Chapter 12:  Burning Desires (Part B) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

Taking another step forwards, someone came running towards us.  
�Hey you guys were great.� said a young man with naturally white hair, he wore 
a red coat and white trousers.  
�Uh...  Thanks.�  
�You want a Pok�mon Battle with me?�  
�Sure, I�m sure my Pok�mon can keep on battling.  Okay, Scramble! Go!�  
�Exeggcute!�  
�Hah! Piece of cake! Inferno!�  
�Inferno?�  
�Char!�  
�A Charmander...�  

�Charmander, the Lizard Pok�mon.  It is born with a flame on its tail, it is 
said that it will die if this flame ever goes out.�  

A Fire-type versus a Grass-type, I didn�t feel like holding back, if Scramble 
was going to get better, it had to battle more, and a win against a type 
advantage would help it grow.  
Provided I stayed away from Grass attacks and used Grass specials, combined 
with Normal moves.  
�Inferno! Use your Ember!�  
�Scramble! Try a Stun Spore!�  
�Exegg!�  
�Char...�  
The Stun Spore burst out and overcame the Charmander, but I saw no effort to do 
what its trainer asked.  
�Inferno, don�t do this, don�t you like working with me?�  
�Char!� it said sharply, spitting a small flame.  
�Scramble, use...  No, don�t...�  
It wasn�t even in a battling pose, attacking it now would just be cheap.  
This wasn�t a proper battle.  

�As you can see, my Charmander hasn�t been listening to me lately.�  
�Well, has anything happened to make him this way?�  
�Well, I don�t have any badges, and I haven�t trained my Charmander for very 
long.  My problem is that Inferno wants to be the best it can be, but I�m not 
sure if I can help it reach that potential, he doesn�t respect me.�  
�Guys, let�s stick around and help...�  
�Garland, my name�s Garland.�  
 
We walked up to the hill where Garland lived, and withdrew some of our 
Pok�mon.  
�So, how do you get a Pok�mon to respect its trainer?...� I pondered, �My Abra 
used to be a little unruly but now its willing to try and battle, even without 
knowing its attacks.�  
�And my Beedrill became unruly when I shouted at it, and it took a little while 
for it to trust me again.� added Emily.  
�But my Charmander doesn�t like me out of respect.�  
�We�ll make it respect you, if you can just prove to it you have what it takes 
to help it get stronger, it�ll respect you.  We�ll all battle your Charmander 
with equal strength Pok�mon, no advantages.� I explained.  
�That�s really nice of you Tetsubo.�  
�Let�s try again! Scramble!�  

�Exeggcute!�  
�Scramble, start with a Barrage.�  
�Hear that Inferno, let�s counter it with a Ember attack!�  
�Char!�  
It made no effort to move, but quickly did when the eggs flew down.  
�Inferno, I�m just trying to help you, don�t you want to get stronger?!�  
�Cha-!�  
�You won�t fight that Exeggcute because of its appearance, but to me, it looks 
very strong.  Please battle with me.�  
�Scramble! Hypnosis!�  
The little eyes glowed, and Inferno appeared to fall asleep.  
�Inferno! Get up and use Ember!�  
�Scramble, use your Leech Seed.�  
Scramble approached the Charmander and prepared to shoot off the seeds, but the 
Charmander got up, gave it a look of acceptance, and slashed it.  
Scramble fell back, severely hurt.  
�Inferno, I said Ember attack! I�m not out to injure Tetsubo�s Pok�mon!�  
�Char!�  
It spat flames and Scramble was set on fire.  
I quickly recalled them.  

�Its totally out of control!� I shouted, �Why did it suddenly start fighting so 
violently like that?!�  
�Inferno�s a very judgemental Pok�mon, he chooses who he will and will not 
fight, but because of this, he doesn�t gain the experience from fighting weaker 
Pok�mon, and loses to stronger opponents.  He only respects strong trainers, 
and I just can�t do it, I can�t train Inferno...�  
�You can and you will.  I�m sure Inferno knows how much you care about it, 
it�ll come through and you�ll make the right decisions for your Charmander.� I 
said loudly with compassion.  
I heard a twig crack from behind, and quickly turned around and released 
Twinkill.  

It was a young girl, a spiky red-head, except her hair was literally red.  
Her hair was pointy and outgoing, and she wore robes with cuts in them of fiery 
colours.  
�Mr Tetsubo, I, the fantastic Wildfire challenge you to a Pok�mon Battle.�  
�Who?�  
�I�m the second Pokelemental.  Wildfire, the Fire Pok�mon Trainer.�  
�Fine, I�ll have a quick match with you.�  
�Branch chose Pok�mon with too many weaknesses, I�ll show you why Fire is best! 
Charmeleon!�  
�Char! Char! Char! Meleon!� it shouted in a gruff voice.  

�Charmeleon, the Flame Pok�mon.  This Pok�mon is easily excited by tough fights 
and tends  not to give up until the opponent is defeated.�  

�Charmeleon, let�s start with a Flamethrower!�  
�Twinkill! Don�t let yourself get overconfident! Leap over it and spin into a 
Tackle!�  
�Staryu!�  
It leaped up high, then flew down, nabbing the Charmeleon, and driving it into 
a nearby fence.  
�Charmeleon, Rage...�  
�Twinkill, use Water Gun!�  
�Star-Yu!�  
It spat a large blast of water towards the red lizard, who tried to shield 
himself, but failed to defend against the blast.  
�Keep going, it can�t withstand the type difference and your power.�  
It kept it up for 30 seconds before stopping.  
Now tired, it looked up, and the Charmeleon was charging fast.  
With a powerful strike from its claws, Twinkill was knocked back hard.  
�Huh?!�  
I couldn�t believe the Charmeleon survived a Water attack, especially of that 
amount.  
�Rage attack builds power from every hit the opponent gives to the user, then 
the user defeats the attacker like so!�  
�Twinkill, you okay?�  
�Star...  Star!� it shouted, shaking itself off.  
I smiled, Twinkill could always make me proud.  
�Yeah! Finish it Twinkill, another Tackle!�  
�Starrrr... Yu!� it shouted, spinning into the Charmeleon, it was lucky I used 
Water Gun earlier, another hit from that Rage attack and it would have been 
over.  
�Ugh...  Okay, Ninetales! Go!�  
�Nine!�  
It was a beautiful Ninetales, its fur was perfect and the nine tails shined 
bright.  

�Ninetales, the Fox Pok�mon.  It grows three extra tails when it evolves from 
Vulpix.  Some say grabbing one of these tails could result in a 1000 year 
curse.�  

�Ninetales, use Fire Spin!�  
�Twinkill, Harden!�  
The shield came up, but the hurricane of flames followed, and the shield around 
Twinkill was changing to red, it was heating up, Twinkill was suffering.  
�Forget it Twinkill, break away and Water Gun!�  
It released the shield, which shattered, but was sucked into the hurricane and 
landed, burnt up.  
�Never mind Twinkill, you did your best and you beat one Pok�mon.�  
�No one can withstand my Ninetales�s Fire Spin.� commented Wildfire.  
I thought before drawing the next Pok�ball, �Pollen, Psychot and Scramble 
wouldn�t stand a chance, if anyone would avoid a tornado, it would be someone 
who could go anywhere they wanted.�  
�Whirlwind! I choose you!�  
�Pidgeoooto!�  
�Whirlwind, I want you to use Wing Attack, but don�t go near those Fire Spin 
hurricanes.�  
�Pidgeo!�  
�He won�t have a choice, not when the Fire Spins are coming right for him! 
Ninetales! Another Fire Spin!�  
It was all up to Whirlwind now, flapping its wings, he eyed the Ninetales 
closely.  
�Nine!�  
�Pidgeo!�  
The hurricane blasted onto the floor, and picked up, growing bigger and 
taller.  
�Whirlwind, its your call! Just avoid that Fire Spin and counter with Wing 
Attack!�  
The hurricane grew so tall, it appeared to engulf Whirlwind.  
�Hah, another one loses to Fire Spin.  Don�t take it so hard, all my opponents 
lose to that attack.�  
The flames dissipated and I looked for Whirlwind, he couldn�t have been burnt 
to nothing, could he? I then heard a soaring noise.  
�What?!� screamed Wildfire as Whirlwind dived down and smacked Ninetales hard.  
It flew right over the Fire Spin.  
�Sand Attack!�  
�Fire Spin again!�  
Whirlwind was on the ball and reacted first, kicking dust into Ninetales� sight 
so that the next Fire Spin was not only off course, but it wasn�t aimed the 
right way to maximize it.  
�Finish it with Quick Attack!�  
It was over.  
The Ninetales fell back, its tails and fur didn�t look so nice now.  
Wildfire was a little angry, it was like she had fire in her eyes.  
�Ninetales, no...  But I still have one more Pok�mon...  Ponyta! Go!�  
With its fine blazing neck and back, the Ponyta kicked into the air with its 
front legs.  
I remembered Bianca�s Ponyta, one stomp from those diamond hooves and it would 
be over.  
�Whirlwind, keep away from its feet!�  
�Ponyta, Ember into the sky!�  
�Whirlwind! Dive!�  
It did as told, but as Whirlwind did, the Ponyta leaped up to his level.  
�Ponyta, Stomp!�  
Whirlwind was trampled under.  
When the smoke cleared, he was out for the count, trapped underneath Ponyta.  
I recalled it.  
�I don�t think I�ve got another Pok�mon who can tackle that Ponyta�s 
strength...�  
�Char!�  
�Inferno?�  
�I think Inferno wishes to fight alongside you, it must recognise you as a 
strong trainer and Wildfire�s strong Pok�mon.� commented Garland.  
�Really?...  Inferno, this is an important battle, are you sure you�ll fight 
with all you�ve got, and listen to my orders?�  
�Char.�  
�Okay! I choose Inferno!�  
�Char!�  
�Ponyta, Stomp it down.�  
Ponyta screamed out and started charging.  
�Ember attack, follow up with Leer, Inferno...�  
�Char!�  
The flames blocked off Inferno, and the Ponyta had the sense to stop, the 
flames cleared, and the Charmander�s eyes glowed bright, invoking fear into the 
Ponyta.  
�Give it a Slash!�  
�Char! Char!�  
The Ponyta wailed as it took the blow, and shook its head around.  
It wasn�t ready to go down yet.  
�It�s risky, but Rage might be what we need here.�  
�Use your Tail Whip!�  
The Charmander took a blow from the fiery tail.  
�Stomp!�  
Inferno was ready and dived, no counter-attack while using Rage, but its tail 
was caught under the hooves.  
�Ch-Ar!�  
It grabbed its tail in pain, and Ponyta took initiative and tail whipped it 
down to the floor.  
Then again, and again.  
�That�s enough Ponyta...� ordered Wildfire.  
I thought for a moment that she wanted me to forfeit in order to stop the 
assaults, but I was wrong.  
�... Use Stomp instead.�  
Ponyta leaped up high and flew downwards, I had to do something now.  
�Inferno, release your Rage power!�  
�CHAR!�  
Inferno�s tail flame burst into an explosion as he flew upwards, over the 
attacking hooves, and aiming at Ponyta�s face, it started to slash at it hard.  
�Finish it with a Fire-powered Rage!�  
�Char! Chaaaarrrrr!!!� it screamed blasting even the Fire-type Ponyta to 
oblivion.  
They both landed, Ponyta on its side.  

�I don�t believe it, someone beat me...�  
She looked down a little upset, than suddenly smiled.  
�Oh well, tomorrow�s another day.  Here�s the Fire Stone, use it on Vulpix, 
Growlithe or Eevee to evolve it.�  
�Thank you.�  
�There�s still two more Pokelementals, I�m just the tip of the iceberg, which 
would probably melt cos I�m hot stuff.�  
�Uh huh.� I just agreed, confused totally by Wildfire�s final words.  
�Keep training, you handled that Charmander really well.�  
With that, she ran away.  

I felt great but the congratulations should go to the little Charmander.  
�See, I told you he�d come through.  Just brush up on your strategies and you 
and your Charmander will do fine against strong Pok�mon.  We should be going 
guys...�  
�Wait Tetsubo.�  
�Uh huh?�  
�I want you to take Inferno with you.�  
�But-�  
�No, don�t argue, I was never truly aiming to going to the Pok�mon League, and 
I know that Inferno wants to prove how strong it is, and it sees that you can 
help it reach its full potential.  You told me I�d do what was best for 
Inferno, and I am.  I know its for the best.�  
�You sure about this Inferno?�  
�Char.�  
Garland knelt down to his old Pok�mon.  
�I know we never quite saw eye to eye but I always cared about you.  You go and 
get stronger, then come visit me, okay?�  
�Char...�  
It looked sad and guilty, sad for leaving him and guilty for not being nice to 
him, Garland recalled Inferno and handed the ball to me.  
�Welcome to the team, Inferno.� I said, the ball disappeared, but I knew it had 
been teleported to Blossom�s lab.  
�I�ll pick you up as soon as we reach a town.�  
I went back to Garland.  
�Me and Inferno will rise to be the best we can be.  Rest assured, I�ll take 
extra special care of your Charmander, friend.�  
�I�m sure you will Tetsubo.  Bye...�  

We said our goodbyes and continued our journey.  
With another Pok�mon on the team, I would do whatever I could to keep my 
promise to Garland.  

End of Chapter 12B  

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