I had been acting cool. I admit.

It wasn’t until later that the reality of the situation really hit me.

I was really…finally…on my own.

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Was that good? Am I happy? Or sad?

I’ll never be able to say.

Considering I’d spent a good part of my time wanting to be rid of the brat. And they always say ‘be careful what you wish for, cause it just might come true’. Just when I was beginning to feel I should give him a chance.

On one side, no more schedules, no more Pokeballs, my own time and my own space. But I’d lost something far more important. No, not lost, just hidden for now.

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Back when I was with Ash, I could easily say I was the top dragon, or at the very least near it. Entering this place, the Charizitic Valley, was a whole new game.

Here, I was the underdog. Everyone else was either physically bigger, older or more experienced. Mostly all three.

And they complained Ash used me too much for battles.

My past history certainly didn’t help much either. It would be very hard to earn the respect of others after you’ve acted like a major airhead, made a complete fool of yourself and been utterly humiliated all in the same day. After all, who wants a Charizard that can’t even carry a human on his back?

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Maybe I was degrading myself too much. The other Charizards here seem to have accepted me. One or two were still giving me odd stares and truthfully, I couldn’t blame them.

I was determined to prove to them all that I was a force to be reckoned with, however long or hard I had to train. I’d learnt from the elders that they had a regular training schedule they always followed.

In the mornings, there was always a standard warm-up route around the valley, which included running along the ground, leaping from pillar to pillar and a flight route.

Easy enough. I’d thought. And that was certainly a big mistake.

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On the first day, I completed the course an hour after everyone else and had nearly fainted after that. The next day, I pushed my body to keep up with the crowd and passed out in the process.

After they’d fished me out of the lake, I’d had the most unnerving feeling that they were going to reconsider allowing me to join them and simply boot me out of the valley.

In the end, they assigned a mentor to me.

He was an old warrior with a name decipherable in no human tongue. Judging from his numerous battle scars, he must’ve been one of the more experienced ones. And he certainly looked quite capable of biting my head off before I could do so much as blink.

He started off slow though. Most of the tasks he gave me were ones I could’ve done blindfolded with both hands tied behind my back. Simple acts like shooting close-range targets, lifting boulders, short flights and staying in a position, without moving.

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I certainly didn’t want to question him, however my curiosity finally got the better of my conscience.

"Try completing all of your tests in succession without failing one." He told me.

I tried, but every time I passed one test, I seemed to fail another. It took more than half the day before I finally made it and ended up drenched in sweat, panting wildly.

"Now you’re ready to try them blindfolded with both hands tied behind your back." He said sternly.

I nearly fainted.

His expression suddenly changed.

"Heh…don’t forget that all of us were once young and inexperienced at one point." The old soldier grinned. "However, nature states that all great things take time. The mighty oak tree that sprouted from a tiny acorn. Even a veteran warrior was once a rookie…"

I let out an audible sigh of relief. Then, I began to laugh.

The old Charizard gave me a curious glance.

"You remind me of someone, Sir." I explained, "A Scyther. An old warrior, much like yourself. I met him only once and we came close to fighting, but ended up working together against a common enemy."

"He was the first Pokemon you respected, and not just considered them an adversary worthy of yourself."

I blinked. He’d read it right off my mind.

"The qualities that make up a good warrior are not necessarily the most obvious traits. You’ve accepted what you can do and what you can’t. That is the first step in your journey of a thousand miles." With that, he let me off for the duration of the evening.

Indeed. I thought, I may not be the greatest, but I will always be the best I can be…