A New Journey - Ash Ketchum {2}

Chapter 49 - The Valley of Charizard! Until We Meet Again!

Almost two weeks after Ash won the Zephyr Badge, Emma and her friends were hiking on the mountains. Misty was holding Togepi for Emma, while the brunette was looking through their guidebook. "Okay, so it says here that the closest Johto League Gym is the Azalea Gym in Azalea Town," Emma said before hearing a groan behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder at Brock and Ash who both looked tired. Misty and Emma stopped walking and the boys fell on the hard ground. "We've sure done a lot of walking, haven't we?" Brock asked as Emma and Misty exchanged a look.

"Yeah, my feet are killing me," Ash said, "I just wish I had as many badges as I have blisters." Emma frowned, "They weren't kidding about boys been lazy," she muttered. "Tell me about it," Misty said.

Emma looked at Ash, "And, you can't expect to win a lot of badges if practically all your battles are against Team Rocket." Misty smirked slightly, "Course, it wouldn't mean much if they gave out badges for beating those pathetic losers."

Ash tilted his head, "Guess that's kinda true." Brock nodded, "You're right." Ash stood up, "But Team Rocket aren't the only ones I can beat in Pokémon battles. Not with Pikachu on my side." His Pikachu nodded, "Pika-chu."

"And when things get really tough, I know Charizard will always help me out, too," Ash said with a smile. "When the going gets tough, the tough get Charizard," Brock said and stood up. Emma rubbed the back of her head, "Yeah... but you use Charizard all the time, Ash. And I think that's pretty unfair."

"Unfair?" Ash repeated, blinking. "I agree with Em," Misty said as she placed a hand on her hip. Brock frowned, "Come to think of it, most Pokémon don't stand a chance against Charizard, so using it is sorta unfair."

"No way," Ash said with a frown. They heard an echo, which made them look around. "Hey, what was that?" he asked. "Must be an echo in this canyon, listen how it answers back when I yell," Brock said before cupping his hands before his mouth and yelled, "Hello!"

They heard his voice echoing and he turned to Emma, Ash and Misty, "Hear that?"

"I think I liked your echo better than the first one," Ash said. "Same here," Emma agreed.

"So do I. And hello to you, too." They looked up the rocks to see a pretty young green haired woman dressed in skin tight red leather. She was holding a small stick by her side. "I couldn't make it out exactly, but it sounded like someone was yelling 'no fair'."

Brock blushed as he stared at the young woman, "Oooh, that couldn't have been what they were saying, miss. Because you're very fair. You're the fairest of them all!"

"Well, that's very nice of you to say, I suppose, but I'm sure I heard three voices yelling something else," she said, "You can hear things in these canyons for miles because of the echoes. Here, I'll show you what I mean." She looked over her shoulder and yelled out, "Oh, Charla!"

The woman's voice echoed across the range, and then three Flamethrowers and the roar of a Charizard were heard and seen as a response. "Uh..." Emma trailed off and looked into her guidebook, "The Charicific Valley Natural Reserve is a well-known Charizard habitat that is officially off-limits to tourists." She looked at the woman as she jumped down, "That's cool. My name's Emma, and those are my friends Ash, Misty and Brock."

The young woman walked closer as she smiled, "Nice to meet you. My name's Liza, I train Charizard." Ash smiled, "Wow! That's cool!"

"You oughta know. You have a Charizard, don't ya?" Liza asked. "Yeah, how did you know that?" Ash asked. Liza sniffed him, "The smell of Charizard is very subtle, but unmistakable. Yep. I heard a trainer won a badge from the Violet City Gym leader, and I've been wanting to meet you for quite a while, now."