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Hey guys!

Sorry for taking too long, but I really am off schedule these days. Nevertheless, I managed to finish this chapter, hope you'll enjoy it!

---

A Rivalry of Fire, ignited

"Young master." said the Blaziken as he knelt down and bowed to Ryan, "I've been waiting to serve you."

Jake flipped his pokedex open to read Blaziken's profile.

Blaziken, the Blaze pokemon, and the evolved form of Combusken. Flames surround to come out of its wrists, making its punches extremely damaging and dangerous.

Ryan stood framed, not knowing what to do. He wasn't familiar to this kind of treatment. Ryan treated his pokemon as partners, and he had never considered making them call him master.

"Hey..." Jake whispered and nudged Ryan's arm with his elbow, "Say something. I reckon that Blaziken will never get up unless you allow him to."

"Oh...alright." Ryan stammered. He looked at the kneeling Blaziken and cleared his throat, "Uhm...from now on, you don't have to act like that or call me 'young master' anymore. Please stand up."

The blaze pokemon nodded and got on his feet, still bending his head, "Thank you. But I can only adress you as young master. Your father, master Derrick, has given me one sole duty: I'm here to serve you, to lend you my power and make you happy."

Ryan frowned. Of course this Blaziken had to be extremely disciplined. He was trained by Ryan's father after all. But Ryan hated the old man, and he hated the word duty even more.

Ryan, it is your duty to excel as a trainer! His father had always said that, so many times...as if Ryan didn't know what he liked and wanted to do. He enjoyed pokemon training, yes, but in a free-spiritted way. Ryan also prefered a soft approach instead of his father's strict, forceful training methods.

Since their ideals in pokemon training were completely different, Ryan had decided to choose Sinnoh as the place to start his adventure, instead of his home region Hoenn. He didn't want people to think that he won just because his father was a strong gym leader. He didn't want to live in the old man's shadow. He wanted to show the world who he really was, and that he could, and would surpass his father someday.

"Blaziken..." Ryan sighed, "If you want to make me happy, then stop calling me young master and such...I have a name too, ya know? It's Ryan."

"But..." the blaze pokemon said uncertainedly. For the first time since he had popped out from that orange pokeball, Blaziken actually lost his cool and seemed a little confused. He was having a mental conflict about what to do next. If he didn't call Ryan young master, it meant he was disobeying Derrick's order; but if he did, he would fail to make Ryan happy, and it meant, again, that he wasn't following Derrick's order.

Ryan immediately seized his chance. Placing a hand on Blaziken's shoulder, he grinned, "Still don't know what do do, eh? Then, as your new master, this is my first order: From now on, you'll call me Ryan, and treat me like someone equal - a friend. Agree?"

As everyone had their eyes glued at Blaziken and waited anxiously for the pokemon's decision, they fail to notice the scowl on a certain fire pokemon's face.

If Charizard was correct about everything that had been going on, this Blaziken had been sent here by Ryan's father, therefore him and Charizard were supported to be comrades. But for some bizzare reason, Blaziken was giving Charizard a really, really bad feeling, the feeling he always had when facing a dangerous enemy. Was this a sight of what was about to come? That the Blaziken would become his greatest rival? No, Charizard was sure he had one and only one archrival - Jake's Lucario, and he wouldn't need another pest to ruin his reputation. Then, how was the Blaziken going to annoy him? Would they have to fight over something...or someone?

Ryan! Charizard didn't know why, but that was the first, and properly the only one he could think of. Ryan was the only person in the world that meant so much to him, and Charizard wouldn't hesitate to incinerate anyone that attemp to steal the trainer from him, even if that 'anyone' was Blaziken, a fellow fire pokemon and comrade.

While he was thinking, Charizard cast a very slight glance at Blaziken. The pokemon's hooked beak was moving steadily, as he said something to Ryan, in a remarkably small voice. But the trainer looked happy and even smiled with Blaziken. Now that...did make Charizard extremely jealous.

But Charizard immediately thought how stupid he had been himself for having such a dull propesct. Calm down, he scolded himself. They just met and barely knew anythimg about each other, what would have made Blaziken interested in Ryan?

"Perhaps I'm overeacting." Charizard thought, "But still, I need to keep an eye on Blaziken. That guy is still a great threat, and, in case he tries to do anything funny with Ryan, I will always be a steap ahead. If necessary, I will claim Ryan before that filthy chicken does, even if I have to do it by force."

Speaking of claiming Ryan...Charizard redirected his glance to Ryan, who was still talking and (to the fire pokemon's dismay) smiling with Blaziken. But Charizard was no longer jealous, because he was busy thinking about one person - his abso-freaking-lutely irresistable boyfriend. The fire pokemon was extremely disappointed about last night...he had been laying with Ryan the whole night, trying to make a move, but all trainer had to offer had been groans and yawns, occasional complains about how exhausted he had been. Charizard understood and forgave Ryan, partly because he knew Ryan had really been tired, partly (and also mostly) because the trainer had promised that he would spend the next day, focusing on nothing but his lovely Charizard. One couldn't imagine how excited Charizard had been, literally having counted each second, prayed for the new day to come so that he would finally claim Ryan. And yet...once again, his hope and anticipation was squashed like a bug (poor guy) by, none other than, Ryan's own father. As if that wasn't bad enough, the old man had also sent this Blaziken here. Charizard couldn't beging to describe what he thought of the blaze pokemon. In short, all he wanted to do now was to burn that annoying pest. Mmm, grilled Blaziken sandwich for lunch...yeah, Charizard would definitely love to do that.

...

"Uhm hello, anyone's home?"

Charizard almost rocketed himself onto the ceiling. Trapped on his thoughts, the fire pokemon didn't know Ryan, somehow, someway, had had an arm around his neck and pulled him down (But of course it was quite easy to understand. How could Charizard have done anything if he hadn't even paid attention to anything around). Now, there faces were barely an inch apart. Charizard could feel Ryan's warm, intoxicating breaths spread on his face. He was smiling...an absolutely dazzling smile. Charizard looked into those charming eyes of his mate, and despite him being resistant to fire, he could feel his cheeks heating up. Damn it, Ryan! Why do you have to be_this_ cute - he thought. (^-^)

Fighting to subside the urge to kiss those tender lips, Charizard softly pulled Ryan's arm off his neck and smiled, ignoring Lucario, who was covering his mouth and snickering, "I'm fine. Just thinking...you know, what would happen if we weren't...disturbed today?"

Charizard leaned back a little and enjoyed the effect of his words. As he had expected, Ryan was speechless, and his face looked as though it'd just been dipped in tomato sauce. Charizard grinned. So...very, very cute, that face Ryan was making, it only made Charizard want to tease him even more. But at the same time, the pokemon knew he shouldn't overdo it in front of these many people. Leaning in again, Charizard whispered, his voice was small but gentle, into Ryan's ears, "Don't think I'll forget about what you promised last night. You, as well as your heart, both belong to me and only me."

That was Ryan's limit. If his head had been an engine, it would have steaming furiously right now, and his face was so red that Charizard could actually feel the heat radiating from it. He decided to give the boy a rest.

Struggling, Ryan forced himself to speak, "Well, I think that's enough for a...uhm, first impression. Why don't you all go to my room? I'd like to introduce Blaziken to my team and friends."

The blaze pokemon nodded. Jake and Lucario had nothing else to do, so they just shrugged and followed Ryan.

"Wait..." Nurse Joy called Jake when he was about to go, "You're Jake, right?"

"Uhm, yes? What is it you need from me?"

"I just want to inform you that your Typhlosion has completely recovered. Do you want me to return him to you now?"

"Really?" Jake exclaimed, his voice was so loud that it managed to draw the attention of everyone else in the room, all giving him the same puzzled look, except for one certain pokemon (well, you-know-who). Jake scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "Sorry, heheh...I'd like to have him back now."

Taking the pokemon which Nurse Joy handed to him, Jake scolded himself mentally. How could he have forgotten about Typhlosion. He wanted to let the pokemon out, but noticed Lucario's face, which was masked by a dark, muderous expression; and his eyes were so icy that Jake found himself being frozen when looked into them.

Shuddering, Jake put Typhlosion's pokeball back to his belt, his mind mumbling an apology which wasn't able to escape his lips.

(Ryan's room)

The room was quite crammed, having been stuffed with a total five people, two trainer and three pokemon.

Jake and Lucario sat on the couch while the other three were standing (because Ryan felt awkward to sit while introducing someone).

"Well..." Ryan cleared his throat, "Guess I should start." He paused and gestured his hand at Jake and Lucario, "Blaziken, this is my best friend Jake and his main pokemon, Lucario."

"Nice to meet you." Lucario said while standing up and offering Blaziken a handshake. The blaze pokemon looked at him, his face showing absolutely no emotions, which made the latter feel uneasy.

Giving up his attemp to 'read' Blaziken, Lucario let go of the handshake and sat down next to Jake, who threw an arm around his neck and pulled him closer.

"Now, as I said earlier, Jake is my best friend, so I want you to treat him like how you treat me, okay?" Ryan continued. Blaziken nodded in respond, "You're the third member of my team. This is Charizard. (Ryan tapped Charizard's shoulder)...he's my first pokemon. I know you're confident in your abilities, Blaziken, since you were trained by my father himself, but trust me when I tell you: Charizard is as skilled and powerful as you."

Charizard's face went crimson at Ryan's compliment, but his smile immediately vanished when he noticed Blaziken's poker-face...as if he thought Charizard didn't even worth mentioning.

Ignoring Charizard's vicious leer, Blaziken turned to Ryan and asked, "You said I'm the third member? Then where's the second?"

"Oh, I almost forgot." said Ryan. He pulled out a pokeball, "This one...well, he has a short temper and isn't as strong as you and Charizard, so don't be too harsh on him."

Ryan opened the ball, and from which a red flash of light burst out and materialized into a bipedal, orange figure.

"Ahhh, fresh air!" Monferno exclaimed as he breathed in deeply and cracked his knuckles, unaware that a certain blaze pokemon was quietly evaluating him.

"What's with the gathering?" Monferno asked as he ran his eyes around, but missed Blaziken. Looking at the bewilded pokemon, Lucario couldn't help teasing Monferno, "Heh, you're always the same, brat. Something never change."

"Say that again? I dare you!" Monferno yelled, fuming, but his reaction only made the grin on Lucario's face wilder, because that was exactly what he had expected, "Dare me, eh? What's wrong with calling a brat 'brat'?"

"That's it! Prepare to die, you mutt!" Monferno exclaimed and plunged at Lucario, but a hand gripped his shoulder and stopped him in midair. Monferno turned his head around, and was horrified when he saw Blaziken, holding him firmly with only one hand.

"Calm down." Blaziken said with a soft, yet authoritative voice, "Just because you're fire-type doesn't mean your head has to be ablaze all the time."

Monferno gulped. He tried to escape's Blaziken's grip, but his muscles refused to work when he stared at Blaziken's yellow eyes. Something about that fiery, yet icy-cold gaze told Monferno that he would be in big trouble if he tried to defy Blaziken. Beside, the fact that Blaziken was able to held him off the ground with only one arm was enough to freak Monferno off.

But Monferno's shoulder started to hurt from Blaziken's firm grip, and eventually, he was forced to speak, "Ack, let me go! It hurts!"

"Sorry." said Blaziken, wrapping his other arm around Monferno's waist and gently put him on the ground again, "I didn't mean to scare you."

It took a few seconds for Monferno to regain his normal self, and immediately, the pokemon felt like Blaziken had just mocked him, "Me? Scare of you? Hah, in your dreams!" he yelled, "Who the heck are you, anyway?"

"I'm Blaziken, young mas-...Ryan's new pokemon. His father sent me here to aid him on his quest to become a champion. That also means I'm your new comrade. Let's get along." Blaziken said, his dominant gaze fixed on a shivering Monferno, which left him with no choice but nodding obediently.

Ryan looked at Blaziken, his face showing immense admiration. As Monferno's trainer, Ryan knew the pokemon better than anyone else. Aside from being bashful, short-tempered, mischievous, Monferno was extremely sturbbon, and Ryan had long given up his attemp to 'tame' the pokemon. Blaziken, however, had just changed his mind, forcing Monferno to behave just by his sheer gaze, and Ryan wondered what other abilities the blaze pokemon had?

"Okay, that's it for the introduction." Ryan said and turned his head at Blaziken, "I don't use the same method of training like my father does, but I'll try my best to make it easy for you, so let's do our best for each other, like a family."

For a split second, Blaziken's eyes became empty when he heard the word 'family'.

(Mini flashback)

"Torchic, from now on, team Magma will be your family."

...

"You're the flame of destruction, Blaziken! Incinerate everything in your sight!"

...

"Get up, Blaziken! If you die, then who will atone for your sins? Listen carefully: I won't allow you to die!"

(End of flashback)

"No!" before he even knew, Blaziken's beak slipped as he stumbled backwards.

"What's wrong?" asked Ryan as he attemped to pat Blaziken's shoulder, but the pokemon roughly slapped his hand away. "Don't come near me! I don't need any family."

Everyone in the room was stunned by Blaziken's sudden outburst. Charizard was furious, while Ryan looked hurt and confused.

"I-I'm sorry, young master." said Blaziken, his voice had returned to it usual state, but sounded even colder, "But I think it's best to have some space between us. Please don't get close to me again."

Ryan was speechless. He wasn't sure about what to say, nor did he want to say anything at all. The shock from Blaziken's rude refusal still hadn't ceased to affect him, but more importantly, Ryan was curious about Blaziken's strange reactions, and determinted to find out what lied behind them.

However, not everyone was able to take it easily, especially when it was that person's lover that Blaziken had hurt. Not to mention this was the perfect chance for him to relieve the frustration which had been built in his chest for a while.

"For fuck's sake!" barked Charizard, the flame on the tip of his tail flickled and lit up slightly, "What the heck are you trying to do? Ryan just wanted to be nice with you!"

"I deeply apologize for my insolence..." said Blaziken, poker-faced, "However, I can see that you will never forgive me, no matter what I say...You really think I don't notice the way you've been glaring at me? You hate me, Charizard." He openly pointed out, "I don't understand why, nor that I want to, but if we really can't talk this out, then let's settle this in a battle. Don't get me wrong, though, cuz I have nothing against you."

Charizard was caught off guard by Blaziken's direct challenge, but he couldn't turn back after having gone this far, especially when Ryan was watching.

"You're right, I don't like you." Charizard admitted, pointing a claw at Blaziken, "To tell the truth, I never intended to fight you, but I don't back down from any challenge, especially when it comes from strong opponents like you."

"Guys, please!" Ryan pleaded, "Not here. Why do you always have to start a fight in my room, Charizard?"

Charizard went slightly pink. He snorted, "I didn't start anything. He (pointed at Blaziken) did!"

"Correct, and I'll finish what I started. Young master Ryan, I apologize again for causing this trouble, but I honestly think there's no other way for us to settle this. Alright, I shall battle you, Charizard, but first, let take this to somewhere with plenty of space so our fight won't disturb other people."

...

So, despite Ryan's efforts to stop the fight, (he even threatened to punish Charizard and Blaziken), both pokemon proceeded to prepare for their battle. They managed to find a rather large and empty area in the park. However, the group drew quite an attention, and as soon as they got there, the area intantly became surrounded by other people, most of whom were aprocimately the same age as Jake, possibly trainers came to find out what was going on.

"This is great." said Monferno gleefully, "I just get out of that ball, and already there's an entertaining fight to watch."

Ryan shot him a dark look, effectivelyy shutting Monferno's mouth, before returning to Charizard and Blaziken, who were still looking at each other intensely, not moving a muscle. Ryan could hear the crowd around chatter about the upcoming battle. He shook his head dismissively, getting rather tired of Charizard's tendency to settle everything with violence. However, Ryan still couldn't understand why Charizard had been so hostile towards Blaziken, so he made a mental note to ask Charizard after the battle.

Mean while, Blaziken decided it was time to break the silence, "Come at me with everything you have, don't hold back."

"Oh, I won't." Charizard smirked, and without any warning, unleashing a stream of fire from his mouth.

Blaziken didn't seem to be caught off guard by the sudden attack. Bracing himself, the blaze pokemon countered Charizard's flamethrower with his owm, both attacks collided with a nasty explosion. The crowd became more excited than ever.

"Not bad." mused Charizard.

"Said who?" smiled Blaziken, "The fight just started. Come on, show me see what else young master has taught you."

"Don't you regret it. Let's see how you're up against this!" replied Charizard as he launched into the air. Aerial warfare had become Charizard's favourite since his lastest battle against Lucario, because that was the first time he had managed to overpower the aura pokemon. Flapping his wings, Charizard created waves of crescent energy blade and directed them at Blaziken.

But none of the energy blade was able to hit Blaziken. With an increadible speed, the blaze pokemon jumped from side to side, dodging the attacks easily. Charizard was quite shocked at this, because not even Lucario had managed to dodge his air slash so easily. He was distracted for merely a few seconds, but that much time was enough for Blaziken to counter attack, as he shot another flamethrower at Charizard, who barely managed to dodge it, not without his left shoulder got burned slightly.

"Arggg!" Charizard cried out in pain, which soon turned into immense anger and embarassment. He flied toward Blaziken at full speed, his claws glowed white and grew longer as he tried to slash Blaziken with them.

It seemed to work at first. Charizard successfully landed a strike on Blaziken's elbow, leaving a small cut from which blood drizzled out. Excited that his attack finally worked, Charizard attemped to slash Blaziken again. He continued to strike, forcing Blaziken to falling back continously.

Everyone thought Charizard was taking control of the battle, only Ryan seemed to noticed that Blaziken had started to correctly predict where Charizard's next attack would strike, and the trainer immediately realized what was going on.

"Stop the attack, Charizard!" Ryan shouted, "He's reading your speed and moving patterns!"

"What?" asked Charizard. He looked at Blaziken, who was wearing a large, devilish grin on his face, "Young master's correct. You really think those simple attacks work against me? How naïve."

No sooner had he said that, than Blaziken caught Charizard off guard as he jumped to the air, higher than the flying pokemon himself.

Bang! Charizard's face took a direct hit from Blaziken's flaming punch. The flying pokemon felt onto the ground with a heavy thud.

Taking advantage, Blaziken attemped to attack with another flame punch, but this time, Charizard surprised him as his tail swiped against Blaziken's chest, sending him sliding backward.

A few seconds passed, and both pokemon were now on their feet again.

"Ugh...you got me." Said Blaziken while rubbing his chest and panting heavily, "Didn't think you still have that trick of your sleeves."

"Enough with the babbling! I haven't finished with you yet!" Charizard replied irriatedly. He was about to charge, but Blaziken held his hand up and shook his head, "Let's stop here. I don't want to fight you anymore."

"Don't give me that crap! This battle will not stop until one of us admit defeat."

"Stubborn, aren't we?" Blaziken sighed, "How about this? I surrender. You win, Charizard."

"You what? Hey, come back here!" Charizard yelled. Blaziken ignored it, turning around and walking toward Ryan, smiling as he thought, "I've never met anyone like him. That Charizard is interesting."

...

(To be continued)