trained him for decades, and since your Charizard evolved recently, it's clearly still learning to control its power."

"She's got a point there, Red," said Yellow. "What good is it going to do getting Charizard knocked out in a single blow?"

Red wanted to retort, but he had to concede her point. Even then, he still felt uncomfortable with it, like his opponent was just toying with him, and somehow it felt worse than Ketchum not using his full power against him for considering it 'cheating'.

"If you're so impatient, why don't you try using Blast Burn?" the old lady asked. "That's why I lent you the bracelet after all."

Red stared at the bracelet. He still didn't know exactly what he had to do with it. Would it work if he just focused and called for the attack? Taking a deep breath, Red stretched out his hand towards Charizard.

"Charizard, use Blast Burn!" she called.

Both the bracelet and Charizard began to glow at the same time. Charizard roared as he felt the power coursing through his body and raising both claws, slammed them hard on the ground, creating a fire explosion. However, said explosion was nowhere near as powerful as the one he had seen before with the old woman's Fire-type starter. In fact, the blast radius was so short, Dragonite didn't even have to move.

"It didn't work," said Red. What had he done wrong?

"You must stop thinking about the power itself." The old woman had seemingly read his thoughts. "Focus on your feelings, and let them connect with your Pokémon's."

"My feelings?"

There it was again. What was he supposed to do, try again what he did on the Fuchsia Tournament when he evolved? At the time, the only thing he could think about was reminiscing about their most important moments. His capture, the first badge they earned together in the Pewter Gym, the day he evolved to Charmeleon, their victory in the Battle Dome (even though he still didn't feel it as such), and then his evolution in the Fuchsia Tag Tournament. Praying so it would be enough, he tried again.

"Blast Burn!"

Just like before, Charizard charged power and slammed the ground with his claws. The attack was just a little bit stronger than the previous time, but it still was nowhere near the power he had witnessed. But progress was progress, so that meant he was on the right track.

The battle continued in almost the same manner. Red and Charizard went all-out with everything they had, while Dragonite just limited himself to dodge their attacks, and whenever he countered, he always gave two seconds of warning so Charizard could dodge. Red wasn't one to easily lose control of his emotions, but at the time he felt almost over the edge, and he didn't understand why. True, the old lady had said it was but a training exercise, but… why did he feel so upset inside?

That was also beginning to reflect on the battle itself: Charizard's attacks, especially when he went up close using Dragon Claw, became more aggressive, but also sluggish and predictable, making it easier for Dragonite to dodge them. In fact, on one occasion, even with the two-second alert, the Dragon-type's Thunderbolt hit its target, causing great damage as Charizard was unable to move fast enough to dodge. Dragonite didn't capitalize on that, though, and instead gave Charizard time to recover from the last blow.

Not only that, whenever they tried to use Blast Burn, either the power wasn't enough to even reach Dragonite, or in the worst case it failed altogether. Red was starting to get frustrated, to the point he was starting to ignore his victory odds altogether, the number of which hadn't changed since the beginning. Even if it was just a test of power, an exercise, Red wanted the old lady and her Dragonite to show them everything they had. Thus, after a rather vicious and ferocious assault with Dragon Claw over and over again, he went for a last ditch effort, focusing everything he had in using the borrowed power.

"BLAST BURN!" he cried out, louder than Yellow had ever heard him, barely holding the fire in his throat before it came out.

This time the glow in the bracelet and Charizard was much more intense than the previous times. Red also felt something weird at the moment, but he didn't pay any mind to it, figuring he might have finally sorted the block to properly perform the attack. Charizard slammed the ground and once again generated the fiery blast, making it the strongest they had done so far, but it wasn't focused on a small area like he had seen with the old woman's Fire-type Pokémon, but instead much more disperse and uncontrolled. Even so, it did catch Dragonite off-guard and made him feel it, forcing him to fly off after taking it. However, it also made Charizard get exhausted after his effort.

"I believe that's enough," Ultima said. "Dragonite, use Draco Meteor."

Dragonite raised his head and launched from his mouth the meteor towards the sky, and instantly, his victory odds fell to zero. The meteor fragmented into several shards that began mercilessly raining all over Charizard, raising a large amount of smoke and dust. As it dissipated, they all saw the result: Charizard was out cold. That only confirmed what Red already knew; that the old woman could have ended the fight any time she wanted.

"You have potential, boy," she said. "But you still have a long way to go. You're still not ready to learn an Ultimate Move from me."

"He's not ready?" Yellow asked. "Why not? He almost made it on that last try."

"There's more than that to get this power," the old lady continued. "There's something else you're lacking. Even with your Charizard, your bond is there, but it's not strong enough to channel the power. The result of that last attack is proof of that."

Red turned to see the old woman. Her expression had turned completely serious as she kept talking.

"Usually I can tell a lot from a trainer when I see their Pokémon, and seeing your Clefairy and your Charizard tells me many things about you," the old lady explained. "Let me ask you something, boy. What are your Pokémon to you? Your friends, partners, or simply your means to achieve an end?"

Red stared at the old woman. The answer to that question was more complicated than it seemed at first glance. As a matter of fact, except for Pikachu and Charizard, Red had never done anything for his Pokémon beyond giving them basic care, training and helping them win their battles. In short, beyond taking essential responsibility for them, his problem of connecting with them was even more serious than he thought.

"Let me rephrase my question," the old woman said seeing that he didn't answer. "How much do you know about them? Their personalities, what they like, or what they dislike? Because that Clefairy… something tells me you haven't paid due attention to its behavior."

"Red, the old lady does have a point there," Yellow agreed.

Red remained silent, at a loss for words. Even so, his silence was also an answer. He knew what his problem was, but not how to deal with it. That wasn't in his nature, in a manner of speaking.

"There's something else," the old woman intervened, as Red still didn't say anything. "During the fight, both you and your Charizard seemed really bent on getting me and Dragonite to give you all we had. As someone with a lifetime of experience, I'll tell you that power is not only about learning how to use it, but also to control it. Sometimes holding back just a little isn't necessarily a bad thing."

"But I… I was taught that it's a lack of respect not to give your best against your opponents."

"You're missing the point here, boy. My intent was always to gauge your abilities and your Charizard's power," said Ultima. "What's wrong with us only using enough force to end the fight? Or would you have preferred that we gave your Charizard the full brunt of a Draco Meteor, leaving it even worse than now?"

"That's…" Red wanted to say something else, but he found no answer. He surely didn't want Charizard to sustain damage he couldn't recover from.

The old lady sighed. "Boy, I don't know what your idea of 'giving your best' is, but I would certainly not try to defeat my opponent by causing them permanent damage, or worse. Barring a life or death situation, would you do that?"

"Ow, I think she got you there, Red," said Yellow.

Red didn't know what else to say. That last point, he couldn't refute. It wasn't like he would want to go overboard with an opponent to defeat them… like his Clefairy had done back at the Battle Dome. With nothing else to say, he removed the bracelet and returned it to the old lady.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Oh, don't apologize, boy. As I said, there's something you lack, but I trust you'll be able to find it." The old woman placed the bracelet back on her staff. "My door is always open if you come back. But for now, I think you'd like to take your Pokémon to the Pokémon Center. They surely need it."

And with those words, the old lady hopped on her Dragonite's back and flew away, heading for the north end of the island, and leaving them behind. Yellow stared at her until she vanished in the distance. It was a shame not to be able to learn that attack, but that was the lesser of the issues for Red.

Everything the old woman said made him think. First, not only she had a point in chastising him for allowing that behavior with his Clefairy, but also, she made him reconsider what he had been told about 'fighting at your best'. They were different circumstances, but he preferred to think that the part about not going overboard to injure an opponent more than necessary was an implicit rule for everyone. But considering his Clefairy didn't follow it…

"Let's go back, Yellow. There's nothing else to do here."

"Hey, wait for me!"

The next day at sunset…

It wasn't unusual for Red to run into a hurdle, ponder on what he needed or was lacking in order to overcome it, and eventually find the answer. The enigma was that he did know what he was lacking, but not how he would attain it, and his mind was now occupied in trying to solve it.

In an attempt to strengthen his bonds with Charizard, after Ms. Ultima told him they weren't 'strong enough', Yellow suggested that perhaps he could go flying on his back, which was exactly what he did now. Honestly, unless it became an absolute need, Red would have never thought about doing that, and he was genuinely surprised to know that many trainers did it for fun and as a way to connect with their Pokémon. He had left Pikachu and his other Pokémon with Yellow, at the Pokémon Center, to make it more private. Thinking it over, maybe it would serve as training, and it would make it easier for them to explore the islands and find that place.

It was strange; not only he was enjoying the flight, but it also helped him relax and sort out his thoughts better than usual. Perhaps they should do it more often.

…

"You must stop thinking about the power itself. Focus on your feelings, and let them connect with your Pokémon's."

"What are your Pokémon to you? Your friends, partners, or simply your means to achieve an end?"

"How much do you know about them? Their personalities, what they like, or what they dislike?"

…

The old lady's words still echoed inside his head, interrupting his train of thought. As he gazed at his mount, he raised a hand and stared at the palm, before reaching out slowly to give a few pats on Charizard's head. He wasn't very keen on displays of affection, but… he had to try somehow.

"You can… go faster, if you want," he said.

Charizard let out a confused groan, but then smirked, and began flapping his wings a little harder to speed up his flight. Red was careful to get him to veer back if he felt they were going too far.

After a few treks back and forth from one side of the shore to the other, Red admitted to himself that he was enjoying it more than he expected. Even though he had a Charizard Species bloodline, he wasn't sure if he could sprout wings out of his back or something similar to fly by his own means, so riding on Charizard's back seemed like the next best thing. It was… unusually nice, even fun, if he was generous with words.

Glancing at the setting sun, a thought came to his mind: Did Ash Ketchum ever do that with his own Charizard? Knowing him, he wouldn't be surprised. He could picture him screaming in excitement as he flew making loops over the air.

"Why am I thinking of him now?" he wondered, shaking his head as well as trying to do the same with those thoughts.

Seeing Ketchum on TV, and his recent encounter with the old master had made him reconsider many things. First the reminder of the issues his Clefairy had, as it was his responsibility as the trainer to solve them. And then… there was that comment she made, 'Sometimes holding back just a little isn't necessarily a bad thing'.

Looking back, Red began to wonder whether he should have stopped Clefairy himself when it attacked that Axew the way it did. From a moral standing point of view, that would have been the right thing to do, but at the moment… his drive to win overrode everything else, if only briefly. He would never forget the glare the dragon girl gave him afterwards. Had Clefairy gone just a little further… the weight would fall on him, and only on him. It was an issue he had preferred to ignore, but in light of the recent events, he couldn't do it anymore.

Red had always been closer to his Charizard and Pikachu than to the rest of his other Pokémon, but the old lady said 'it's wasn't enough', citing as proof the fact that he failed to channel the power to properly execute Blast Burn. And there was that fire he felt inside, if only for a brief moment. He didn't know what it was, but for a split second… it felt like a great power.

"It's getting late," he finally said to Charizard. "Let's go back with Yellow."

Charizard nodded and flew back to the Pokémon Center. Having already done an aerial recon, they'd have plenty of time to explore the island in depth tomorrow, and also to think about what happened that day. Maybe a good night's rest would help him think more clearly.