Tae's eyes were widened in anger, glowing orange like his partner. He wobbled on his feet as Wisp and Annhilape dashed around to trade blows.

Wisp's new ability to turn its blades into Claws left for a wider variety of attacks and openings that the longer blades could not create. The speed of its swings were increased drastically, and Annihilape could barely keep up.

Wisp's calm nature despite its trainers mental breakdown, scared Nemona.

Racing forward with flames erupting from the two holes above its eyes, horns of fire crashed into Annihilape's forehead. It tanked the attack and punched Wisp back, but it landed on its feet and suddenly lashed out its blades into claws, rushing forward with no sound.

Annihilape grunt in annoyance as Wisp appeared in front of it with a heavy slash that was met with a vicious punch.

The two squinted their eyes at the clash, before trying again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

Slashes and slashes, their fiery spirits embedded in their fists with hatred for each other from their nature alone.

The sparks and streams of fire damaged the surrounding area, causing wild Pokémon to flee, and even residents of Levincia to report such an intense battle.

Wisp's onslaught grew faster with time, and eventually began to overpower the sheer strength of a max stack of Rage Fist.

Assuming this new form came with a hidden ability, Nemona decided she would have to switch from such a mindless brawl.

"Drain Punch!"

"Futile."

Annihilape's aura suddenly flushed green as it thrust a left hook at Wisp, but she weaved away and suddenly disappeared.

"V-Create." Tae mumbled, revealing a devastating attack.

From behind Annihilape, Wisp's armor began to leak with lava before it burned into a bright plasma. It began dashing around, forming a ring of fire that Annihilape couldn't escape from.

"Damnit, Bulk Up as much as you can!" Nemona screamed in shock.

Annihilape began tucking its arms as pulses of red surged from its body, its stats bursting with energy as Wisp's body fazed out of sight. The ring of fire was suddenly slashed away as Wisp appeared lunging at Annihilape with its claws reeled back, a deranged look finally on its face at the threat of all its power erupting in one attack.

"RAGE FIST!" Nemona began to fear for her own Pokémon's life seeing the sparkles of purple, pink, and orange fire twinkle from Wisp's claws.

Her Hydreigon suddenly emerged from its Pokéball and tackled her away as a torrent of fire larger than any Typhlosion's eruption blew directly where she stood, and charred the grass past it for nearly a mile.

Wisp was crouched behind Annihilape with its claws down, before standing up as the V-shaped Flame singed into Annihilape's body faded. It soon fell to its knees, before passing out, or potentially worse.

A Glaceon stood in front of Penny and Arven with a melting wall of ice coiled around them, a strained face from having to repeatedly reinforce it from the heat.

Tae stood with his fists balled as Wisp stood over Annihilape, the veins on his head bulging from the stress, his eyes widened with anger beyond comprehension.

"Finish it." Tae muttered.

Wisp glanced over at Tae, and saw he wasn't in a stable place of mind. His trembling body and bloodshot eyes were one thing, but the fire burning over his heart was far more concerning.

It was dwindling out slowly.

"I said finish it." Tae reinstated.

Wisp glanced down the severely injured Annihilape, before staring back at Tae.

Growing impatient Tae grit his teeth and went to shout, but he was suddenly electrocuted. Tae fell to his knees and clawed at his body before his mouth began to foam.

Wisp fell to her knees as well, feeling the pain all to well, before passing out in shock.

Tae clawed for his conscious to stay awake, and saw the Levincia Gym Leader hovering down atop a Magnezone.

The electrocution ended, and Tae coughed up spit and saliva, before it ended with his breakfast.

Tae weakly eyed Iono as she hopped off Magnezone with a frown.

"Sheesh. I haven't seen a battle this destructive since the Tournament of Champions." Iono whispered.

"They did tell me you were someone to look out for. This isn't what I thought they meant." She continued, walking up to him with a smirk, amused by the small bit of the fight she saw.

"You're going places, kid. And it's only up from here." Iono chuckled, seeing that he was still awake.

Tae's eyes rolled back in exhaustion as he reached his limit.

~•~

Tae woke up and swung his arms out with a shout, lingering rage still present. He heard rapid footsteps back up, and finally calmed down.

Tae rubbed his eyes and looked around before seeing he was back in the infirmary of Levincia's gym.

"Man... whoever got rid of Pokémon Centers was as high as a Slowbro." Tae muttered, his friends still standing back in fear from his outburst.

Tae felt his body, before seeing smoke. He looked down and saw the flame over his heart was still there. It was more of a kindle, but it was pretty vibrant and stood out a lot.

"Uh... neat." He commented, seeing as no one else was willing to.

"What the hell was that?!" Arven shouted.

"Battle Bond." A young voice replied.

Tae looked past everyone as they turned back to see who spoke up. A boy with a white and red cap with a green symbol stood with his hands in his pockets.

Tae stood up in shock, and Nemona began squealing in delight.

"ASH KETCHUM?!" The two shouted in disbelief.

"That's me..." Ash said with a hint of confusion, shocked by their reactions. It wasn't too long ago he won the World Championship, so he wasn't expecting to have traction in Paldea.

"No way! Battle me—" Nemona was shut up as Arven covered her mouth. "Now's not the time. Tae's heart is still on fire." Penny scolded.

"I guess your bond has some cool look, too." Ash laughed.

"Yeah... I guess so..." Tae looked at the fire. He swat it, only for it to sway around his hand.

"I never thought I'd see someone like me and Greninja. It's really intriguing to see just how this phenomenon works." Ash said with crossed arms.

"Wait, so this is an actual thing?!" Penny asked, her disappointment visible.

"It's more than just some thing..." Rika entered the room with a glare. "It's a rival to mega evolution, it's limits only bound by imagination and emotion."

Tae flinched seeing the Top Champion enter the infirmary. The teens grew even more shocked and concerned seeing so many big names present.

"Oh my Arceus, what has he done..." Arven muttered.

•

Tae was standing beside Wisp, the two wearing a black band around their arms. It was a small device able to gauge their synergy, but Ash was noticing something wrong.

"Uh, Clemont, should these lines be this still?" Ash asked through his Rotom Phone.

The gang, Rika, and La Primera Geeta were watching Ash in confusion and skepticism since the phenomenon was new to them and the region as a whole.

"No! That means they aren't even thinking of each other!" Clemont shouted. "What are they doing?" Clemont probed, making Ash turn the Rotom Phone.

Everyone looked and saw they were playing Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Wisp won, making Tae frown.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Clemont muttered, before groaning.

"Would external stimuli help draw out their power?" Geeta asked with a smile.

"Like a battle? It's the easiest way, but Ash didn't do it immediately after the first happening. It took a real serious draw of their bond and trust." Clemont explained.

"So they need to feel the need to trust one another completely." Rika hummed, glaring at Tae as he lost again.

"Understood. Gallade." Geeta whispered to the group.

With a whistle, a Gallade flew out from behind Geeta and circled around to rush at Tae.

Wisp and Tae both snapped their heads over with glares that froze all but Gallade.

With a snap, Wisp and Tae became engulfed in flames before Wisp dashed out and clashed with Gallade in its Vengeful Armor.

Tae's body fell forward, but he caught himself with a laugh, his eyes widened with rage. "Bitter BLADE!" He yelled.

As the fight began, Ash shot his gaze to the projector and saw that their synergy had suddenly skyrocketed to a perfect sync that was far beyond his own personal best.

"Woah! Clemont, are you seeing this?!" Ash asked with a glare.

"I am... this is bad. No wonder he goes crazy. You should stop him
bef—"

"No," Geeta smiled with squinted eyes, "Psycho Cut." Geeta ordered with a wider grin.

"HUH?" Nemona, Penny, and Arven asked in shock.

Gallade swiped out its arms as a pink aura waved around its blades arms, it rushed around behind Wisp.

"Shadow Claw." Tae countered, spinning around himself and clawing backward.

Wisp deflected the Psycho Cut, a purple and pink mist splashing from the clash. Wisp and Gallade rose their legs before kicking each other back with a boom.

The two slid back, but raced back in no time, reeling their blades back with determined glares.

"Close Combat!" Tae and Geeta ordered.

Lashing out its blades into claws, Wisp rushed in with its arms back. Gallade swiped its blades out as well, before a rainbow aura flared around it.

With a small flash, Gallade had Mega Evolved and gained a calmer expression.

"A Mega Evolution?!" Penny, Arven, and Ash screamed.

"You think that's enough?!" Tae asked with a grin.

Mega Gallade and Wisp disappeared, before dozens of sparks suddenly exploded in the center of the battlefield, razing hell in the vicinity.

Wisp flipped over a slash and cleaved back after landing, only for Mega Gallade to weave away and slash back, the two clashing with sparks of orange and purple.

"This is insane... he's actually rivaling a Mega Evolution!" Nemona shouted with glee.

"Is that a good thing?! He's out of control!" Penny shouted.

"We won't let you hog all the fun! Lets go, Greninja!" Ash's own Battle Bond Partner emerged from his confinement, slapping Ash's hand with a low-five before it was consumed by a pillar of water.

Ash-Greninja swiped away the pillar and revealed it was already holding a Water Shuriken.

Wisp and Mega Gallade danced further, dashing around and slicing with no slash making headway.

Wisp suddenly jerked its head to the side to flip and roll over a wide slash of Ash-Greninja's Shuriken.

Sliding away from the two opponents, Wisp's fire burned hotter as Tae began to laugh maniacally.

"You all don't get it! I'm unstoppable, better yet— We are" the flame around his heart combusted with boom. Tae's eyes were widened in pain, but the mental exhaustion only fueled his insanity.

"Undefeatable!"