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Ritchie's Charizard was even stronger than his Pikachu, having already reached the Professional Level. Although nominally considered a main Pokémon on par with Pikachu, Charizard was actually Ritchie's ace.
However, in terms of effort and affection, Pikachu received more, otherwise Ritchie's Pikachu wouldn't have reached the Professional Level.
Ritchie's Charizard was considerably stronger than Pikachu in terms of raw power, after all, with two evolutions and a higher level. Unless Ritchie's Charizard was on the abnormal level of Ash's Pikachu, it would be impossible for it to surpass his Charizard in raw power.
Of course, neither Zane nor Ritchie's Charizard could defeat Ash's Pikachu. Ash's Pikachu's strength was not something that could be surpassed by simply going from Professional Level to Professional Level.
But... "Pikachu, come back." Ash chose to recall Pikachu. Facing Ritchie's Charizard, he had already prepared a suitable opponent. This was the lineup he had prepared after checking Ritchie's data.
Pikachu was still eager to continue fighting. After so long at the Indigo Plateau Conference, it was finally able to fight with full power without restraint, and at the same time, restore some of the confidence that had been shattered by Cynthia. But it was over before it even started?
However, Ash's command naturally had to be obeyed. Pikachu, with a hint of reluctance, scurried back to Ash's side.
Seeing Pikachu's slightly displeased expression, Ash knelt down with a chuckle and patted his little head, saying, "Alright, don't be unhappy. Strong opponents are still ahead. Now, let your companions have some time on the field. You've already led the charge, haven't you?"
Pikachu thought about it and felt that Ash had a point. He had already led the charge and received so many enthusiastic cheers, so that was probably enough.
Thus, most of his displeasure dissipated, and he responded to Ash, indicating that he was fine.
Seeing this, Ash stood up again and took out a Poké Ball from his waist: "Next up is the second one. Be careful, Ritchie... I choose you, Charizard!"
Ash threw the Poké Ball with force. With a flash of light, a Charizard, even more robust than Ritchie's Charizard, appeared on the field. This was the second Pokémon Ash had prepared, Charizard!
Although it might seem a bit cruel, Ash had always wanted to battle Ritchie using the same Pokémon. He felt that such a battle would be more meaningful, otherwise... to put it bluntly, it would be a one-sided crushing.
Unless he used his second team of Pokémon, perhaps Ritchie would have some power to resist, but using his second team would be somewhat disrespectful to Ritchie. He had said that he would battle Ritchie with all his might.
Hence, there was this battle of Pikachu against Pikachu, and Charizard against Charizard.
Upon seeing Ash also use Charizard, Ritchie's expression became even more serious. It must be said that even though he knew Ash's Pikachu might be stronger than Charizard, visually, Charizard still had more presence.
Moreover, this was a battle between Pokémon of the same species. Zane's self-esteem was stronger than Ritchie's Charizard. If it lost to Pikachu, it would be fine, but if it lost to a Charizard of the same species, the blow to Zane would be too great.
Therefore... this battle must be won with all their might, even if the gap between the two sides was already indescribable!
"Zane, Flamethrower!"
"Roar!!"
Zane took a deep breath, then spewed out a scorching pillar of fire. Facing the Flamethrower, Ash's Charizard didn't dodge, directly taking the opponent's flames head-on!
The scorching flames completely engulfed Charizard, but Ritchie's face showed no joy, because the situation was similar when Ritchie's Charizard and Pikachu battled earlier. Ash's Pokémon first took his Pokémon's attack without dodging, and then instantly defeated Ritchie's Charizard.
Now that Flamethrower had directly hit the opponent, with the level difference, it shouldn't cause much damage.
"Sizzle!" The sound of flames being torn apart rang out. Charizard bathed in the flames as if taking a shower. Not only did the flames not cause him any harm, but they even added a layer of flame effect to Charizard.
Charizard, bathed in flames, was like a reborn dragon god. He walked out of the flames step by step, with almost no obstruction from the fire. This sense of oppression was simply indescribable for Zane.
His best move hitting the opponent was like a tickle, completely ineffective. This blow to Zane was not small at all. Even being instantly defeated by the opponent would be better than having his move ignored by the opponent.
"Our turn, Charizard, Flamethrower!!" Ash waved his hand, commanding Charizard.
Charizard spread his wings, and the flames surrounding him were instantly dispersed. Then, he took a deep breath and fiercely spewed out a scorching stream of fire.
The color of the flames had completely turned crimson, with no yellow in it. Compared to Zane's flames, Charizard's pillar of fire was slightly smaller, but the temperature was on a completely different level.
The moment Charizard's flames appeared on the field, the temperature of the entire venue rose considerably. Spectators nearby instantly felt sweat breaking out on their foreheads.
"Zane, quickly dodge!!" Ritchie's forehead also broke out in sweat, whether from the heat or cold sweat from Charizard's flames, he didn't know. Anyway, if Zane were to take this level of flames head-on, the outcome might be completely opposite to Ash's Charizard taking Zane's flames head-on. He absolutely had to dodge.
But the difference between Charizard's Flamethrower and Zane's Flamethrower, besides temperature and flame size, was also speed!
The scorching flames arrived in front of Zane with lightning speed, giving Zane no room to dodge.
Ash's Charizard didn't need to dodge the opponent's Flamethrower, while Zane simply couldn't dodge Ash's Charizard's Flamethrower!
"Boom!!"
Zane was directly engulfed by the flames. The raging inferno on the field burned continuously, seemingly wanting to completely incinerate everything around it, including Zane at its core, into ashes.
Ritchie's face showed extreme worry, his fists clenched tightly. After an unknown amount of time, perhaps a second, perhaps ten seconds, the flames finally began to subside.
For Ritchie, these few seconds felt like several hours. His heart was intertwined with the burning flames.
Zane, engulfed by the flames, made no resistance, as if it had completely lost all signs of life within the fire.
When the flames subsided, Zane's figure finally appeared before the audience and Ritchie.
Zane's orange-red skin was covered with a lot of scorch marks. To burn the high-temperature resistant Zane like this, one could imagine how scorching hot those flames were.
This was still without Charizard using the power of Sacred Flame. If that power were used, it wouldn't be as simple as black and red patches; it would probably turn completely black.
However, even with normal flames, Charizard's full power at the Gym Leader level, combined with the enhanced high-temperature flames from his understanding of Sacred Flame, almost completely depleted Zane's stamina.
"Roar!!" After being scorched by Charizard's Flamethrower, Zane let out an unwilling roar, seemingly wanting to make another move, but ultimately failed to use the next skill he wanted to, and finally collapsed directly.
Instantly defeated... Although Zane resisted Fire-type moves and was also a higher level than Ritchie's Charizard, it still couldn't avoid being instantly defeated by a single move. After all, this time the move used was not Quick Attack, but the more explosive Flamethrower.
This was Charizard's upgraded Flamethrower. In terms of power, it was even no weaker than the Flamethrower used by a typical Elite Four Class Fire-type Pokémon.
Zane not falling down immediately was already a testament to his excellent physical condition. Unfortunately, that was all it was. After a struggle, Zane eventually collapsed.
"Charizard is unable to battle, Pikachu wins!"
Having had the experience from the previous time, the referee didn't hesitate for long this time and directly announced the match result.
The surrounding discussions also continued to rise. Compared to Pikachu's Quick Attack instant defeat before, although this time was not as swift, the shock it gave was no less than before. After all, this was a Fire-type Pokémon being instantly defeated by a Fire-type move.
Moreover, the temperature of the flames even affected the surrounding audience seats, its power was evident.
Some of the people present had actually been at the battle where Charizard fought Glaceon, and it was from that time that they became fans of Ash's Charizard.
And in this battle, the power displayed by Ash's Charizard, although not as strong as when he fought Lorelei, seemed even more effortless.
What? There's such a big difference between dealing with Professional Level and Elite Four Class Pokémon, shouldn't it be effortless?
That's not the same situation. The effortlessness here refers to Charizard's control over his power and his mastery of flames, which were more refined than before.
In summary, he had become stronger.
Ritchie took a deep breath and recalled Zane. Defeat was expected; winning would probably only happen if the opponent's body had problems, or if Zane had a burst of power.
Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible to win. However, Ritchie didn't want to miss even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of winning, but being instantly defeated like this was indeed a bit of a blow.
After recalling Charizard, Ritchie took out his last Poké Ball: "This is the last one. Go, Babi!"
With a flash of light, a Butterfree appeared on the field!
This Butterfree was only Superior Level. The growth of Bug-type Pokémon was truly too difficult. This Pokémon had been by Ritchie's side since he first started his journey, and it had basically never been rotated out.
After countless battles, it finally grew to its current Superior Level, but this level was pretty much the limit for his Butterfree. It would be extremely difficult to go up another level.
Even Ash's Butterfree was only Professional Level, and that was one of the companions who had been with him since he started his journey. One can imagine how difficult it is for Butterfree to improve.
However, sending out a Superior-level Butterfree at this time made it seem as if Ritchie had voluntarily given up the match.
After all, this Butterfree was a whole major level lower than the Charizard from just now!
But in reality, this was already one of Ritchie's most capable main Pokémon, apart from Charizard and Pikachu.
In a head-on battle, no matter what method he used, it would be impossible to defeat Ash's Pikachu and Charizard. Since that was the case, he would use a roundabout tactic.
Butterfree's greatest strength was not its battle ability, but its various status-inducing powers: Sleep Powder, poison, paralysis... The winning method Ritchie could think of was for Sleep Powder to hit the opponent.
In that case, there would still be a slight chance of winning, otherwise, in a direct confrontation, a Superior-level Butterfree would definitely not be able to withstand a single blow from the opponent.
"It's Butterfree, as expected? Come back, Charizard!" Seeing Ritchie's third Pokémon, Ash's face showed an "I knew it" expression, and then he recalled Charizard.
"Thank you, Charizard. Then this is my last one—I choose you, Butterfree!" Ash sent out his last Pokémon.
It was also the same Pokémon as Ritchie's, Butterfree!
At this point, Ritchie's three Pokémon perfectly matched the three Pokémon Ash used.
Upon seeing Ash's Butterfree, Ritchie froze, then a helpless bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Not only in terms of Pokémon strength, but even at the Trainer level, I've been completely seen through by the opponent? Even if I lose this match, it's not unfair!"
The participating Pokémon were fixed from the beginning. Ash choosing these three Pokémon meant that the opponent had already anticipated which Pokémon he would use from the start. This was completely a crushing victory at the Trainer level.
However, Ritchie had actually overly mythologized Ash. It wasn't difficult to guess which Pokémon he would use, after all, he only had a few powerful Pokémon, and there were gaps in the strength between his Pokémon.
His only Professional Level Pokémon were Pikachu and Charizard. It's not like he wouldn't use these two Pokémon, right?
So, guessing which Pokémon Ritchie would use actually didn't have much value.
"Then let's begin, this final showdown. Babi, use Tailwind!"
Starting with Tailwind to increase his speed. In a battle between the same species of Pokémon, the one with a speed advantage would definitely have the upper hand. He already didn't have a level advantage, so if he didn't get the first move in terms of speed, then it would be completely over.