Pokémon: Rebron as Red, The Strongest Champion

"Dragonite, use Hurricane to dispel the smoke!"

Dragonite flapped its small wings, immediately whipping up a powerful gale that swept forward, scattering the smoke from the previous collision of fire and electricity.

Through the dispersing haze, Charizard emerged, already cloaked in the terrifying murderous aura of Dragon Rush. It instantly transformed into an energy dragon, seeking to devour the Dragonite before it.

Under Dragonite's shocked gaze, the energy dragon formed by Charizard opened its massive maw, preparing to bite down on Dragonite's entire body.

"Dragonite, dodge quickly!" Vincent shouted instinctively, but his years of rich battle experience against various trainers prompted him to immediately change tactics.

"Dragonite, don't evade! Meet it with your own Dragon Rush!"

After a moment's thought, Vincent had analyzed the best way to handle the situation. If he had Dragonite dodge rashly, it might have had to endure the damage from Charizard's next move. Choosing to dodge meant sacrificing the right to attack, which was not a worthwhile trade.

In contrast, if Dragonite also used Dragon Rush to actively counterattack, it might be able to offset much of the damage and even injure Charizard, making it a win-win tactical move.

"So he's not entirely brainless, just a bit too arrogant," Red said flatly, ignoring Vincent's gradually darkening expression.

'It's a pity you don't understand Charizard's abilities...'

"BANG!"

A violent sound came from above. Dragonite had unleashed its own cyan Dragon Rush, clashing with Charizard's purple-gold aura.

The strengths of Charizard and Dragonite were evenly matched. They continued their struggle in the sky, each releasing its own pure draconic aura, intent on defeating the other.

"How is this possible?! Even if this Charizard has awakened its draconic bloodline, it shouldn't be able to contend with my Dragonite!" Vincent exclaimed in disbelief, unable to accept the scene before him.

Although Vincent was a direct descendant of the Dragon Clan, he lacked Lance's innate sharp perception. He could only vaguely sense that Charizard possessed the bloodline of the Dragonite clan, but he couldn't judge its purity.

Charizard's bloodline wasn't just from its parentage; part of it came from absorbing the Dragon Fang and the Dragon Pulse of the ancient Dragonite. Only with the blessing of these three powers could Charizard transform into its current state; not one could be missing.

"I have no intention of battling you for now," Red said flatly. "If you truly want to have a proper duel with me, you might as well wait for the Indigo Conference in a few months. When that time comes, I naturally won't refuse your challenge."

Although Red's words were meant to calm Vincent down, the proud Dragon Tamer couldn't tolerate being 'humiliated' by Red like this.

In Vincent's view, Red was just a 'somewhat' talented teenager. How could he be compared to a Dragon Tamer from the prestigious Dragon Clan like himself?

Vincent had spent years in the Johto region and wasn't in the habit of keeping up with recent events. Furthermore, Red had intentionally concealed his talents, not allowing the League to publicize them extensively. That was why Vincent didn't know the specifics about Red, only subconsciously viewing him as a rather talented teenager from Pallet Town.

"Is that so? Too bad I want to compete with you right now. I can't wait for that boring Indigo Conference a few months away!" Vincent said arrogantly, planning to defeat Red here and now to make him understand his strength.

Vincent wanted to see for himself just how powerful this genius teenager, so often praised by his cousin Lance, truly was.

'I'd like to see what strength you have to be compared with me!'

"Is this guy one of those who won't give up until he's beaten?" the ancient Gengar complained. It had been a long time since it had seen someone so arrogant in front of Red.

'I really want to just electrocute this cocky human until he faints!' Zapdos complained, not forgetting to release some of the electricity from its body. The slight high-voltage current shattered a nearby rock.

This action from Zapdos made Vincent instinctively take a step back, but a feeling of indignant shame instantly flooded his mind. He glanced at Red, who was still watching the battle, and breathed a sigh of relief, not wanting to lose too much face in front of him.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

The collision of the two Dragon Rushes caused the scales of Charizard's Multiscale to wither. Unwilling to continue the struggle, Charizard and Dragonite simultaneously pulled away.

Compared to the faint injuries on Dragonite's body, Charizard showed no signs of being hurt; the previous damage had been halved by its Multiscale ability.

Dragonite's injuries also revealed information about its own ability—it was just the ordinary Inner Focus.

"I might as well tell you something about my Charizard," Red explained calmly. "Its type is Fire and Dragon, which means that moves that would normally be super effective have no effect at all."

After replacing its Flying type, Charizard no longer feared damage from Water or Electric moves, even being able to halve the damage from electricity. The previous four-times effective Rock-type moves were now only doubly effective. The only types that could now be super effective against Charizard were Ground, Rock, and Dragon.

But Charizard hadn't lost its ability to fly, so when faced with Ground-type attacks, it could still avoid damage by flapping its wings and taking to the air.

"Dragonite, charge forward and use Dragon Claw!"

"Charizard, use Dragon Claw!"

Both Charizard's and Dragonite's claws were covered in emerald light. Their massive claws continuously collided, producing violent sounds.

"Use Dragon Tail!" both Red and Vincent commanded simultaneously.

"BANG!"

Charizard and Dragonite both turned, whipping their tails to collide with each other.

But the standoff didn't last long. Vincent noticed the pained expression on Dragonite's face, and it let out a cry of pain. Five spikes had grown on the tip of Charizard's tail, and these spikes nearly pierced Dragonite's tail.

"You despicable guy, using such dirty tricks," Vincent said indignantly, glancing worriedly at Dragonite's injured, thick tail, where a red lump was faintly visible, making the whole Pokémon look somewhat comical.

Because a Pokémon's personality is subtly influenced by its trainer, Dragonite's personality also leaned toward pride. Seeing itself humiliated by Charizard like this, it became extremely angry, wanting nothing more than to stomp Charizard under its feet immediately.

"The closer a Pokémon is to its master, the more its personality is influenced. It really is true..." Seeing Dragonite so enraged, the ancient Gengar couldn't help but make a comment, which was met with approval from Zapdos beside it.

"Sigh..."

The ancient Gengar and Zapdos sighed at the same time. Zapdos could at least say it had fought a few rounds with Moltres, but the Millennium Gengar was bored to death, with no sense of participation at all.