" And Lucian scores another." The commentator roared madly. "Mega-Alakazam is playing with Charizard."

"No one plays with my use" Cynthia whispered, as she cast a sideways glance towards the glass balcony. "No one."

She touched the tear-drop ornament on her neck, as she cupped it with her palm, before beginning to whisper, what sounded like chanting. "Keystone, respond to my heart. Beyond Evolution… Mega-evolve!"

And the arena was inundated with overwhelming, bright light.

The Charizard-line, was a rather peculiar line, even amongst fire types. For one thing, there existed no other pokémon to date, whose genetic constitution matched so closely to draconic DNA, as it did in the case of Charizard. One only needed to see a Charizard to understand the draconic parentage in them, what with their entire body anatomy being better suited to draconic species than most dragons out there.

And yet, they were classified as a fire/flying-type species.

Initially, the official record about their classification generated much negative public opinion. After all, if it looks like a dragon, flies like a dragon, and belches flames like a dragon, it must inevitably be a dragon. The answer to that conundrum came from a research report submitted by Lazarus White, a reclusive pokémon researcher from north-east Johto. His granddaughter Liza, is presently the current head of the family and the caretaker of the Charicific Valley, a haven for Charizards. The protection and maintenance of the Valley have been with the White family for several generations now.

According to Lazarus, the Charizard-line came showed direct descent from two very specific draconic DNA—the first is Tyrantrum, a fossil pokémon species whose remnants were excavated out in Kalos around ninety years ago. The second, unbelievably so, was Moltres- as was discovered after a detailed analysis of one of its feathers that was gifted to the Wataru Clan some two centuries ago. It is not clear how such a genetic combination came into being, though it is believed, that the amplified potency of the Fire nature in Moltres was somehow able to dominate over the draconic nature in Charizard, giving higher priority to Fire typing than Dragon. The exact answer is still a subject of research, but it is clear that the Charizard line, is the only fire type in the world of pokémon, that is, to put in more crass words, not a glass cannon, like most fire types generally are.

While the draconic DNA turned recessive, it did impart the physical strength and might of dragons to the Charizard line, a fact that becomes extremely distinct with each successive evolution. As a Charmander, almost nothing save a dragon dance, or a paltry dragon breath was what it was capable of, but on further evolutions, a Charizard was capable of performing almost everything that a pure dragon could do.

And yet, its innate Fire nature didn't give way to Dragon to establish dominance.

The answer to this quandary came in the form of Mega-evolution.

When flooded with Mega-Evolution energy, the two segments of Charizard's DNA reacted differently. Apparently, on evolution to Charizard, the draconic genes became almost at par with the genetics it had obtained from Moltres, enough that both had equal chances of evolving further. The theory, that there existed not one, but two co-dominant genes that could establish themselves through Mega-evolution, had initially shocked the world and had been taken in with a pinch of salt by researchers throughout the world.

And then, Mega-evolution slammed the truth to their faces, as two independent forms of Mega-Charizard were obtained. X and Y.

Mega-Charizard X, a type where the draconic DNA got access to further evolve, and become much more active than the extremely potent Moltres DNA, gave rise to the form of a black draconic Charizard with a dragon/fire typing. It was, in essence, a quintessential specimen with equal aspects of Fire and Dragon, both enhanced to massive proportions. The other was Mega-Charizard Y, where the Moltres' DNA attained further evolution, making the form the ultimate fire type, second only to the might of the original legendary itself. Its firepower and abilities were superlative, a clear indication that its origins lay in the primordial personification of Fire itself.

And that was what Cynthia's Charizard had chosen to evolve into. Even as a Charmander, it had a Monster egg group, and not a dragon one, and thus, had always been larger, stronger, and mightier than those with dragon-egg bearings. Even as a Charizard, it had been trained to unlock its innate Fire-nature, using it to a superlative degree. The power of Mega-evolution, flooding its tissues and nerves, now only unleashed it from any chains holding back the power descendant from the primordial fire-bird.

Mega-Charizard Y let out an earth-shattering roar.

And every single sound in the entire stadium was silenced, all of them in awe of the magnificent pokémon that stood, head and shoulders taller than the tallest Charizard, with a whooping thirteen-foot height, and twice as large wing span. The entire body seemed much more reptilian than before, though several blade-like protrusions were visible on its body, right from the head to the appendages to the tail, at the end of which, burned a massive, scorching flame bright enough to light up the entire battleground by itself.

"You have a meganite stone too, huh?" Lucian forced it through his teeth, not at all expecting such a comeback. Sure, the girl was good, very good in fact, for a generalist that is. But to have a meganite-stone and a pokémon that responded to it, to such perfect levels, was something the psychic master had not anticipated.

I evaluated her wrong. He admitted to himself, the confession leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. "Still… let's match the powers of me and my Mega-Alakazam, who can divine nearly almost everything by nary but a single gaze, against your powerhouse of a Mega-Charizard, and the best commands that you can give him."

Cynthia grinned. "Let it be so. Charizard, bring in the heat!"

And the entire arena seemed to be submerged with searing, intolerable heat, as if they were all standing amid an active volcano, spewing out magma from its depths. For someone like Alakazam, whose entire existence was maintained by psychic energy, the intolerable heat seemed to provide an extremely annoying distraction, as he forced his power to forcibly create convection, in an attempt to seep away the heat towards the sky.

"My Mega-Charizard Y's ability is Drought. I'm sure you know what that means?" Cynthia asked rhetorically.

Lucian cursed under his breath. Drought, his ass! He knew Drought. His Ninetales could bring the effects of Drought into battle, enhancing her Fire-type attacks better than Blaze under a Sunny Day. This? This seemed like a monster made out of a dozen Droughts at the same time.

"Raze the field, Charizard," Cynthia commanded. "Multi-spin."

What the heck is that? Lucian thought in worry.

Mega-Charizard Y, it seemed, knew just what to do. It flew high into the air, before summoning a mother of all Fire Spins, before unleashing it into the battlefield, before flying up higher and higher, its wings glowing bright, spinning as it went, before manipulating its momentum effortlessly to send repeated strokes of powerful air slashes into the fire spin raging on the ground beneath, literally slicing it apart with such precision that it would make any self-respecting Metagross die of jealousy. Sliced apart, the fragments of the Fire spin reformed, and now, there were six independent fire spins, raging all across the ground.

"Your Alakazam can calculate Charizard's trajectory. I can admit that. But… can it do so while escaping from these?" Cynthia waved at the multiple fire spins, that razed the battlefield, independent of everything else, making it difficult for the mega-evolved psi to even concentrate in the battle, its entire concentration engrossed in maintaining convection to clear out the heat from wherever it stood at any moment.

And just like that, the tables had turned.

You can run, but you cannot hide. Cynthia smiled.

" Alakazam, use psycho cut on Charizard." Lucian commanded, inwardly feeling that the battle had once again, turned into the same as his Bronzong against that Garchomp.

"Shadow claw," Cynthia commanded, as Charizard's claws got engulfed with ghostly fumes, the very antithesis of psychic power before it slammed said claws head-on into the incoming psychic barrage.

"End it. Use blast burn."

The fire-type let out a furious roar, before slamming its forelimb into the ground, literally uprooting the entire arena, as rocks and liquid magma were pulled out of the ground, the hellish flames ascending upward al across the battleground, allowing no place where Alakazam could stay unaffected from its unbridled fury.

After the smoke receded, only a single draconic creature remained standing in whatever remained of the battle arena. A wounded and completely unconscious Alakazam, now devolved back into its natural form, lay fallen on one of the rock boulders.

Silence pervaded the stadium for a while.

"Alakazam is unable to battle. The winner is Charizard." The commentator whispered, his voice slowly gaining strength. "And with that, CYNTHIA has solidified her position as the Sinnoh Champion!"

Said the champion turned towards Lucian, who seemed completely exhausted, and was staring back at her as if seeing her for the first time. Then, the corner of the man's lips twisted into a content smile, as he nodded at her. It was as if, a misty glass between them had dropped, and now the man was realizing something that he had missed spotting in the first place.

No words were said, and yet, something far more precious was admitted.

And Cynthia smiled back.