Hey-o! What's up, everybody! I deeply apologize for how many months it took to get this chapter out. But now I'm back, delivering another awesome chapter for The Fairy Tail Shapeshifter! It's great to see that you all enjoyed last chapter!

Now let's just answer the reviews from last chapter:

bulk Locke the the grim head: Thank you! To be honest, I never really thought too much about other pairings. As you can see, there won't be any Jerza in this fanfiction since I'm pairing Erza with Sparky. Aside from that, there will be one other pairing that will appear much later in the story, but I won't reveal that.

Perseus12: Yep and yep! Now we can move on to the exciting part!

darkvampirekisses: Thank you! I'm glad you found it, too! :D

GracefulArt: Thanks! Now, wait no further!

WowohWow0: I'm guessing you're asking if I can give Sparky more than six pokemon. It's not a bad idea. I won't say no, but I'll have to think it over, so I won't say yes either. Thanks for the idea either way!

Foalan21: Glad it made you laugh, though I should point out that wasn't something I made up; that was an actual line from the first episode. Here is the more you requested!

Without further ado, here is Chapter 7!

Chapter 7 – Tales From The Past! Natsu vs. Sparky!

In the peaceful town of Vaniville in the Kalos region, there were a few simple houses scattered about. There weren't as many people living in this town compared to the other towns and cities in Kalos, so it was a pretty quiet place. In one particular house, however, the quiet was about to be shattered.

"Daddy! Mommy!"

The shout came from a little boy running through the halls of his two-story home. The boy looked to be about 7 years old, and he had on a blue T-shirt with an orange lightning bolt on it and yellow shorts. His blond hair blew in the air as he ran, and his blue eyes glittered with energy.

"Daddy! Mommy!" the little boy called again.

"No need to yell, Collin, we're in here," a voice grumbled.

The boy, now known as Collin, ran into the dining area, where he finally found his parents sitting at the square table that they used to eat. His dad had brown hair and blue eyes, though the latter held a hint of annoyance. He wore a beige button-up shirt and brown pants.

His mom also had blue eyes like his dad, albeit a slightly darker shade, but she had long blonde hair that reached her upper back. Unlike his casual appearance, she had on a suit: a white button-up shirt with a black jacket over it. She also wore a black skirt that went down to her knees and black high heels.

The woman looked to her son with a sweet smile on her face. "What is it, honey?" she inquired.

Collin was practically bouncing in place as he asked, "Do you know where Big Brother went? I don't think he's here anymore."

His mom giggled. "No, he's not here anymore. I believe he said something about heading over to Serena's house to hang out with everyone."

The little boy gasped. "He left without me?! I gotta go, then! Bye!" And with that, Collin ran out of the room.

Once he was gone, his dad sighed. "That boy… I still don't understand how he can have so much energy," he remarked.

Collin's mom giggled again. "I think it's adorable, Jeff!" she said. "Besides, that kind of energy will be good for him when he finally becomes a Trainer."

"Yeah, it will, Audrey. Now if only that day could come sooner," Jeff sighed once more in exasperation.

Meanwhile, Collin ran up the stairs and into his room. Quickly scanning the room, he spotted what he was looking for. "Come on, little buddy! We're going over to Serena's house to play with Big Brother and our friends!" he exclaimed.

The thing that he was addressing was under his blanket. Reacting to Collin's words, it suddenly popped out from underneath and landed on the ground, revealing itself to be a pokemon.

It was incredibly small, not even a foot tall, and resembled a mouse. It was mostly orange in color, with cheeks that were a darker shade of orange, and a black tail, ears, and whiskers that were, oddly enough, shaped like antennas. Its belly and the inside of its ears were pale yellow, and a small tooth could be seen poking out of the upper part of its mouth.

"Dedenne!" the pokemon cried happily.

"Yeah! Let's go, Dedenne!" Collin said, running out of his room, down the stairs, and out the front door with the Antenna Pokemon on his heels.

Serena's house wasn't far from his own; in fact, it was practically next door. It was only a couple minutes later that the young boy and his pokemon made it to their destination, and the former was quick to knock on the front door. A minute later, the door opened to reveal a woman with short brown hair and blue eyes. "Oh Collin, I was wondering when you'd get here!" she said. "If you're looking for Xavier, then he's out back with my daughter and Shauna."

"Thanks, Mrs. Yvonne!" Collin responded before he raced out the backdoor. A few seconds later, he found who he was looking for. "Big Brother!"

Just as Serena's mom had told him, there were currently three people in the yard; all of them turned to face Collin when they heard him shout. In addition, there was a pokemon at their feet.

The first person was a boy about a year older than Collin. As opposed to the shorter boy's wilder hairstyle, the taller boy's hair was less spiky and stood up a bit straighter, and was brown instead of blond. The two had the same blue eyes, though the older boy's eyes were slightly lighter in color. He was wearing a red T-shirt with black shorts.

The second person was a girl around the same age as the boy. She had honey blonde hair that reached her shoulders and blue eyes. She wore a red dress that went down to her knees and a red hat on her head.

The third person was also a girl, just as old as the previous two kids. She had brown hair, interestingly styled into four curls that circled around her head, and green eyes, and she had on a pink shirt with black bows and blue jean shorts.

As for the pokemon, it resembled a lion cub. It had primarily dark brown fur, with its face, paws, ears, and the tip of its tail being lighter brown in color. Its nose was reddish orange, as was the tuft of fur between its ears.

Upon spotting Collin, the brown-haired girl's face lit up. "Oh, oh! Collin's here!" she exclaimed.

The boy smirked lightly. "It's about time," he remarked.

The blonde girl was the first to approach him. "Good morning, Collin. I trust that you're doing well?" she said.

Collin smiled back. "Yeah, I'm good, Serena." He turned to the brown-haired girl and waved. "Hi, Shauna!" he called, getting an enthusiastic greeting from her in return. Looking down, he saw the pokemon that had been at their feet was now at his feet, rubbing its head on his leg affectionately. With a laugh, the little boy bent down to pat it on the head. "And hello to you, too, Litleo."

"Litleo!" the pokemon cried out.

"De ne ne!" Dedenne said, and the two pokemon ran off to play together.

The blond smiled as he watched the two. Then he turned to face the other boy, and his smile was replaced with a pout. "Xavier, why'd you leave home without me?"

The older boy, now known as Xavier, let out a small chuckle. "Sorry little bro, but you were just taking too long. Seriously, for all of your energy, you can be pretty slow when it comes to cleaning your room," he answered. Collin's cheeks puffed out slightly at his remark, but he had no retort.

Their two friends giggled before Shauna spoke up. "So what are we going to do today?" she asked.

At that, Collin's pout disappeared and his smile returned. "Ooh, ooh! Can we do that mock pokemon battling thing again?"

Xavier chuckled. "Sure Collin, let's do that."

"Yay!"

Still nighttime in the jail cell, Erza stared at the trainer with astonishment. "So you really did have a brother…" she said.

Sparky nodded. "That I did."

Erza was silent for a few seconds as she took in what she was told, which left her with a few more questions. "What about those two pokemon you mentioned?"

"You mean Dedenne and Litleo," Sparky answered. He thought about something for a second before he continued speaking. "If you'd like, I can show you what they look like for yourself."

"Really? How?" the redhead inquired.

In response, the blond teen reached into his back pocket and pulled out a red and black device that slightly resembled a tablet. There was a thin, blue gap in the middle that was rounder at the center and outlined in black. Erza gazed at the device in awe. "What's that?"

"This is my Pokedex. It records data on pokemon that I've seen or caught," Sparky explained. He activated the Pokedex and it opened up, the gap getting wider to reveal a screen, much to Erza's surprise. Fiddling with the device for a moment, he turned the screen to the armored wizard as an image of Litleo appeared.

"Litleo, the Lion Cub Pokemon," the automated voice said as Erza listened with astonishment. "The stronger the opponent it faces, the more heat surges from its mane and the more power flows through its body."

"Amazing," Erza muttered. "This Litleo pokemon sounds an awful lot like Natsu."

The trainer laughed at her statement. "Yeah, they are pretty similar now that you mention it." He pressed a few buttons and the image of Litleo was replaced with one of Dedenne.

"Dedenne, the Antenna Pokemon. Its whiskers serve as antennas. By sending and receiving electrical waves, it can communicate with others over vast distances," the Pokedex said.

"That sounds impressive," Erza commented as she faced Sparky, who was putting away his Pokedex. "So are these your last two pokemon?"

Sparky looked confused for a moment before he remembered that Erza had only seen four of his pokemon. "Oh, no, no. Litleo went with my brother when he started his journey. As for Dedenne…" He seemed to hesitate for a second before he went on. "…Dedenne's back home."

The scarlet-haired wizard observed him, noticing how downtrodden he suddenly seemed to get. "You really miss him, don't you?"

The trainer nodded sadly. "According to my brother, Dedenne was hatched from an egg not long before I was born. He's always been around me, and the two of us got really close. We did practically everything together. When I finally started my journey, Dedenne was actually the first pokemon to join my team," he revealed.

Erza was astounded once again. "If you were so close to him, why isn't he with you?" she questioned.

Sparky grimaced. "Well, one of the things we did together was get into life-threatening situations. After nearly dying during the last one, I decided I didn't want Dedenne to get caught up in another one, so I left him with Professor Sycamore, the man who gave me my Pokedex." He sighed. "What a mistake that turned out to be, considering how far apart we are now. Now I may never see him again."

"You shouldn't think like that." The blond started when he felt Erza's hand on his shoulder. Looking at her, he saw that the redhead had a soft smile on her face. "I think you should always hold on to the hope that you will see each other again. I don't know Dedenne, but if you two really are as close as you say, then I bet he feels that way. And I'm sure the two of you will be reunited one day."

Sparky stared at her, stunned by her words. After a minute, a wide smile slowly crossed his face as his mood lifted. "Thanks, Erza. You're absolutely right; I should remain positive that I'll meet up with Dedenne again!"

Erza averted her eyes as a blush adorned her face. Seeing him smile at her like that made her heart flutter, but she quickly shook it off so she could ask him another question. "Before you continue your story, I wanted to ask… is Sparky not your actual name?"

The teen in question let out a small chuckle. "Actually, it's not. My real name is Collin while Sparky is just my nickname," he explicated. "However, I prefer to go by my nickname because…"

It was now the afternoon and, after getting permission from their parents, the four kids and two pokemon were currently hanging out in Aquacorde Town. They'd had their fair share of battling and were now letting Dedenne and Litleo rest.

In the meantime, the group of four decided to pass the time by chatting. That was what they were doing when another voice grabbed their attention.

"Hey, looks like the gang's all here!"

The four turned to see three people approaching them, with three pokemon around them.

The first person was a large boy with black hair that stood up and brown eyes. He had on a black T-shirt with a Vanillite on it and orange shorts. At his feet was a crustacean pokemon that resembled a lobster and was mostly red in color while its underside and the lower half of its pincers were cream-colored. It had six legs, three spikes on top of its head, and a blank look in its eyes.

The second person was also a boy, who had short, orange hair and gray eyes. He wore a green vest over a white short-sleeved shirt and gray jeans. Perched on his shoulder was a mouse pokemon around Dedenne's height, just a bit taller. It had pale yellow fur and pink cheeks. There was a black patch of fur around its neck that looked like a collar, and the tips of its ears and its tail were also black.

The last person approaching was a girl with brown hair in pigtails and brown eyes. Unlike most of the kids, she actually appeared to be around the same age as Collin. She was wearing a red shirt with blue overalls on top. Behind her was a small, blue mouse pokemon that was bouncing on a large, round ball that was part of its tail. Its actual body was around the same size as the ball, and a thin, black zigzag connected the two and completed its tail.

The first boy, the one who had initially spoken, spoke up again. "So what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing really, Tierno," Shauna answered. "We did have a few mock battles before you guys showed up."

The other brown-haired girl pouted. "Aww, I would have liked to join in on that."

"Don't worry, Lyra! We can do it again when Dedenne and Litleo are fully rested!" Collin assured her, making Lyra smile at him.

"Sounds like a plan, though Tierno says there's something else that needs to be taken care of," the second boy said.

"Right you are, Trevor! But before we get to that…" He looked down to the pokemon at his feet. "…why don't you go hang out with the other pokemon, Corphish?"

Trevor glanced at his shoulder. "You're welcome to join them if you like, Pichu."

Lyra gazed behind herself. "You too, Azurill!"

The three pokemon in question shouted their respective names happily before heading over to where the Electric/Fairy and Fire/Normal-types were relaxing.

"So what do you have planned for us today, Tierno?" Xavier inquired. Inwardly, the brown-haired boy was hoping that he wasn't about to propose another dance-off. It wasn't that Xavier didn't like them, but Tierno tended to propose those things way too often.

"Well, I was thinking… we should totally come up with a nickname for Collin here!" the black-haired boy exclaimed.

Collin was surprised. "Huh? Why?" he questioned.

Xavier put his hand on the younger boy's head. "Don't sweat it, little bro. Tierno's suggested this for all of us; some of us have accepted and some of us declined. You don't have to accept it if you don't want to."

Collin thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not really opposed to the idea…"

"Great! Then let's get started!" Tierno said, much to the blond's bewilderment. "Now for Collin, I was thinking something like 'C-Meister!'"

"What? No way!" Shauna protested before Collin could say anything. "I think he's a 'Li'l C' for sure! What do you think, Trevor?"

The orange-haired boy started at being called out abruptly. "Shauna, you shouldn't put people on the spot like that! But… maybe something subtle? Like 'Big C?'"

As the three discussed names, the subject of their conversation just watched with confusion. His two friends not involved in the discussion and his brother stood next to him. "So what do you think?" Serena asked him.

"I think… I didn't really expect them to jump into this whole nickname thing so enthusiastically," Collin admitted.

The blonde giggled as she looked over at the three. "Well, the three of them have nicknames, so they're probably excited that someone else is finally getting one since the rest of us decided against it." She turned back to Collin. "Do you like any of their suggestions? Remember, in the end, it's all up to you."

The youngest boy rubbed the back of his head. "I guess, to be honest… I don't think any of them are a good match for me."

"I think they're really funny nicknames!" Lyra giggled.

Collin smiled at her briefly before he frowned. "Yeah, but either way, none of those nicknames really feel right for me," he said.

"How about 'Sparky,' then?" The three of them turned to Xavier, who had made the suggestion. Upon seeing that he had their attention, Xavier went on. "I think that name's pretty fitting for you, considering how energetic you are. Not to mention, you're pretty close to Dedenne, who's an Electric-type," he finished.

Collin just gazed at his brother for a few moments, and then he beamed. "Yeah, I think that's perfect! Alright then, from now on, my nickname will be Sparky!"

Xavier and Serena smiled at his enthusiasm while Lyra giggled again.

Then the newly dubbed Sparky gained a questioning expression on his face. "Wait, didn't you say that you don't have a nickname either, Big Brother? Why is that?" he inquired.

Xavier seemed surprised at his sudden question, but he was quick to give his brother an answer. "Well, I just felt the same way you did. The nicknames they suggested for me didn't feel right, so I decided to forgo the whole nickname thing."

"Oh…" Collin trailed off as if lost in thought. After a minute, he perked back up. "I know! Your nickname can be 'Blaze!'"

The three of them were astonished by his suggestion, none more so than the brown-haired boy. Serena was the first to find her voice. "How did you come up with that?" she asked.

"I just thought about how good he is at the games we play and the other things we do and I figured it was a good way to describe him," the blond elucidated. "In addition to that, he's really close to Litleo, who's a Fire-type. So what do you think, Big Brother?"

Xavier remained silent for a while, and then he chuckled. "I suppose your reasoning makes sense. Very well, Blaze can be my nickname."

"Hooray!" Collin cheered. He turned to his three friends who were still conversing with each other. "Guys, did you hear? Xavier and I have nicknames now!"

That broke up their discussion. "Aw, we missed it?" Shauna pouted.

"So what did you guys decide on?" Trevor questioned.

The blond pointed at himself. "I'm now Sparky!" He pointed to his brother. "And he's Blaze!"

"Excellent names!" Tierno commented. "Congratulations, Sparky and Blaze!"

"Yeah!" Lyra nodded. "Now let's have some mock battles!"

"Okay!" Collin agreed.

"…and that's how I got my nickname. My brother and I gave each other our nicknames," Sparky finished explaining.

Erza was astounded by everything she just heard. She couldn't help but smile. "Your friends sound like an interesting group of people," she remarked.

The trainer beamed. "Yeah, they were. Although everyone was a year older than me; only Lyra was the same age as me." His smile faltered. "However, when I was 8, Lyra and her dad moved to the Johto region. Her dad got a job there, and he figured that she'd also be able to visit her grandparents occasionally since they also lived in Johto."

"I'm sorry to hear that," the redhead said, as she could see that he was clearly unhappy about it.

Sparky shook his head. "Don't worry about it. A year later, Blaze and the rest of our friends were old enough to start their journeys. I was sad at first since that meant I wouldn't have anyone to talk to or hang out with, but I cheered up when I remembered that I still had Dedenne to play with. Plus, I would only have to wait a year before I could start traveling myself."

Then the smile on his face completely vanished. "But then… something happened. There was some kind of accident, and a new trainer got badly injured. Therefore, it was deemed that it was too hazardous for 10 year-olds to be traveling by themselves with creatures as dangerous as pokemon, especially some pokemon that are known to be violent, so a new law was passed. One that stated that a person had to be at least 13 years old before they could start their journey."

Erza was shocked as she listened to him speak.

Sparky continued. "I was devastated. My final year of waiting had been abruptly increased to 4 years of waiting. At first, I did nothing but mope around. But then…" A small smile crossed his face. "After I turned 10, Blaze and all of my friends came to visit me and cheer me up. Even my mom took a temporary break from work to come see me. I was so happy.

"After that, Blaze would come visit me every couple of months, showing off his pokemon and letting me play with them. Then, some time before I turned 11, he told me that he'd be going somewhere. He wouldn't say where, but he did say that he would have a surprise for me when he returned."

"Your brother sounds like a great person. I'd like to meet him," the armored wizard remarked with a smile. "What about the rest of your family?"

"Well, my mom is really sweet. I actually get my looks from her. She works at a big corporation in a different region, so I don't really see her at home too often." Abruptly, his mood turned pensive. "But my father… he didn't care for me."

The blond carried on, despite Erza's stunned look. "He never liked how energetic I was, always saying it was a hassle to deal with. In fact, I think he was the only one who wasn't upset to see me so dejected when that new law was passed. And after I turned 12, I remember overhearing him talking to my mom over the phone, saying that he wasn't sure he could keep dealing with my energy. After I heard that, I decided I didn't want to stick around anymore, so I ran away from home with Dedenne early the next morning."

Erza gasped in shock. "But wasn't that dangerous?" she inquired.

"The road between my hometown, Vaniville Town, and Aquacorde Town is actually totally safe. We don't need to worry about wild pokemon attacking us, which is why our parents allowed us to hang out in Aquacorde so often," Sparky informed her. "But from Aquacorde, trainers start to encounter wild pokemon. Still, I had been fine until I reached the forest between Aquacorde Town and Santalune City, the next town after that."

"What happened there?"

"I was attacked by a wild pokemon. A Beedrill, to be exact." He took a short break from his story to show Erza a picture of Beedrill on his Pokedex. "It was a lot stronger than a pokemon in Santalune Forest should have been, so I suspect it had been released by a Trainer. Dedenne was no match for it, and it looked like I was done for, but then…"

"But then…?" the redhead repeated.

Sparky's smile came back again. "Then Blaze returned and saved me. He easily defeated the Beedrill with a Fire-type pokemon I hadn't seen before at the time. After he made sure I was okay, he asked what I was doing so far away from home, so I told him what I heard my father say. Blaze was upset, of course, but then… he offered to take me with him while he continued traveling. And I accepted."

Hearing this, Erza was surprised. "Was something like that allowed?" she questioned.

The trainer shrugged. "As long as I didn't try to go off on my own or catch or battle pokemon, it was fine. For almost a year, Blaze took me around Kalos. We explored and had tons of fun together, and I got to watch him battle other trainers. I knew I would be turning 13 pretty soon, which meant I would finally be able to start my own journey and catch my own pokemon, and the thought made me really excited."

Abruptly, Sparky frowned. "But… disaster struck. An evil organization known as Team Flare threatened to wipe out all life across the planet. Everyone was supposed to remain indoors for their own safety, but Blaze revealed to me that he had encountered them multiple times throughout the course of his journey and stopped them each time. He told me to stay at the Pokemon Center while he was gone but I refused; I didn't want to sit back while he probably risked his life to save the world. We argued for a bit before he finally relented and took me with him to Team Flare's base."

The scarlet-haired wizard raised a brow. "It sounds like you did a lot of dangerous things before you even started your journey," she commented.

Sparky smiled sheepishly. "I've been told something similar before," he said. Then the smile on his face dropped as he resumed telling his story. "So Blaze defeated any Grunts that tried to stop us, and eventually we made it to their leader, Lysandre, who was the last person standing between us and the weapon. He put up a good fight, but ultimately, Blaze came out on top, which meant that Lysandre should have stood down. Instead, he unleashed the thing that powered his weapon: the Legendary Pokemon known as Yveltal."

"Yveltal?" Erza parroted, gazing at the picture of the pokemon Sparky mentioned as he showed her his Pokedex again. Her eyes widened as she observed the intimidating pokemon.

"Yes. It was extremely dangerous and incredibly powerful, but he needed to stop it to shut down the machine. Three of Blaze's pokemon were out of commission, so he used his remaining three pokemon to combat it. At first, Blaze had been doing pretty well against Yveltal; two of his pokemon had type advantage over it and were able to dish out heavy damage. However, Yveltal seemed to get more aggressive as the battle went on, until it finally used its signature attack to turn the tables by dealing damage and healing itself at the same time."

"Then… how did he stop it? Was he able to…?" Erza questioned, stunned.

Sparky seemed to grow more crestfallen as he recalled the event. "Yveltal looked like it was going to attack Blaze and his pokemon while they were still down. I was afraid of what would happen to them, so… I told Dedenne to attack it. Yet, despite its weakness to Electric-type attacks, it was barely fazed by Dedenne's attack. All I succeeded in doing was turning Yveltal's attention to me. I was terrified."

Erza's eyes widened again, this time in horror. "So what happened to you then?!" she asked worriedly.

"Yveltal charged up another attack and prepared to release it, so I grabbed Dedenne to shield him. However, that turned out to be unnecessary, because once Yveltal launched its attack… Blaze got up and took it instead."

The armored mage gasped.

"He was seriously injured as a result, but despite that, he stood strong and kept on fighting," the blond continued. "His pokemon seemed to emulate that and battled even harder themselves. It took a while, but in the end, they did manage to defeat Yveltal. After that, Blaze shut down the machine and had one of his pokemon carry us out of the building… but he passed out soon afterward."

Erza's gaze softened. "What happened to your brother?"

"His pokemon took him to a hospital, and he was given treatment," Sparky answered. "Unfortunately, the severity of his injuries left him in a coma for a couple of weeks. I visited him a week after the event because I was about to leave for my own journey, but he was still unconscious." He sighed. "He wasn't able to see me off."

"I'm… sorry about what happened to Blaze."

"It's not your fault…" The trainer sighed again. "It was mine."

Erza was caught off guard at his statement. "What?"

"I was the one who insisted on going with Blaze even if I wouldn't have been able to do anything, and I wasn't," Sparky said sadly. "All I did was get in his way, and he ended up getting hurt because of me. And when I passed by the hospital sometime later, I learned that he had already been discharged, yet I haven't heard from him ever since. He clearly doesn't want to see me anymore."

The redhead was silent as she took in everything he said before she reacted by gently placing her hand on his shoulder again. "Sparky… I don't think that's true," she said.

Now it was Sparky's turn to be caught off guard. "What?"

"First of all, I think it's admirable that you wanted to help your brother out however you could, even if there wasn't really much you could've done," Erza complimented, making the trainer blush slightly. "But if you explained everything that happened correctly, then it sounds like you did more than you're giving yourself credit for."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sparky asked, puzzled.

"You said that Yveltal was going to strike Blaze while he was still down, which is why you had Dedenne attack it. Even though Dedenne's attack wasn't enough to harm it, you did successfully distract Yveltal from possibly killing your brother and gave Blaze enough time to recover. So Sparky… it sounds to me that you saved your brother's life just as he saved yours," Erza explicated.

The trainer was once again stunned by what she said, but it was soon replaced with unease. "You say that, but if Blaze felt the same, then why hasn't he spoken to me in 5 years?"

"Based on how you described him, does he sound like the kind of person who could stay mad at you for an extended period of time?"

Sparky didn't have to think hard to answer that. "Well… no," he replied.

The armored mage smiled. "Then I doubt that's the case. If I had to guess, maybe he has been watching over you, even if he never came to talk to you after that event. I think, just like with Dedenne, you should believe that the two of you will eventually reunite, and I'm positive that he'll be able to reassure you when that happens."

At first, Sparky could do nothing but gaze at Erza with slightly watery eyes. Then, to her surprise, he moved forward and enveloped her in a hug. Erza's cheeks burned as the blond's arms wrapped around her. The redhead was unsure of what to do, but then she heard him speak. "Thank you, Erza… This has actually been bothering me for a very long time, so thanks for reassuring me," he said happily.

Erza's cheeks cooled a bit and smiled as she finally returned the hug. "You're quite welcome, Sparky."

The two stayed like that for a while before Sparky pulled back a few seconds later. There was a tint of red on his cheeks as he rubbed his eyes, but he beamed at Erza, which made her cheeks light up slightly as she smiled back.

Then the trainer let out a yawn. "Huh, I guess all that talking tired me out. How about we get some sleep?" he suggested.

"Yes, rest sounds nice," Erza agreed.

And with that, the two got into resting positions. Erza leaned back against the wall while Sparky laid on the ground on his back with his arms behind his head.

"Goodnight, Erza."

"Goodnight, Sparky."

The next day had finally come, and the three members of Fairy Tail were released and allowed to go back to their guild. One of the three seemed especially enthusiastic about it…

"Man, I never thought fresh air would taste so good!" Natsu shouted gleefully as he ran around breathing fire, much to the annoyance of his guildmates.

This went on for some time until Elfman called out to him. "Natsu! Aren't you going to finish your manly fight with Erza?" he inquired.

His question reminded the Dragon Slayer that their match had indeed been cut short, and now he was itching to get back to it. "That's right, I forgot!" He ran over to where Erza was sitting at a table, drinking tea. "So what do you say, Erza? Wanna finish what we started?"

The scarlet-haired mage didn't even glance in Natsu's direction as she answered. "I'm not in the mood right now."

Natsu apparently didn't care as he ignited his fist and charged at her anyway. "I'm not gonna let you go that easily!"

"Honestly, Natsu…" Erza sighed. Then in one swift motion, she stood up and punched him in the gut so hard that his fire went out and he fell over, nearly unconscious. Everyone gawked at the sight. "There. How's that?"

After registering that that really happened, Gray and Elfman burst out laughing while Lucy stared at Natsu's unmoving body with amusement and worry. Erza paid them no mind, sitting back down in her seat and taking another sip of her tea.

Natsu eventually recovered after a few minutes, groaning as he sat up. "Aw man, I was all fired up, too," he muttered. A moment later, another thought popped into his head, one that made him bolt to his feet and look around the Guild Hall as if searching for someone.

It took a few seconds for the pink-haired teen to find who he was looking for, but he finally spotted him sitting in front of a wall with his eyes closed. Natsu ran over to him and yelled, "Hey, Sparky! Let's fight right now!"

His scream caught the attention of most of the other guild members, and they looked to the blond to see how he would react. However, they were all confused when Sparky didn't react at all. In fact, it seemed as though he didn't even hear Natsu.

"Uh… Sparky?" Natsu tried again.

Lucy walked up to him. "I don't think he can hear you, Natsu. I've seen him in this state before, and it seemed like he couldn't hear when anyone was talking to him," she told him.

"Really?" Natsu said as he stared at Sparky. After a few seconds, a grin formed on his face as his fist was engulfed in flames. "Then I guess I'll have to get his attention a different way!"

The Celestial Mage began to panic. "Natsu wait—!" But it was too late to stop the Dragon Slayer as he threw his fist forward, aiming for Sparky's face.

To everyone's shock, it ended up crashing into the palm of a hand that was covered in blue aura.

The trainer still hadn't moved from his position, but his hand was now raised and currently was gripping Natsu's fist. Then he sighed and opened his eyes. "What is it, Natsu? Can't you see I'm busy right now?" he questioned with irritation.

"Come on, Sparky! Let's fight!" Natsu shouted, ignoring his last question.

Sparky raised a brow as he released Natsu's fist, his irritation replaced with slight confusion. "Right now?"

"Yeah, right now!" Natsu confirmed. "You said that you'd fight me once I knew all six of your pokemon! Well, I do! Pikachu, Greninja, Snorlax, Lucario, Decidueye, and Charizard!"

Sparky's other brow went up. "I'm amazed you actually got all of their names correct," he remarked.

"Whatever! Let's just fight already!"

The trainer sighed again. "You seem pretty impatient, so…" He smirked at the Dragon Slayer. "…I guess I shouldn't keep you waiting."

Natsu looked like he was going to explode with joy. "Yes! I'm fired up now!"

A few minutes later, the whole guild was outside, surrounding two people who were preparing to fight, just like yesterday. Unlike yesterday, however, one of the two was different.

Many of the guild members were excited to finally see the newest member in action. Those who had already seen him in action (Erza, Gray, Lucy, Happy, and Makarov) were just looking forward to seeing him fight again.

Inside the circle, the two combatants were staring at each other with smirks on their faces. "I've been waiting for this ever since you joined the Guild," Natsu said.

"I won't lie, I've been looking forward to this ever since then, too," Sparky admitted. "Let's make this a good match!"

"Are both fighters ready?" Makarov asked.

The two dropped into combat stances. "Ready!" they said in unison.

Gray raised a brow at this. "Sparky's not going to use his Magic?" he wondered.

"Don't worry, Gray." Erza smiled. "Sparky has shown that he's plenty capable without it."

"Then this match may commence!" the Guild Master announced.

Natsu immediately started off by puffing out his cheeks. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" he called out as he unleashed a torrent of flames from his mouth.

The trainer didn't even flinch as the flames came his way. "Sorry Natsu, but not good enough!" he commented as he pointed his arm at the attack. A glowing blue barrier materialized in front of him; Natsu's attack crashed into it and was deflected into different directions.

The pink-haired teen was undeterred by this and jumped into the air above Sparky. "Alright then, try to block this! Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" he roared, sending a larger wave of fire at his opponent.

Sparky was still unfazed as he made a swiping gesture with his arms, and the barrier suddenly extended into a dome that protected him from the fire. Once the attack ended, he dispelled the dome and put his hands close together. "My turn!" Sparky shouted, gathering aura between his palms and thrusting his arms forward. "Aura Sphere!"

Natsu saw the attack coming his way as he dropped from the sky and reacted swiftly. Shooting fire from his feet, he propelled himself out of the way of the blast. Using his momentum, Natsu turned his dodge into a spin as he started to flip head over heels multiple times, coming down on the blond with a flaming axe kick. "Fire Dragon's Claw!"

Sparky reacted just as quickly, leaping backward to avoid the blow; Natsu's kick impacted the ground instead. He dashed out of the dust cloud with a flaming fist. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" the Dragon Slayer yelled as he got closer to Sparky. Yet, to everyone's surprise and confusion, the Aura Guardian made no move to evade him.

"Why isn't Sparky attempting to get out of the way?" Levy wondered.

"He must be planning on taking the hit to show how manly he is!" Elfman exclaimed.

"Somehow I doubt that, Elfman," his sister responded.

Natsu was only about a foot away from Sparky when he suddenly felt something explode against his back, making him stumble forward while his flames went out.

Evidently, this was the moment Sparky was waiting for. As soon as Natsu stumbled, he rushed forward as one of his arms was covered in blue aura. Once he was close enough, he uppercut the pink-haired mage in the chest with his aura-coated fist, sending him sailing a few feet away onto his back.

As Natsu got back to his feet, everybody was left shocked, none more so than Natsu himself. "Okay Sparky, how did you do that?" he demanded.

The trainer smirked. "Oh? How about a repeat performance then?" he taunted, forming another Aura Sphere in his hands. "Now keep your eyes on the ball!" He tossed it at his opponent.

Natsu instinctively jumped into the air to dodge the attack and puffed out his cheeks. However, he remembered what Sparky just told him and looked back down; his eyes widened when he saw the Aura Sphere still coming for him. Changing targets, he released his breath attack at the Aura Sphere instead, causing it to explode.

Natsu landed on the ground safely and gazed at Sparky once more. "Seriously, how are you doing that?!"

The teen being addressed smiled proudly. "My Aura Sphere is a projectile that locks on to a target's aura, guaranteed to hit!" he explained.

"…It does what now?"

The smile on his face vanished as a deadpan expression took its place. "It never misses."

"OH!" Natsu's face cleared up with realization as he understood what Sparky was saying. "Why didn't you just say that?"

Sparky's expression didn't change. "I thought I did." Then he smirked as aura surrounded his legs. "Now let's see how you handle this!" He sped forward and appeared in front of Natsu in a matter of seconds with his arm cocked back, catching the Dragon Slayer off guard. Fortunately, he managed to react in time by shooting fire from his feet to flip backwards, avoiding Sparky's punch, which hit and cracked the ground instead.

Once on the ground, Natsu followed up by propelling himself forward while lighting his fist on fire. The aura around Sparky's legs faded away as his arm was encompassed by aura. The blond rushed at his opponent and threw his fist forward, meeting Natsu's flaming fist head-on.

The two seemed to be at a standstill, neither side able to overpower the other. The pink-haired teen was surprised that Sparky was even able to withstand his intense flames like this, but after a few seconds, he smirked. This caught Sparky's attention. "What are you smiling about?" he asked.

"Just that I've got a secret weapon!" Natsu declared. At that, fire burst from his elbow, making Sparky's eyes widen briefly. "Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!" With this extra boost, the Dragon Slayer managed to overpower his opponent and nail him in the face, causing Sparky to stumble backwards. Natsu didn't stop there; he puffed out his cheeks and unleashed another attack. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

Sparky was still recovering from the punch to the face, so he didn't immediately notice the fire attack coming his way. When he did, his eyes widened. It was too close to dodge and he had no time to block it with a barrier or counter it with an attack of his own, which meant he was left with no other option but to take the hit. Sparky crossed his arms to shield his face as Natsu's roar swallowed him up.

Everybody watched on in shock or worry as the trainer was hit by the attack at such a close range. Once it ended, they were able to get a good look at Sparky, who was currently motionless. Then he lowered his arms, coughed out a bit of smoke…

…and smiled.

Needless to say, everyone was even more shocked. "He got hit by Natsu's Fire Dragon Roar at point-blank range and doesn't even look injured!" the Ice Mage exclaimed.

"He really is a real man!" Elfman stated.

"Aye! He must be pretty tough!" Happy chimed in.

Even Erza was impressed. "I wonder just how tough…" she mused.

Sparky rubbed the back of his head. "Wow, Natsu, your fire attacks are really strong! I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of another one of those!"

"How come you don't seem hurt?!" the Dragon Slayer demanded.

Sparky laughed in response. "Oh Natsu, do you honestly believe you're the first person to hit me with flames that intense?"

"Well, I did… until you just said that."

"Should he be laughing about something like that?!" Lucy questioned incredulously.

The trainer quieted down as he looked at Natsu. "Sorry, but I've been hit by fire so much that I've built up a tolerance to it," he revealed.

"He's that tough?!" Wakaba exclaimed.

"So Natsu may have some trouble here," Macao noted.

"But still…" Everyone grew silent when Sparky continued to speak. "It's pretty impressive that you actually landed a hit on me." His eyes narrowed. "I may have to start getting serious."

Gray raised a brow. "Does this mean he's finally going to use his Magic?"

His question was answered when a Magic circle appeared underneath Sparky's feet, bathing his form in light. The guild watched with anticipation, wondering what he would turn into; judging by the different-colored seal, it wasn't going to be Greninja. Of course, there were a few people who already knew what pokemon Sparky was planning on using.

The light finally faded and Sparky was finally revealed to the guild… as Pikachu.

The reactions from the girls were instantaneous.

"Aww, it's so cute!" Mirajane cooed.

"What an adorable little creature!" Levy commented.

"Look at its red cheeks!" Cana pointed out.

Lucy smiled. "So he's using Pikachu this time around? Interesting choice. You know, now that I'm getting a good look at him, he does look pretty cute. What do you think, Erza?" she asked, turning to the redhead.

However, Erza was unable to answer the Celestial Mage as her eyes were fixed on Pikachu's form. She had only caught a glimpse of him while they were at Web Valley, so this was her first time really seeing him. Now, she was rendered stiff as a board, with slight trembles rocking her body and cheeks as red as Pikachu's.

"I must not give in to the urge to pet him!" the armored wizard thought as she tried to keep herself in check. "Even if he does look so cute… and adorable… and soft—No! Get a hold of yourself, Erza!"

Lucy sweatdropped as she observed the state Erza was in. "Uh, guess I know how she feels…"

The guys, however, seemed to be of a different mind.

"He wants to fight against Natsu as a rat?!" Macao questioned disbelievingly.

"And here I thought he was about to get serious," Wakaba said with a shake of his head.

"That little thing doesn't look manly at all!" Elfman remarked.

Upon hearing those comments about him, a tic mark appeared on Pikachu's head as a look of annoyance settled on his face.

Natsu seemed to be in agreement with the guys. "Come on, Sparky! I was hoping to fight one of your tougher guys like Charizard or Snorlax! This guy doesn't look like he'll be much of a challenge for me!" he complained.

At that, Pikachu lost his annoyed look and a smirk appeared on his face. "Looks can be deceiving, Natsu," he said, getting down on all fours. "And if you plan on underestimating Pikachu…" A white outline encompassed the pokemon's body. "…then this will be over sooner than you think!" And with that, he shot forward like a bullet fired from a gun.

Before the pink-haired teen could react, Sparky tackled him in the gut with Quick Attack. Having been unprepared for the blow, Natsu was sent flying back a few feet and ended up on his stomach. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees and glared at the Electric-type, only for his expression to morph into surprise when he saw that said pokemon was gone.

"Huh? Where'd he…?" Natsu murmured, looking left and right.

"Up here!" Natsu looked up to see Pikachu coming down at him from the air, his tail now appearing to be metallic. "Iron Tail!" he called out.

Once again, the Dragon Slayer was too slow to dodge, and the attack slammed down on his head, pushing it into the ground. Sparky backflipped away from Natsu as the latter struggled to pull his head out.

Everyone on the sidelines stared in shock. "Holy crap, he's fast!" Jet shouted in surprise.

"And he must be pretty strong, too!" Droy added.

"I guess he didn't make a mistake with his choice of pokemon to use," Levy said.

"Who knew something so cute could be so badass?" Cana mused.

Eventually, Natsu pulled his head out of the ground. With his sight restored, he glowered at his opponent. "Alright, now I'm mad!" Both of his hands were engulfed in fire and he put them together, creating a large fireball like the one he used against Lullaby. "Take this! Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" he roared, throwing it at Sparky.

In response, Pikachu hopped into the air while pointing the tip of his tail downward. Rapidly rotating his entire body like a top, he drilled into the ground with Dig while the guild spectated in awe. Natsu's attack hit the ground and exploded; once the smoke cleared, he was able to see how much damage his attack did when all he saw was a hole in the ground.

"What the?!"

"Oh yeah! I remember Sparky used Pikachu to dig under the wind barrier back at Oshibana Station!" the blue cat recalled.

While he wouldn't be able to hit him now, Natsu knew he could still keep track of Pikachu. He closed his eyes and focused on listening for the Mouse Pokemon. Once he heard him start to resurface, he jumped to the side – just in time to avoid getting hit by Sparky.

Without missing a beat, Natsu puffed out his cheeks as he readied his next attack. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

Despite missing his target, Pikachu was still able to react in time to counterattack. His cheeks sparked before his body was enveloped in electricity. "Thunderbolt!" he yelled, firing a bolt of lightning to intercept the Dragon Slayer's breath attack. The two attacks collided, causing smoke to rise.

As Natsu waited for the smoke to clear, he heard the sound of something crackling. He jumped back just as another bolt of lightning struck the ground where he had been standing. Once he landed on the ground, Natsu was forced to dodge another one.

"So he can still keep track of me even now," the pink-haired mage thought as he continued to dodge Pikachu's Thunderbolts. "But… so can I!" As soon as there was a pause in Pikachu's attacks, he unleashed a Fire Dragon's Roar in the direction of the last one. Natsu expected to hear him move out of the way, but instead heard the sound of something shimmering.

Wondering what that was, Natsu almost missed the telltale crackling noise of another electric attack coming his way. He leaped back, expecting another Thunderbolt, but was caught shocked, both figuratively and literally, when a web made of electricity burst out of the smoke instead and ensnared him. Natsu yelled in pain as he was trapped in the attack and electrocuted.

Now that the attacks stopped flying, the smoke was able to clear, allowing everyone to see the states of the two fighters; one was standing unscathed while the other was trapped in a sparking web.

"Whoa! What happened in that smoke cloud?!" Wakaba questioned.

"No clue, but it looks like Natsu's in a bind," Macao noted.

While the Dragon Slayer in question struggled to escape the web, Sparky stood nearby with a smirk. "How'd you like my Electroweb? It's perfect for immobilizing enemies and dealing damage at the same time!" he stated.

"Well, this won't hold me!" Natsu countered. With a yell, he engulfed his whole body in flames and managed to burn the Electroweb away. Natsu got to his feet, panting. A blue aura briefly surrounded his body before fading away.

Once he finished catching his breath, Natsu glared at his opponent's uninjured state. "I know you didn't dodge my roar; I would have heard you move. So why does it look like my attack didn't hit you?!" he demanded.

Pikachu placed a paw on his face while he pretended to think about his question. "Hm…" Then he smiled at Natsu. "Why don't you try it again and see for yourself?" the pokemon suggested.

"Fine by me!" Natsu declared, his cheeks puffing out for the umpteenth time. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

Sparky made no move to dodge or defend against the fire coming his way, and once it reached him, everybody could see why. Right before it could make contact, a purple dome materialized around the pokemon; the flames crashed into it and bounced off, much to the guild's surprise.

"He repelled Natsu's fire!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Man, is there anything he can't do?" Gray questioned.

Once Natsu's attack ended, the dome disappeared, and Sparky smirked at the dumbfounded Dragon Slayer. "That was my Light Screen. It's a defensive move that reduces damage taken from ranged attacks," he explicated.

Natsu growled upon hearing that. "Well, if I can't hit you from afar…" His fist ignited and he charged toward Pikachu. "…then I'll just get in close!"

However, as he ran, something seemed off about him. "Is it just me, or does Natsu seem… slower than before?" Erza pondered.

"Hm… it does appear that way," Mira replied.

Natsu himself seemed to notice this as well. "What the heck? I feel slower for some reason. Could it have been his last attack?" he thought. Once he got close enough, the pink-haired teen threw his fist forward.

However, Pikachu dodged his punch with ease by leaping over him and jumping off his shoulder. While in midair, an orb of electricity formed at the tip of his tail. The Mouse Pokemon twisted his body and launched the attack at his opponent. "Electro Ball!"

Despite his decreased speed, Natsu managed to react in time. He lifted up his still-flaming fist and aimed it at the Electric-type attack before shooting a torrent of flames. The fire crashed into the ball, creating another cloud of smoke in between them.

Sparky prepared to use another move, but this time he was the one caught by surprise when Natsu burst out of the smoke, fire from his feet propelling him upward. "He used his flames as boosters to make up for his lowered speed!" he thought.

"Fire Dragon's Claw!" Natsu shouted, kicking Pikachu into the ground with a flaming foot.

"Whoa, Natsu actually landed a hit on him!" Happy exclaimed.

As Pikachu struggled back to his feet, the Dragon Slayer dove toward him, his arms lighting on fire. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" He swung his arms down, sending even more fire at the Electric-type.

Now back on his feet, Sparky glanced at the flames heading his way. "Agility!" he called out, and he instantly disappeared from where he was standing, reappearing several feet away as if he'd teleported. The flames hit the ground where he had previously been, and the pokemon jumped into the air afterward.

"Did he just teleport?!" Jet cried.

"I don't think so. It's more likely that he just moved too fast for us to see," the blue-haired bookworm reasoned.

Once Natsu landed on the ground, he immediately turned to Sparky's new position and took off. His fist ignited as he prepared to use his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist again.

As Pikachu was falling down, his tail turned to steel as he got ready to use Iron Tail again. As the two were getting closer, Natsu threw his fist forward once Pikachu was within striking range. However, the Electric-type twisted his body at the last second to dodge it and slammed his tail down.

Directly into the ground.

The result was an explosion of dirt that erupted right into Natsu's face, catching him off guard. As he tried to regain his vision, he never noticed Sparky charging up another Electro Ball. He launched it at Natsu, this time scoring a direct hit that threw the pink-haired teen back several feet.

Natsu staggered back to his feet once he was able to see again. He smirked at his opponent. "Not bad, Sparky, but I won't fall for that a second time!" he said, charging forward with another Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.

In order to counter it, the pokemon inhaled and, much to everyone's surprise, breathed out a cold mist. That by itself was astonishing, but they were even more astounded when icicles rained out of the mist and pelted the Dragon Slayer, who put his arms out to defend himself.

"Have a taste of my Icicle Crash!" Sparky said.

"No way! He can use ice, too?!" the dark blue-haired teen shouted in shock.

Natsu growled as the ice kept hitting him. "Do you really think this will be able to stop me?" he yelled, expelling fire from his entire body and melting the ice attacking him. The heat from the fire reached the mist as well and made it dissipate.

"Nope, that was just a distraction!" Sparky revealed as his body was encompassed in a twinkling blue light. "Meteor Mash!" He charged forward at an incredible speed as a blue aura surrounded him next, smashing into Natsu's gut with immense force before pushing him into the ground, causing an explosion.

After a few seconds, Pikachu jumped out of the smoke and gazed at it steadily. As he did so, a red aura appeared around him before disappearing just as quickly. As the smoke was clearing, his body glowed white, and a light shot out and into the sky, leaving the guild to wonder what that was.

Not long after, the rest of the smoke was blown away by the irate pink-haired mage. His entire body was now engulfed in flames. "Okay Sparky, let's see you deal with this!" Natsu crouched before launching himself headfirst at Pikachu like a rocket. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" he yelled.

Rather than try to dodge the attack, the Electric-type charged at Natsu head-on. "Now what is he planning?" Cana wondered.

"Yeah, there's no way he'll be able to stop Natsu like that," Elfman stated.

They got their answer when a thick cloak of electricity enveloped the Mouse Pokemon and he appeared to get faster. All that could be seen of him through the lightning was a black outline of his body. "Take this, Natsu! Volt Tackle!" he called out.

The two collided into each other head-on, eliciting an enormous explosion. Within the resulting smoke, the two fighters were sent sliding backwards on their feet in opposite directions. When the smoke cleared, everybody saw that both Natsu and Pikachu were breathing heavily; electricity crackled around the latter's body and made him wince. The pokemon's body had burn marks on it while Natsu's sparked occasionally.

The two stared each other down for a few seconds as they tried to catch their breath until Sparky suddenly smirked, confusing Natsu. "Huh? What's so funny, Sparky?" he inquired.

"Oh, nothing," the pokemon replied. "But it should be ready now." That left Natsu even more perplexed, but before he could ask what he was talking about, something in the air got his attention. Looking up, the Dragon Slayer saw a light coming down from the sky. The light covered Pikachu's body, and to everyone's astonishment, most of his injuries began to vanish.

"Wow! He can heal himself as well?" Mirajane marveled.

"I guess defeating him will be tougher for Natsu than we thought," Macao said.

Pikachu stretched his arms. "Ah, that feels refreshing!" he said cheerfully, disregarding Natsu's stupefied expression.

"What the heck?! You can heal yourself, too?!" Natsu shouted in disbelief.

"Yep! That was a move called Wish. It restores my health, but not completely, and it takes some time to charge up," the Electric-type explained. "And with that done…" He took a moment to examine the state Natsu was in. "I believe it's time to move on to the second phase of my strategy."

"Wait, he actually had a plan in place for fighting Natsu?" Lucy asked in surprise.

Gray shrugged. "Well, that makes sense. He is pretty smart. After all, he's the one who came up with the plan to defeat Lullaby."

The redhead's eyes widened slightly as she recalled that. "Lullaby… Sparky did come up with a plan then. Does he intend to do something similar now?" she wondered.

Suddenly, the pokemon's body let off a bright flash; once it died down, Sparky could be seen in human form.

"You're changing pokemon?" Natsu questioned. He'd had a big advantage as Pikachu, what with his incredible speed and varied arsenal, so the Dragon Slayer found it strange that Sparky would want to switch now.

The trainer smirked in response. "Oh, yeah." Right after he said that, a seal appeared under his feet. After the ensuing transformation, Sparky now stood in front of the guild as Charizard.

Their reactions were understandable.

"DID HE JUST TURN INTO A DRAGON?!" they screamed in shock, fear, and awe. Other things were said, but that was most prevalent.

As the members who knew about Charizard worked to calm down those who didn't, Natsu looked ecstatic. "Woo-hoo, alright! Charizard's the one I wanted to fight the most! I'm fired up now!" Without wasting any more time, he charged forward as he engulfed his fist in flames. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Charizard braced himself as the pink-haired teen got closer; his claws glowed green and extended as he activated Dragon Claw. Once Natsu threw his fist forward, the pokemon reached out and caught it.

As the two remained at a standstill, Natsu caught sight of the Flame Pokemon's flaming tail swishing behind him and got excited. "Oh boy! I could use a little snack right now!" he said happily. Natsu then inhaled deeply, his lungs slowly sucking the fire from Charizard's tail like a vacuum.

A brief look of panic settled on the pokemon's face, something only Erza and Makarov took note of, before his expression hardened. Throwing his tail back as far as he could, green scales formed and covered it entirely. "Dragon Tail!" he shouted, harshly slamming his tail into Natsu's midsection and sending him sailing several feet away.

It took a bit longer than the previous times, but the Dragon Slayer managed to get onto his feet. He glared at his opponent. "Come on, man! Couldn't you have waited until I finished my snack?"

Sparky said nothing at first, simply gazing at Natsu. After a few seconds passed, he smirked. "Natsu, if you wanted to eat, you could've just asked," Charizard replied, earning a look of surprise from the pink-haired mage. "I'll serve you up a nice meal." He opened his mouth and shot a fireball at Natsu. "Flame Burst!"

The move greatly surprised everyone, not because Sparky used it, but because at this point, he should know what would happen next.

Natsu's surprise lasted a second before a grin nearly split his face. "Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed. He took a deep breath, drawing the fire to him and down his throat. He exhaled and looked at the Fire/Flying-type with anticipation. "Got anymore?"

Charizard's expression almost mirrored the Dragon Slayer's. "Still hungry, huh? I can fix that." Rearing his head back, he unleashed a torrent of flames from his mouth, similar to Natsu's breath attack. "Flamethrower!"

Unsurprisingly, the end result was exactly like the first attempt: all the fire heading for Natsu was sucked into his mouth and devoured. The pink-haired teen let out a satisfied sigh before grinning at Sparky again. "Thanks for the meal, Sparky!"

"I don't understand. Why is Sparky attacking Natsu of all people with fire?" Lucy questioned.

"Yeah, he knows just as well as anyone else here that Natsu can eat fire to restore his magic. So why is he still using it?" Happy wondered.

"He must have something in mind," Gray reasoned, though he was just as mystified as everyone else.

Erza was thinking something similar. "Sparky's seen firsthand that Natsu can eat fire to restore his magic. He has to have a different reason to use it against him, but what could it be?" she thought.

"Well, I've got a fire in my belly that's raging to get out!" Natsu shouted. "Prepare yourself, Sparky!" With that, he yelled out as his entire body lit on fire. He launched himself forward once more. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"

Natsu was coming in hot, but unlike before when he had run forward to meet him, Sparky simply remained stationary, not moving a bit. The whole guild was utterly perplexed at the pokemon's actions; it seemed like he wanted to get hit.

A few seconds later, Charizard got his wish. Natsu reached him and crashed headfirst into his torso, eliciting a pained grunt from the pokemon. The Dragon Slayer's attack continued to push Charizard back, his feet skidding against the ground.

However, after another few seconds, the Flame Pokemon grit his teeth and dug his feet into the ground, slowly coming to a stop with Natsu still pressed against his gut. As the flames dissipated, Sparky couldn't help but smirk as he said just one word.

"Gotcha."

He followed up by grabbing Natsu by his shoulders and spinning him around so that his back was pressed against the pokemon's stomach. Before Natsu could do anything to get away, Charizard wrapped his arms across his chest, effectively keeping the Dragon Slayer from escaping.

"Hey! What the heck are you doing?!" Natsu demanded, struggling to break Charizard's hold.

Sparky smirked and said, "Taking you for a ride," before spreading out his wings.

At that moment, Erza's eyes widened as she finally figured out what Sparky had been planning.

With a flap of his wings, Charizard shot into the air, taking the protesting Dragon Slayer with him. "Put me back on the ground, Sparky!" He was starting to feel queasy, his stomach growing more unsteady by the second.

"If that's what you want, then I'll be happy to oblige!" the pokemon responded. He proceeded to spin around like a top, getting faster and faster as he continued to climb higher. Once he reached his peak, he abruptly turned around in midair and started heading back down, spinning even more rapidly.

At this point, Natsu's face was starting to turn green and he was no longer able to make coherent sounds. When the Flame Pokemon was close to the ground, he threw his opponent down, yelling, "Seismic Toss!" The Dragon Slayer impacted the ground hard and created a large dust cloud while Charizard landed shortly after, changing back to Sparky.

The blond glanced back at the crater that formed from Natsu's rough landing. Inside, the pink-haired mage lay on his back, his face completely green as he was thoroughly motion sick. Coupled with his injuries from all of the fighting he had done, he wouldn't be getting back up anytime soon.

Sparky smirked. "Charizard's finishing move, Seismic Toss. This match is over," he stated matter-of-factly.

Makarov stepped forward and, after examining Natsu's condition, gestured to Sparky. "Natsu is unable to battle. Sparky is the victor of this fight!"

After the fight ended, pretty much all of the guild members had rushed over to congratulate Sparky on his win and compliment his two pokemon that fought. It made the trainer feel slightly overwhelmed, as he'd never had this many people congratulate him after a battle. Still, he couldn't help but feel happy, and he could feel that his pokemon were pleased as well.

Sometime after the fight, Natsu had finally recovered, and naturally the first thing he did was challenge Sparky to a rematch. Sparky reminded him of what just happened, which was enough to make him back off.

Now Sparky was sitting at the bar with Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, and Happy. Makarov sat atop the counter while Mirajane was doing her job behind it. The wizards were questioning their newest member about some of the things that happened in the fight.

"Hey Sparky, where did you get your Pikachu?" the cat inquired.

The blond smiled as he recalled how it happened. "It was during my journey through the Hoenn region. In that region, there are these things you can participate in called contests. In a contest, you're supposed to present your pokemon off and make it look dazzling while also performing some routines with their moves. I took part in one, and although I didn't win, a man watching the contest was so impressed with my performance that he gave me Pikachu as a gift. However, he wasn't an ordinary Pikachu."

"What was different about your Pikachu?" Gray asked.

"He was able to learn 6 attacks that Pikachu are normally unable to learn," Sparky revealed. "You guys saw two of them today: Icicle Crash and Meteor Mash."

"Wow! That sounds amazing!" Lucy remarked.

"It was!" Sparky agreed. "However, in order to use each move, Pikachu had to wear a costume. We trained enough that he doesn't need to anymore, though."

"What about those red and blue auras we saw surround both you and Natsu?" Mira questioned.

"Those auras indicated that a target's stat either went up or down," the trainer explained. "When someone gets hit by Electroweb, it causes their Speed to go down."

"So that's why I got slower!" Natsu realized.

"That's right. Meanwhile, a pokemon using Meteor Mash has a chance to increase their Attack stat when successfully executed," Sparky elucidated.

"And I'm guessing that powered up your last attack then," Erza speculated as she thought back to Pikachu using Volt Tackle. Of course, thinking of this made her think of the small Electric-type in general, and she couldn't help the blush that settled on her face.

"That's right!" Sparky confirmed, the blinked in confusion when he took in Erza's appearance, namely her red face. "Erza, are you all right?"

"I-I'm fine!" the armored mage stuttered. "So, the strategy you used to defeat Natsu… it was the same one you came up with when we fought Lullaby, wasn't it?"

Sparky flashed a bright smile at her. "Right again, Erza! Pretty perceptive of you to figure it out!" His words, along with his smile, made Erza's blush deepen. Fortunately for her, he had turned away, so he didn't see it.

"Well, I understand you using the same strategy, but why did you keep on using fire on Natsu when you knew that he could eat it?" Lucy asked.

"It's because I know that he can eat fire that I used it," Sparky answered, confusing the mages. "I knew that if I attacked Natsu with fire, he would eat it. And, as I've known Natsu since my first day on Earthland, I was also aware of his glaring weakness: motion sickness. I wanted it to hit him full force so that he'd have no chance of recovering!"

His response stunned the Fairy Tail members gathered; they hadn't realized he would have thought of something like that.

"Whoa, so you took advantage of Natsu's greatest strength in order to exploit his worst weakness," Happy stated, and the trainer nodded in response while the Dragon Slayer grumbled at that.

"That reminds me, about Charizard…" Everyone turned to look at the Guild Master as he finally spoke up. "I noticed that you looked panicked when Natsu tried to eat the fire at the tip of his tail. Is there something special about it?"

They turned back to Sparky as they awaited his answer, especially Erza as she too had noticed his panic. Sparky let out a short chuckle. "Yeah, that's something I should have mentioned to you guys sooner," he confessed. Then, to their surprise, a serious expression crossed his face. "Charizard's life force is actually connected to that flame at the tip of his tail. If that fire goes out… he dies."

Everyone was utterly shocked to hear that. "Whoa… I had no idea, Sparky. I'm sorry for trying to eat it," the pink-haired teen said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it, it's not your fault, Natsu," the blond reassured him. "You didn't know, and like I said earlier, I should have told you before. Besides, nothing bad happened; we're all good!" Sparky's upbeat mood cheered up the other members, and they all smiled at his blithe attitude.

Just then, out of nowhere, Makarov slumped forward slightly. "Master? Is there a problem?" the white-haired barmaid asked with concern.

"I'm alright, just feeling a bit tired…" he responded. His eyes narrowed slightly. "He's coming."

Before Sparky could ask who Makarov was talking about, Mirajane then let out a yawn and suddenly slumped to the floor, fast asleep, much to his and Lucy's shock. The Guild Master, however, didn't even flinch.

"Mira?! What's wrong?! Guys, what happened to—?" Sparky paused in his questioning when he noticed that everybody in the Guild, excluding Makarov, had started to look sleepy and was now falling over.

"Not again…" Gray muttered as he fell over.

Lucy's head hit the counter as her eyes drooped. "What's… going on…?"

"You guys… what's…" the trainer trailed off as it finally started to hit him as well, and he slumped against the wooden surface.

As everyone slumbered, a lone figure entered the Guild, walking past all of the sleeping members. He walked up to Makarov before he stepped over to the Request Board. "Mystogan…" the old man greeted.

The newcomer said nothing in return, simply plucking a job request off of the board and walking back over to the Guild Master. But before he could say anything, Sparky suddenly shot up, wide awake, much to the other two's astonishment.

"Master! I think we're under attack!" he shouted frantically. Then he caught sight of Mystogan and his eyes narrowed. "That must be him!" He put his hands together as aura started gathered in between them.

"Wait, Sparky! He's not an enemy!" Makarov said hurriedly, making Sparky stop his attack. "This here is one of the Guild's members, Mystogan."

"Mystogan…" he repeated as he took in his appearance. Now that he wasn't trying to attack the newcomer, Sparky could sense that he actually wasn't a bad person. But that still begged the question… "If he's a member of the Guild, then why did he put everyone to sleep?"

Mystogan remained quiet for a few moments before he finally answered. "I do not wish for my guildmates to see my face."

Sparky tilted his head in confusion. He wanted to press the matter further but decided against it; it seemed personal for him.

"Mystogan, this is our newest member, Sparky," Makarov introduced.

Mystogan inspected the teen in front of him. "How come my Sleep Spell isn't affecting you?" he inquired.

The blond blinked before he held up a hand covered in aura. "My aura protects me from those kinds of negative effects, so putting me to sleep won't work," he answered.

"I see," the man said. He faced the Guild Master and showed him the request. "I shall return."

"Wait, lift your sleeping spell before you go," Makarov told him.

Mystogan treaded toward the door, counting down from five as Makarov and Sparky watched him go. After he said one, he vanished out the door, and everybody's eyes popped open as they woke up—with the exception of Natsu.

The guild members and rubbed their eyes as they soon became aware of what just happened. "Aw man, was Mystogan here?" Jet asked.

"What a jerk…" Droy remarked with annoyance.

"Does he have to put us to sleep every time he comes here?" Levy said.

"Who's this Mystogan guy?" Lucy questioned.

Elfman answered her question. "He's a contender for the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but for some reason, he doesn't want anybody to see what he looks like," Gray told her. "So when he comes to take a new job, he casts a sleeping spell on everyone."

"That's kind of creepy!" the blonde stated.

Gray gestured to the Guild Master as he continued. "Master Makarov is the only person here who's gotten a good look at him."

"That's not true. I've seen him before," a new voice spoke up. Everyone turned to the voice and saw a blond-haired man in a fur coat with a condescending smirk on his face. "And our newest member got a good look as well."

"Really, Sparky?" Erza asked, to which the trainer nodded, though he had a frown on his face.

Everybody was shocked at this guy's appearance. "Laxus!" Elfman exclaimed.

"Talk about rare," Macao commented.

"You're never here!" Wakaba agreed.

"And that would be another contender," the Ice Mage said to Lucy.

"Mystogan's just a bit shy, so you guys should respect his privacy," Laxus said patronizingly as he continued to smirk down at them.

Upon hearing his voice, Natsu finally woke up and jumped to his feet. "Alright Laxus, let's fight right now!" he challenged.

"Getting beaten up twice in one day wasn't enough for you?" Gray questioned.

"Yeah, Natsu. If you can't win against the redhead or even the new guy, then why would you even try challenging me?" Laxus said.

The redhead in question grit her teeth as she glowered at the blond man. "What exactly are you implying with that?" she asked. Sparky said nothing, though the frown on his face got deeper as he narrowed his eyes at the man.

Laxus spread his arms out. "I'm saying that I'm the strongest wizard in the Guild!" he declared.

"Why don't you come down here and prove it?" the pink-haired teen hissed.

"You come up here, little man," Laxus retorted.

"With pleasure!" Natsu leaped onto the counter and prepared to jump up, but he was stopped by Makarov slamming his giant fist onto his body.

"You're not allowed on the second floor, Natsu! Not yet, at least," the old man reprimanded.

Laxus chuckled, never losing his smirk. "Ooh, I think you made him grumpy."

Natsu struggled to get out from underneath Makarov's fist. "Shut up!"

"That's enough out of you, Laxus!" Makarov commanded.

Despite the warning, the blond man went on anyway. "The most powerful person in the Guild isn't a chick or some hooded weirdo. You want to know what the strongest wizard looks like?" He pointed to himself. "You're looking right at him!"

His words earned him glares from many of the members, but then someone spoke up. "Is he invisible, then? I only see you."

That comment finally made him drop his smirk. "What was that?!" He instantly zeroed in on the person who said that, which happened to be none other than Sparky.

"You claim to be the strongest person in the guild, but from where I'm standing, all I see is the cockiest," the trainer said.

"Sparky…" Erza said in warning, yet he didn't even glance in her direction, eyes fixed solely on Laxus.

Laxus jumped down from the second floor and landed in front of Sparky, glowering at him. "You better watch what you say there, you little punk. You may have beat Natsu in a fight, but that doesn't mean you stand a chance against me," he threatened.

Sparky met his gaze, unwavering. "Is that supposed to scare me? I met plenty of people as cocky as you, so don't think you can intimidate me," he retorted.

Laxus growled. Slight sparks coursed around his body as it seemed like he would attack, but then Makarov's voice cut in. "That enough, you two! Stand down!"

The two blonds glared at each other for a moment longer before Laxus let out a huff, then turned around and walked off. Neither of them said anything, while the rest of the guild breathed in relief. No one wanted to see that turn into a fight.

The sun had gone down, and now almost everyone had left the guild hall. The only people still left there were Mirajane, Lucy, and Sparky.

"Hey Mirajane, can I ask you something?" the Celestial Mage spoke up, getting the barmaid's attention. "What was the Master talking about earlier? Why can't we go up to the second floor?"

"Yeah, I was wondering about that, too," Sparky admitted. "Is there something up there that we can't see?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," Mira responded. "See, that area is reserved for advanced members of the guild. Compared to the jobs on the Request Board up there, the jobs down here are practically child's play."

"Seriously?" the trainer asked in astonishment.

"Yeah. They're called S-Class quests."

"S-Class?" Lucy parroted.

"They're jobs so dangerous that one last move could be your last," the white-haired woman explained. "But with that risk comes a higher reward."

"Wow, that sounds pretty cool," Sparky remarked. "How do you become S-Class?"

"Master Makarov picks the wizards he thinks can handle jobs like these himself. Currently, there are only 5 S-Class wizards in the whole Guild, including Laxus, Mystogan, and Erza," Mira told them.

Sparky's eyes widened. "Erza's an S-Class wizard? I've seen her fight before but I didn't know she was on that level. She really is amazing." He thought about how Mira had also mentioned Laxus. "If he's S-Class, then there's no doubt that he's powerful. I may not be at his level yet."

Mirajane smiled at them. "I wouldn't worry about it. If you ask me, there's no amount of money that's worth risking your life over."

Lucy smiled, too. "Yeah, you're right about that."

A few minutes later, Mira finished her work, and she and Lucy both bid Sparky goodnight as the two left for their respective homes. The blond remained where he was seated as he thought about the events of his day.

The last thing he thought about was the topic that he was just discussing with Mira. "S-Class wizards, huh?" He smiled as he stood up and headed for the door to take his routine walk before going to sleep. "I guess I know what to strive for next in this guild."

And done! Finally, it's finished! I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; I made it super long!

The main reason this chapter took so long to write was that the first part was just really hard for me to work out for some reason. So as you all can see, Sparky did indeed have a brother. Will he appear in this story? Who knows? You'll have to wait and see!

Also, yes, his real name is not actually Sparky; that's just a nickname. How many of you guessed that?

I'm not sure I mentioned this before, but much of Sparky's journeys are based off of the games. So yes, his friends are all the player's friends from the X/Y games and I added some dialogue from them as well. I hope I did a good job considering I, unfortunately, still haven't had a chance to play those games. I also threw Lyra in for fun and for a reason that will be revealed in the future if you haven't already figured it out.

I had planned on writing a third flashback, this one being Blaze's fight against Yveltal, but I decided against it. This chapter was already taking too long to write.

I did my best to give Sparky an original background. Only his dad doesn't like him; his mom is just not around often which is why he ran away from home.

Also, gasp! Sparky has a seventh pokemon that is not with him! As I'm sure you've all guessed by now, Dedenne is Sparky's real starter pokemon, not Greninja.

I hope you guys liked all of the ErzaxSparky moments I put in the chapter! I'm not good at writing romance, so I hope I didn't go overboard.

I really hope you guys enjoyed the fight between Natsu and Sparky! I put a lot of work into it! Even before I started writing this story, I was already planning out how the fight would go, so I hope I don't disappoint!

How many of you were expecting Sparky to be immune to Mystogan's sleeping spell? He's not immune, per se, but he can use his aura to rid himself of those kinds of effects. Keep that in mind, it'll be important in the future! Also, Sparky meets Laxus for the first time, and of course, it's not a pleasant meeting for either one of them.

Well, that should be everything. I'll be closing the poll after I post this chapter. It looks like the winner of the poll is Ice God Slaying Magic! As I said in the poll, the character won't be appearing for a very long time, but expect them to show up in the future!

With this done, I'll be going back to working on RWBBY – The Shapeshifter. It's been a while since I touched that story. I'll also be working on Chapter 2 of Reality Checkers: Tales of the Senshi. If you haven't read either of those stories, go ahead and do so!

Okay, time for my story recommendations:

Generations (NEW Peace Sign) by Komod0-Sensei – This is an amazing My Hero Academia fanfiction where Izuku get a lot of training done prior to his first time meeting All Might. Seriously, this story is awesome; go check it out!

Pinnacle by I Ate Your Muffin – A pokemon AU where Ash sets out on his journey with Charmander. This story features a stronger and smarter Ash, and it's really good! You guys should definitely read it!

A Hero's Will and Ambition by I Ate Your Muffin – Another My Hero Academia fanfiction. In this one, Izuku actually has a Quirk: the ability to use Haki from One Piece. This story is so spectacular that it's the second most popular My Hero Academia fanfiction on the site! Go read it for yourselves!

Well, that's everything. Remember to favorite, follow, and review this story! Sparky D., out!