Chapter 50: The Pokémon with Burning Flames
As someone from Earth who had once longed for this world, Will's mind couldn't help but drift into a trance as he found himself truly living in the scene of his dreams.
"Lan, look, a guard is coming over. They were probably attracted by the noise we made."
Liz's voice snapped Will back to his senses. He looked around and saw a flicker of firelight. Will's senses immediately sharpened, and he narrowed his eyes in that direction. Most Pokémon have much better night vision than humans, so he could roughly make out the location of the light.
"That's no person."
Did we wander into another Pokémon's territory?
Will stood up, coiling his tail around Liz, ready to run at a moment's notice. It was his first time in this forest; he was in unfamiliar territory and didn't know the strength of the local Pokémon. With a Fire-type suddenly appearing, he had to be vigilant.
Moreover, Fire-type Pokémon that live in forests are relatively few in number, especially those with flames constantly burning on their bodies. In a normal state, the flames on their bodies are more like decorations. But once they get excited, the temperature of those flames can instantly spike, becoming real fire that can ignite other things.
"Lan? Is that a beast?" Liz sensed from Will's posture that something was wrong. Looking again, she noticed the flame was rather low to the ground, like a human infant holding a torch.
"Yes, it is," Will nodded.
As the flame drew closer, he could gradually make out the Pokémon's silhouette.
Oh my god, are you serious? Am I really this lucky?
Because he recognized the silhouette, Will decisively uncoiled his tail from Liz and did his best to lower his body, reducing the sense of threat and pressure he projected. He was worried he might scare the little one away.
"Char?"
The owner of the flame appeared. It was a cute, dopey-looking Charmander.
"Ooh? A... little red lizard?" Liz peeked out from behind Will and saw the Charmander's true form.
"This one is a dragon," Will said, sizing up the Charmander, whose eyes were filled with pure innocence.
Its height of only 0.6 meters indicated that the little one was either newly hatched or simply malnourished, which was why it was only at the standard Pokédex height. But judging by the flame on the tip of its tail, its life force was quite vigorous.
As a Kanto region starter, the fame of the Charmander line far surpassed that of even Gyarados or many pseudo-legendaries. And Charmander's final evolution, Charizard, had earned the venerable title of "Nintendo's favorite son" and "Junichi Masuda's darling."
Such a title was not earned for a single reason. Whether in the games, the anime, or even in real-world fan communities, Charizard's popularity was immense. It was because of this popularity that Masuda had, generation after generation, shown Charizard blatant favoritism. With each new version, Charizard would always get a boost; you would never find it at the bottom of the tier lists.
Two different Mega Evolutions—never mind ordinary Pokémon, even many Legendary Pokémon didn't get that kind of treatment. The most outrageous was in the eighth generation. When it was explicitly announced that the Pokédex would be cut and hundreds of Pokémon, including many previous starters, would not be available in the Galar region, Charizard was different. In a generation where Mega Evolution and Z-Moves were removed and former meta powerhouses like Mawile fell from grace, Charizard not only made it to Galar but even received its own Gigantamax form, preserving its place on the competitive battlefield.
So, to encounter a Charmander here made Will feel incredibly lucky, to the point where he was worried his great size would scare it away.
"Char-char!"
The Charmander's first reaction upon seeing Will and Liz was not to run, but to rush forward and wave enthusiastically in greeting.
"..."
Will and Liz were both stunned.
Different environments really do raise different Pokémon, Will thought with a sigh.
From the moment he and Liz had sat down under the tree, he had noticed that the Pokémon in this forest were completely different from those on Mt. Silver. The Pokémon on Mt. Silver lived in the true Era of Primal Beasts, following the law of the jungle. But the Pokémon in this forest seemed to have entered the Era of Leagues ahead of time; they were all as innocent as children. Comparing the two, and then thinking about the Pokémon on the plains, they seemed to fall somewhere in between.
"This little one is quite cute," Liz said with a smile, seeing the Charmander's actions. If it had been Iris, she would have undoubtedly rushed forward and hugged the Charmander without a second thought. But Liz was a mature adult, a heroic queen who had led the Dragonite Tribe to conquer countless other tribes. She wouldn't just hug a strange beast because it was cute, especially with the flame constantly burning on its tail. In the eyes of humans of this era, that was a supernatural power, which meant this beast had the ability to kill them.
The reason Liz had chosen Will in the first place was because of the feeling she got from her heart, not because he was cute.
"Ying? (Where are your parents?)" Will asked, inching a little closer.
If this Charmander was living in the forest all by itself... then he wouldn't be polite. In his original plan for Liz's team, he had not included Charizard as a target. It wasn't that he looked down on it; it was that he didn't dare to hope for it. Starter Pokémon were not common even in the Era of Leagues, let alone this era. He had never expected to meet one, and even if he did, he thought it would be one of the Johto starters, not a Kanto one.
But now that he had been so fortunate, he was not about to let this little one get away. Among the Pokémon of the Kanto and Johto regions, Charizard was T0 tier—not only strong but also highly mobile. And while it wasn't a pseudo-legendary or a legendary, its design was just as cool.
"Char. (I've never seen them.)" the Charmander said, a little sadly. But it quickly shook off the feeling and walked forward to get a better look at Will and Liz.
As I thought, Will wasn't surprised at all. He could tell from the little one's physical development. If this Charmander had parents, it would absolutely not be so small and pitiful-looking. Only by surviving alone in the forest would it end up in such a sorry state.
"Char-char~ (You're so big~)" the Charmander said, having finished its inspection of Will. It gestured with its small hands, its eyes full of shock.
"Lan, what's this little one doing?" Liz asked, looking at the Charmander by her leg, a little confused. She felt that this beast was a bit different from the others, seeming a bit simple-minded.
"You'll be very big one day too," Will said, ignoring Liz. This was a critical moment.
"Char? (Really?)"
"Of course. But you have to become our underling to get as big as me."
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