Combusken glared at Blaziken, its feathers bristling. "Scree! (Aren't you going to put that Growlithe down?)"
Blaziken glanced at the pup cradled in his arm and shook his head calmly. "Scree. (No need.)"
"Scree. (One hand is enough to deal with you.)"
Combusken let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "SCRAAW! (Then pay for your arrogance!)"
It began a Swords Dance, its body glowing as its physical strength surged. Blaziken watched quietly—this was a move he had taught Combusken long ago. After one boost, Combusken lunged. Not because it underestimated Blaziken, but because its body couldn't handle a second Swords Dance.
"SCRAA! (Slash!)" Combusken's talons gleamed white as it aimed for Blaziken's face.
To Blaziken, the attack felt agonizingly slow. Yet out of respect, he tightened his fist, channeling just half his strength—enough to knock Combusken out for hours.
In a blur of red-and-gold, Blaziken vanished. Combusken's eyes widened as his opponent reappeared beside him. Before he could react, a fist rocketed toward his face. Combusken barely raised an arm to block, but the strike landed before his muscles even tensed.
At the last moment, Blaziken hesitated. A flicker of movement in the corner of his vision—her. He pulled the punch, sending Combusken skidding across the ground instead of breaking bones.
Combusken lay sprawled, staring blankly at the sky. One hit. No move, no full power. Just a casual punch. And the golden flames that had briefly coated Blaziken's fist… Even the memory made Combusken's feathers tremble.
Blaziken loomed over him, expression unreadable. "Scree. (You lost.)"
"SCRAAW! (Who ARE you?!)" Combusken snarled, struggling upright. "SCRAA! (Why side with that runt? You should be one of us!)"
Blaziken crouched, still cradling the Growlithe. "Scree. (I'm not 'one of you.' I have my own family now.)"
"Scree… (Don't you recognize me…?)"
Combusken froze. Before he could retort, a golden-feathered Combusken—Blaziken's mother—stumbled forward, her voice trembling. "Scree? (Little Flame… Is it you?)"
Blaziken's gaze hardened. This was the mother who'd abandoned him as a "defective" Torchic. His voice turned icy. "Scree. (I'm not your 'Little Flame.' I'm Blaziken.)"
The Combusken leader's eyes bulged. "SCRAAW! (You?! Impossible!)" But the truth burned in Blaziken's familiar stare—this was the runt he'd left to die.
Blaziken turned to leave. Seeing his parents had severed his last tether to this place.
"SCREE! (Wait!)" The leader bellowed. "SCRAA! (Take my place as leader!)"
Blaziken paused, a mocking smile twisting his beak. Once, he'd have clawed for that title. Now? After traveling with Su Feng, battling alongside friends, seeing the world? It meant nothing.
"Scree. (I don't want it.)"
With a golden flash, he vanished into the trees, leaving the Combusken leader crumpling into his mate's arms. "Scree… (Was I wrong…?)"
But his father, the former leader, had taught him: "Defectives taint the bloodline." Had he been wrong too…?