Lysandre's sudden departure went unnoticed by Alain, who was completely absorbed in the battle.
The score stood at four to three, with Ash temporarily in the lead.
Alain had only two Pokémon left: Charizard and Bisharp.
"Go, Charizard!"
Facing an unfavorable situation, Alain had no choice but to send out Charizard early.
He hoped his ace could turn the tide for him.
"Charizard, huh? Pikachu, come back for now!"
Seeing this, Ash immediately called back Pikachu, who had exhausted much of its stamina, and prepared to send out another Pokémon.
What Bai Shi had said earlier had struck a deep chord with Ash.
He had therefore decided to send the "released" Goodra back to its homeland early and bring in another Pokémon from Professor Oak to help.
That had added a wild card to this match.
"Charizard, I choose you!"
Brimming with fighting spirit, Ash tossed the Poké Ball in his hand into the air.
A flash of red light swept past, and Charizard appeared on the battlefield.
"Roar!"
Charizard roared excitedly and spat a burst of flame at Ash, giving his hair a singe and displaying its fierce eagerness to battle.
"Ash caught a Charizard too? This is fascinating! My blood is boiling!"
Rather than being startled, Alain was delighted. His body trembled slightly as an even stronger fighting spirit surged through him.
He firmly believed his Charizard was every bit as good as anyone else's.
That was why he chose not to activate Mega Evolution immediately.
"Charizard, use Flamethrower!"
Alain made the first move, giving Charizard its command.
A stream of scorching flame erupted from Charizard's mouth.
"Charizard, we'll use Flamethrower too!"
Refusing to back down, Ash gave the same command.
Charizard opened its mouth and unleashed a thick pillar of fire at the oncoming flames.
The two