The road sloped downward after they left the outer stretch of Saffron behind. Trees pressed closer again, roots breaking through the soil like veins beneath thin skin. The air smelled damp, old.
Ash walked first, eyes forward. Maya followed, scanning the ground more than the trees. Poliwag stayed close to Ash's heel, unusually quiet since the encounter by the water.
Charizard walked ahead of them now.
Not far. Just enough that its bulk broke the path open, tail flame casting a low, steady light beneath the canopy.
The ground shuddered.
Ash felt it through his boots before he heard it. A deep crack split the silence, sharp and sudden.
"Stop!" Maya called.
Too late.
The path ahead collapsed inward, soil and stone breaking away into a shallow sink. Loose rocks tumbled, drawing sound from below.
And with the sound came movement.
Dark shapes burst from the exposed earth and surrounding trees. A group of wild Pokémon, driven upward by the collapse, shrieking and disoriented. Wings beat wildly. Claws scraped stone. Panic, not intent.
"Back!" Ash shouted, pulling Poliwag close.
The Pokémon swarmed toward the path, not attacking, just fleeing straight through anything in their way.
Charizard moved.
It didn't roar. It didn't spread its wings wide.
It stepped forward and planted its feet between the swarm and the others.
Stone struck its chest and bounced off. Wings clipped its shoulders. A sharp cry echoed as something scraped against the bandaged wing.
Charizard didn't retreat.
It lowered its head, wings half-open, creating a wall of scaled muscle and heat. The air around it warmed, not with fire, but with presence.
The swarm split instinctively, breaking around Charizard's form, flowing past instead of through.
Ash froze, breath caught.
"Charizard—" he started.
Charizard didn't look back.
Another tremor ran through the ground. A rock tumbled straight toward Maya.
Charizard shifted without thinking, shoulder taking the hit. The stone cracked and rolled harmlessly aside.
The chaos passed as quickly as it had come. The wild Pokémon scattered into the trees, the forest swallowing their sounds.
Silence returned.
Charizard exhaled slowly, straightened, and stepped back into place as if nothing had happened.
Ash moved first. "Are you hurt?"
Charizard glanced at its wing. The bandage had torn slightly. Nothing worse.
It gave a short, dismissive huff.
Maya stared at it, then at Ash. "That wasn't instinct," she said quietly. "That was a choice."
Ash nodded, still trying to steady his breathing. "Yeah."
They rerouted around the collapse, moving slower now, more careful. Charizard stayed in front the rest of the way.
Not leading.
Guarding.
And when they finally stopped to rest, Ash noticed something else.
Charizard didn't take the far edge of the light this time.
It sat close enough that Ash could feel the warmth from its flame.
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T/N:
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