"Charizard!!"
Ash's face went pale. Seeing Charizard lying on the ground covered in burns, he rushed over at once.
"Why did you attack it so ruthlessly!!" Misty, unable to hold back her anger, stepped forward to confront Terrance, but Brock quickly stopped her.
"Misty, don't be impulsive."
Brock believed Terrance wouldn't be that reckless, but Charizard's injuries looked truly severe; even he couldn't quite understand Terrance's intention.
"A regular burn potion won't work. The ingredients for the special medicine are…" At that moment, Terrance spoke slowly. These ingredients were very common. Let alone Professor Oak's laboratory, even ordinary shops would have them. After naming a few ingredients and the tools needed, Professor Oak's expression turned odd, but he quickly went inside to retrieve them.
"Ash, after grinding the ingredients into a paste, apply it to Charizard's wounds and it'll be fine."
Professor Oak handed the ingredients and the tools to Ash.
"I understand. I'll grind them right now." Ash hurriedly took the ingredients, placed them into the tool, and grasped the wooden pestle with both hands, pounding and stirring vigorously.
"Charizard, hang in there, it'll be over soon." Feeling his nose sting, Ash looked at Charizard's painful expression and worked even harder. But the ingredients were difficult to process. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't meet Terrance's requirements.
"Damn it, turn into paste already!!" Ash shouted anxiously as he pounded and stirred, wishing he had two more pairs of hands.
Brock and Misty wanted to help Ash but were stopped by Terrance.
"Could it be, Terrance, you…" Brock's heart jolted.
Hard work pays off. Amid Charizard's pained cries, Ash finally finished preparing the special medicine and hurriedly applied it by hand to Charizard's burns according to Terrance's instructions.
"So hot—" As he smeared the medicine on Charizard, Ash gritted his teeth, feeling the heat radiating from Charizard's body, and grew even more worried about its condition.
Forcing himself to endure the pain of the burns on his palms, Ash didn't stop rubbing the medicine on. Tears streaming down, he spoke apologetically: "I'm sorry, Charizard. I know my Trainer skills might still be inferior… I guess that's why you've been ignoring me, isn't it?"
"But listen, I promise you, one day I'll earn your recognition. I'll have the strength to fight alongside you. This time, I held you back, but next time, we'll definitely win."
Charizard endured the burns, but as the special medicine spread over its body, it suddenly felt less pain. All the while, Ash's words of comfort echoed in its ears, and as Ash's tears dripped onto its body, Charizard's gaze softened.
It remembered—back when it was still a Charmander—Ash braving the rainstorm to bring it to the Pokémon Center. It remembered the times it fought side by side with Ash.
"Pika!!" No one could sense a Pokémon's emotional change better than another Pokémon. At this moment, Pikachu ran up to Charizard, softly calling twice.
"Ash… your hands…" When Ash wiped his sweat, Misty saw his reddened palms and spoke in worry.
"It's fine, it's not hot at all. Charizard, are you feeling better now?"
After treating Charizard's burns, Ash let out a sigh of relief. Charizard no longer cried out in pain, which calmed him considerably.
"Brother Terrance, thank you for the medicine. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have known what to do… As expected, I'm still too weak." Ash said dejectedly.
"Roar!!" Just then, someone patted his shoulder. Ash froze, eyes wide with disbelief, as Charizard slowly stood up behind him.
If Ash wasn't mistaken, Charizard was shaking its head at him. This kind of direct communication was something he had never experienced with Charizard before.
"Charizard, you…" Ash was overjoyed. "Do you acknowledge me now?!"
Charizard nodded, pointed at Terrance's Castform, and roared again.
"Alright, our goal is to surpass Brother Terrance's Castform. Let's work hard together!!" With Charizard's recognition, Ash's happiness was beyond words. Seeing the changes in both Ash and Charizard, Misty and Brock quietly felt happy for them.
"That's great, Ash can finally command Charizard," Misty said.
"So the 'special medicine' isn't some ingredient at all, it's Ash himself. What they were missing was precisely an opportunity for this kind of heart-to-heart talk."
Terrance smiled faintly and shook his head as he spoke.
As for the burns, of course they were deliberate. For a Fire-type like Charizard, they couldn't really cause any harm. The sensation of pain was purely because Sunny Day was still in effect, pouring fuel on the fire. Once Sunny Day faded, the pain naturally disappeared.
"I knew it. Terrance really was helping Ash." Brock's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt admiration for Terrance. As a Breeder himself and one of Ash's traveling companions, Brock realized Terrance had achieved something he himself hadn't. This made Brock acutely aware of his own shortcomings.
To become an outstanding Breeder, he still had a long road ahead.
…
…
Through one battle, Ash gained Charizard's recognition, and the two immediately went off to train with the goal of defeating Terrance.
Meanwhile, Professor Oak called Terrance over, curious about the "lava combination" from earlier.
"Fusion moves," Terrance explained. "Lately I've been researching flames, but although lava is powerful, it's still not the effect I'm aiming for."
"Oh? Then what kind of effect are you trying to develop?"
Professor Oak asked with interest.
Terrance thought for a moment and didn't hide anything: "You know, when using Fire-type moves, some Pokémon rely on special organs in their bodies or special abilities. For example, Salazzle's body has unique organs that can imbue both its flames and toxins with each other's properties. Then there's Chandelure, whose flames, due to its special ability, can even burn souls..."
"That's certainly true…" Professor Oak nodded.
"What I want to study is how to let ordinary Pokémon obtain special flames."
Terrance smiled. He had taught Altaria Fire-type moves, but their power was always unsatisfactory, worse than Fairy-type moves, worse than Dragon-type moves, and even worse than Ice-type moves. To better counter Steel-types and patch up Altaria, and even his future team battle system's weakness, Terrance planned to consider many approaches, and the research into special flames was a key part.
"Speaking of which, that reminds me of the Legendary Pokémon Entei. It's said its special flame was granted by Ho-Oh," Professor Oak suddenly recalled.
"Mm, and not just that! Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire, Unova's Legendary Pokémon Reshiram's Blue Flare, and the fire that can perfectly merge with the power of lightning—all of them are extremely powerful special flames." Terrance's eyes gleamed with interest.
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