Chapter 64: Resist! Fight That Feeling!
On the way back from Jubilance Town, Will no longer focused on training the two Gyarados. His attention had shifted to Blaze the Charmander.
By now, the levels of the two Gyarados and Scorp were all around 25; they wouldn't deviate far from that number. Having been through the level 25-range twice himself, he had a good understanding of the energy and strength a Pokémon should have at that stage.
Blaze, on the other hand, was a different story. When they first met, he was probably only level 5. In Jubilance Town, Liz would occasionally take him to battle wild beasts. But Liz's command skills were questionable, and Blaze's own battle sense and experience were practically zero, so after one or two fights a day, he would be too injured to continue. Under these conditions, he had only gained one or two levels during their stay.
The road from Jubilance Town to the Dragonite capital was like the second route a player enters after leaving the starting village in a game; the Pokémon that appeared were not high-level. Seeing that these Pokémon couldn't serve as experience packs for himself, Will decided to focus all his energy on Blaze.
And so, in just one week, he had raised the Charmander from Lv. 7 to Lv. 14.
Leveling up is easier in the early stages, that's one thing. But more importantly, Will had already accumulated a lot of experience. It was as if he were a cultivator who had reached the Golden Core stage twice, now guiding a talented prodigy to the Foundation Establishment stage; it was as natural as drinking water.
However, just as they were about to reach the capital, on a patch of grassland near the Persian herd's territory, a small incident occurred.
"Good, Blaze. Use a final Ember to finish the battle."
"Char-char!"
With a spray of embers from Blaze's mouth, a Meowth on the plains was knocked down.
Aqua Tail. Will, as a matter of course, swept his tail, casually using the Water-type move to extinguish the small patch of grass Blaze had ignited. The battle was officially over.
"CHAR-CHAR!!!"
Just as Will finished cleaning up, an impassioned cry erupted from behind him. He turned his head and saw that Blaze was extremely agitated, the flame on his tail burning fiercely as his body began to glow with a white light.
This isn't right!
Will's eyes widened. He suddenly remembered something and quickly roared at the Charmander, "Hold it back! Resist that feeling!"
"Char..."
Hearing Will's voice, Blaze subconsciously began to follow his command, although he didn't understand why.
But while Blaze didn't understand, Will did. Based on his understanding of Charmander, its current level was definitely not high enough for it to evolve. This meant that its evolution right now was not a natural one from sufficient energy accumulation, but one caused by overly intense emotions temporarily raising its energy to the evolutionary threshold.
This had happened many times in the anime. To save their Trainer from a crisis, a Pokémon's emotions would intensify, forcing itself to evolve. But the first season of the anime had already explained this phenomenon: it was a clear case of "pulling the seedlings to help them grow"—a detrimental shortcut.
The classic example was Ash's Charmander. When Ash's Charizard first arrived at the Charicific Valley, its problems were pointed out immediately. Because it had been forced to evolve twice in a single day due to intense emotions, going straight from Charmander to Charizard, its physique was very small, and its strength in its normal state was completely inferior to that of other Charizard. Although it later trained in the valley for a long time, constantly strengthening its foundation to make up for this energy deficit, the disadvantage in its physique was very difficult to remedy.
However, to be able to forcibly evolve twice in one day was also a testament to the talent of Ash's Charizard. It could absolutely be called a genius among geniuses.
"It worked. Phew," Will said, breathing a sigh of relief as he watched the white light on Blaze's body gradually recede.
"Char?"
"In short, if you ever encounter a situation like this in the future, calm your emotions first. If the feeling is still there after you've calmed down, then you can let it continue," Will explained simply, unable to give the full details.
"Char," Blaze nodded obediently. Although the little guy was a bit mischievous at times, he was still very obedient.
"He should be close to evolving into a Charmeleon soon..." Will thought, looking down at Blaze, who had plopped down on the ground to rest.
However, for the next little while, he would no longer be training Liz's Pokémon. He planned to go to Mt. Silver by himself and live there for a period of time. It could be a long time, or it could be short. In his plan, Will intended to train in Mt. Silver until he evolved into a Dragonite before coming out.
But this was just a plan. If any unforeseen circumstances arose, or if something happened with Liz, he would return at top speed. Still, he couldn't just ignore Liz's other Pokémon. So, before he left, he had to arrange a place for them that could help them grow.
The next morning, the main caravan arrived at the capital.
Will had just returned to the palace and hadn't even had a chance to sit down and catch his breath when he saw Iris running over with a Natu in her arms.
"Where did you get a Natu?" Will's eyes widened. He really couldn't imagine how Iris had managed to catch a Pokémon on her own, even if this Natu looked like it had only just left its infant stage.
"Lan! Look! This is Nattie! My partner~" Iris held the Natu in her arms up high, looking very proud.
"Amazing, amazing," Will said, extending his tail to gently stroke Iris's head, and then the dopey-looking Nattie. The Natu's body went stiff; it seemed very afraid of Will. That was normal. The Natu wasn't even as big as one of Will's eyeballs.
"Lan, did you miss me these past few days?"
"...You should go find your Gyarados."
Will coiled his tail around both Iris and her Natu and tossed them out of the bedroom. He was tired. Today, he just wanted to curl up under the covers and sleep. Tomorrow, he still had to arrange a new home for the other Pokémon.
"It looks like Lan wants to sleep, Nattie. Let's not bother him. I'll take you to see Little Splasher," Iris said, carrying Nattie and running towards the backyard.
It was obvious who "Little Splasher" was.
However, when Liz pointed to the super-giant Gyarados and told her that this was her Little Splasher, Iris was so shocked she dropped Nattie on the ground.
"..."
But Nattie had no time to worry about that. Just like Iris, it stood frozen on the spot, like a terrified wooden doll. Will, despite his size, looked beautiful and gentle. But a Gyarados... its huge mouth looked like it could swallow eighty Nattus in one bite.
"Roar~"
Iris's Gyarados, seeing that its Trainer didn't seem to recognize it, rolled its eyes and thought for a moment. It had a flash of inspiration, remembering Liz's Gyarados. It quickly flopped onto the ground and began to furiously twist its body, cursing Mother Earth.
"..." Nattie's eyes widened.
"...What is it doing?" Iris frowned.
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