Charizard puffed out his chest, drew in his stomach, and unleashed a powerful Flamethrower.
"Charmeleon, let's use Flamethrower too!"
Charmeleon unleashed Flamethrower as well, but its power clearly fell short of Charizard's.
Before long, Charizard's Flamethrower overwhelmed Charmeleon's.
Flamethrower struck Charmeleon. Fortunately, being a Fire type reduced the damage, or Charmeleon might already have gone down.
Charizard pressed his advantage, charging at Charmeleon with Dragon Tail. Like a baseball struck by a batter, Charmeleon was sent flying hard into the wall.
"Charmeleon!" I cried out in despair, utterly at a loss for how to respond.
Charizard showed no intention of stopping. He flew toward Charmeleon again, used Dragon Claw, and seized Charmeleon by the neck...
"You... order... fire dragon... fight back..." the Rotting Corpse "instructed" me to order Charmeleon to retaliate.
"Charmeleon... Slash!" I wasn't sure Charmeleon could use Slash in that state.
Held in Charizard's Dragon Claw, Charmeleon barely managed to stretch out both claws and swipe weakly at him.
Both Charmeleon and I knew full well that this was only a lamb's final struggle in a tiger's jaws, but I didn't order Charmeleon to stop attacking, and Charmeleon showed no intention of stopping either.
"Yes... that's... it... fighting spirit... you... keep... I... can rest easy..."
After the Rotting Corpse spoke, Charizard suddenly stopped attacking and began to change...
Charizard's body shone with the same purple light I had seen on the second floor, then turned into gas.
"So it was you, Charizard!" I called out to him.
Charizard didn't answer. He simply nodded and flew toward Charmeleon.
Just then, Charmeleon's body blazed with the dazzling light of evolution...
"Goodbye, Ash. I'll always stay by your side and protect you... in this form." The glowing Charmeleon suddenly spoke in human language.
As those words rang out, Charmeleon evolved into