The Road to our Destiny

Chapter 66

"Infernape, Flamethrower!"

"Heracross, dodge, and use Fury Attack!"

It is the fourth and final round of the preliminaries in the Indigo League, and Ash is going against a girl named Debbie at the grass field. With Ash already in the lead by taking down Debbie's Sandshrew and Lickitung with his trusty Infernape, he's close to winning the competition. But Debbie turns out to have saved her best Pokemon for last as it turns out her final Pokemon, Heracross, can mega evolve. As soon as her final Pokemon was taken out of its Pokeball, Debbie didn't hesitate to touch the keystone on her bracelet, and Heracross transformed into Mega Heracross. With its attacks stronger than it would have been without mega evolving, Mega Heracross proves to be more than a match for Infernape despite the type advantage going in the flame Pokemon's favor.

Infernape fires a giant stream of flame from its mouth, but Mega Heracross flies away from the line of fire and repeatedly hits Infername with its horns. Infernape grinds its teeth in pain but stays strong.

"Infernape, use Dig!" Ash calls out.

Infernape jumps and digs underground. Debbie smirks and turns to her Pokemon.

"Herecross, just stay high in the air and use Aerial Ace when it comes out!" she instructs.

Mega Heracross uses its wings to go higher up in the air. It waits patiently until Infernape emerges from the ground to attack it only to be a couple feet away from arms reach. Mega Heracross then ingulfs itself in light and rams into Infernape with its horn. Infernape screeches as it plummets to the ground in front of Ash with a thud.

"Infernape!" Ash shouts.

Behind the raven-haired boy is Serena and Clemont sitting on a bench and watching the match. Both of them are worried that Infernape is down for the count.

"Oh, I hope Infernape can get up," Serena says worriedly.

"It's hard to say," Clemont says. "A flying type move like Aerial Ace is super effective on its own since Infernape is part fighting type. But with Heracross in its mega evolved form, I don't know if Infernape is going to stand up."

Serena's fear grows after hearing Clemont explain the situation. Even though Ash still has two Pokemon left, she still worries about the well being of his Pokemon. She places her hand on her ribbon and watches as Infernape struggles to get up. Unbeknownst to her, Ash notices how worried she is and frowns in frustration.

"Infernape, you can do it!" He shouts. "We need to make this a perfect match!"

"Pikachu?" Pikachu asks.

"In...fer...nape?" Infernape asks while still struggling to stay conscious.

Ash kneels down on the green platform he's standing her on and speaks to his Pokemon secretly.

"You see, I"m still trying to cheer Serena up," He whispers. "I know she's happy when I win, but she's always acting down almost as soon as the battle is over. It's clear that her loss against May brought her down, and I really want her to smile more. I hope to make her happy again by winning the league, but maybe winning a perfect match even against a mega evolved Pokemon like Heracross will make her happier than usual. It's a long shot, but I really want to try."

Pikachu is surprised at his partner's devotion to cheer up his friend before it smiles in support. Infernape looks up to its trainer and sees the determination deep in Ash's eyes. Feeling influenced, Infernape grinds its teeth and slowly gets up. It uses the platform for suppose until it completely stands up and grins at Ash.

"So, are you with me?" Ash asks with a smile.

"Infernape!" Infernape screams.

Suddenly, Infernape's eyes glow red, it's head glows bright orange, and the flame on its head grows massive in size. Ash and Pikachu smile brightly as the flame Pokemon makes another battle stance in determination.