Man in the Mirror

Chapter 22: Fearless

Litleo ran off to the source of the roar without any hesitation. It was bravely going to settle the score. Ash, May, Pikachu, and the other Pokémon rushed after Litleo. "I wonder if Litleo knows what that was," May ran alongside Ash.

"Litleo ran off without giving it a thought. He just might," Ash suspected.

"We'll find out soon enough," May worried for the lion cub as they approached the area where they heard the roar come from.

When they arrived at the scene, the group found areas of May's little paradise blown to bits. Litleo stood just a bit away from them as it growled at the unhinged beast blasting the train tracks to dust and swinging its tail to destroy parts of the carousel and Ferris wheel. The wild Pokémon in the vicinity escaped with fear as the creature invaded.

"A wild Tyranitar," Ash glared at the violent intruder.

Tyranitar immediately turned around when it heard their presence. It flashed them an angry stare as if they had wandered into its home. "It must've strayed from the mountains to claim this as its new territory," May hypothesized. She heard rumors of the Rock-type wandering the mountains, but she never expected it to come down to the base of the mountain.

Litleo loudly growled at the Dark-type. That's when Tyranitar focused its eyes on the cub. The Armor Pokémon roared when it recognized Litleo as the one opponent that managed to escape its wrath. "Leo!" Litleo cried out as if daring Tyranitar to battle.

Ash and May could feel the tension between the two Pokémon. That's when all of it made sense. May pointed at Tyranitar accusingly, "It was Tyranitar. Litleo was injured because of it when we found him!"

"It makes sense why Litleo recognized the roar and looks so intense. It wants a rematch," Ash noted sternly. The raven-haired trainer and Pikachu eyed Litleo with concern. They pondered if the cub was ready for such a battle.

"Yeah, Tyranitar must be the reason Litleo didn't want to return to the forest until it became stronger from training with us," May agreed. She knew what had to happen next.

Sceptile and Blaziken stepped forward as if indicating they would handle Tyranitar. "Lit!" Litleo barked at the pair of starters with a scowl. Blaziken and Sceptile got caught off guard by its reaction, but when they read the fire in Litleo's eyes, they acknowledged him. Blaziken and Sceptile nodded, then stepped back behind Ash and May.

May and Ash smiled with approval at the Fire-type cub. They respected Litleo for refusing to let anyone battle for him, despite the significant disadvantage. "Everyone, make sure to leave this between Tyranitar and Litleo," Ash ordered.

May added, "This is their battle. Don't do anything unless we tell you." Their Pokemon agreed to the instructions.

"Leo," Litleo thanked Ash and May for letting it settle this battle alone. The cat knew it had to defeat Tyranitar alone if it wished to claim its title as the king of the jungle.

Tyranitar halted its destruction of May's home to approach Litleo. This time, the Rock-type would ensure Litleo received the pummeling it deserved for defying its territorial claims. Ash made a fist, "I know you want to be the one to take down Tyranitar after what it did to you, Litleo. We know you will."

"We're right behind you. Give this Tyranitar a piece of your mind that it will never forget!" May encouraged the lion.

Litleo ran toward Tyranitar with a single outcome in mind. The thought of victory captured his mind. Tyranitar stomped the ground to cause an Earthquake as Litleo continued its dash at it. Litleo jumped off the floor the second it noticed Tyranitar preparing to use Earthquake. The Fire-type cub would not be easily defeated this time. Litleo fired Incinerate when the Armor Pokémon was surprised by Litleo's jump to avoid Earthquake. The Rock-type was too slow to dodge, so it received the fire attack head-on.