Pokemon: This Ash Is Too Versatile-Chapter 672 - 361: Charizard’s Exclusive Black Flames! Gary’s Parallel Counterpart—Green!
Before setting out on their journey, Gary and Ash were fairly evenly matched, and it could even be said that Gary had the upper hand.
Ash, apart from having some strength, was not as skilled as Gary in other aspects.
But once they embarked on their journey, the situation took a complete turn. Ash seemed to have gained new wisdom, making rapid progress, leaving Gary far behind in just a few months.
Since starting this journey, Gary hadn’t won against Ash even once. Such an occurrence was impossible before.
What is a true rival? It’s when both sides are evenly matched, winning and losing equally—that’s what a true rival is!
In the current scenario, he could at best be considered Ash’s childhood friend, but not a true rival.
Yet, after experiencing that fateful encounter, he finally caught up with Ash, and at this very moment, he was about to defeat Ash for the first time since their journey began!
As the surface water of Blastoise surged once again, it became the final straw that overpowered Charizard, completely swallowing the azure flames, with Charizard’s body nearly overwhelmed.
At this critical moment, a black glow suddenly flickered on Charizard, a black light that didn’t just flash by, but lingered on Charizard’s body. After the appearance of the black light, the previously unstoppable water flow was unexpectedly halted!
Before Blastoise and Gary could react, Charizard, who seemed on the brink of defeat, stood up once again. Simultaneously, it erupted with intensely hot—black flames!
"Black flames?!"
"Black flames!"
Both the grandfather and grandson exclaimed in unison. The flames burning on Charizard were an unprecedented black!
Generally speaking, flames are red in color, and when the temperature rises to a certain degree, the flame turns blue. For instance, Ho-Oh, with its special flames, releases colorful fire.
But black flame... never before had anyone seen a Pokémon possessing or displaying such a phenomenon; at least Professor Oak had never heard of it.
Like the Ghost Type’s Will-O-Wisp, which is somewhat blackish, but that kind of flame is clearly different from ordinary fire, not caused by the change in temperature but due to the flames’ special properties, including Ho-Oh’s Sacred Fire.
The colorful Sacred Fire is not because of high temperature but because of its inherent special nature; it is naturally colorful.
However, the black flame ignited on Charizard is somewhat different; it’s a fire formed due to extreme heat. Even with Mewtwo’s barrier isolating it, Professor Oak could feel the terrifying aspect of Charizard’s flames.
Just looking at Blastoise’s current state speaks volumes. Originally, the Wave Crash was about to completely suppress Charizard, but now with the black flame raging on its body, the water pressure over Charizard quickly evaporated. The drizzle from the sky turned into steam before hitting the ground.
Charizard has tapped into a new power, a power it had shown signs of back when facing Lorelei, although neither Charizard nor Ash had noticed the fleeting black glow at that time.
Yet, because Ash and Charizard were in sync at that moment, he could sense that when Charizard used Flare Blitz against Cloyster, the flame engulfing its body experienced some change at a critical time.
It was this very change that enabled Charizard to successfully defeat Cloyster.
However, after that, Charizard never triggered that power again. Ash suspected that it might require Charizard to be in an extreme state to activate such power, and since then, no Pokémon had pushed Charizard to such a degree.
This upgraded battle against Blastoise and Gary drove Charizard to the brink, and at the verge of defeat, Charizard finally unleashed that hidden power!
After the outbreak of this flame, Ash also realized that this power’s essence was a complete fusion of Sacred Fire and Charizard’s own flame. Previously, Charizard’s biggest advantage was converting its flame into Sacred Fire to use its moves.
The earlier blue Flare Blitz had, in fact, used the power of Sacred Fire, although the color of the exterior did not change, indicating that Charizard had gradually made Sacred Fire its own, rather than just borrowing Ho-Oh’s power. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
Now, the black flame burning on its body is the product of thoroughly integrating Sacred Fire with its own flame. Its power surpasses that of Sacred Fire, becoming a flame unique to Charizard!
"Black flames... let’s call it the Flame of Amaterasu! Go, Charizard, the victory of this battle is ours! We will continue to win and stand at the pinnacle of the world!" Ash clenched his fist and loudly cheered for Charizard.
A Trainer’s voice can also become a Pokémon’s strength, as it did for Gary earlier, and now for Ash too!
With Ash’s cheering, Charizard’s flame exploded entirely, the black blaze spread across the entire battlefield, scorching the clouds in the sky and scattering them, leaving no more raindrops falling, and restoring a clear blue sky!
