Chasing Chimchar were three large white Pokémon marked with crimson stripes.
Zangoose!
A Normal-type Pokémon.
Normally, Zangoose moved around on all fours, but when enraged or entering combat, they would stand upright, attacking fiercely with the sharp claws on their forepaws.
Each forepaw bore two long, black claws and a single red digit.
These lethal claws were their greatest weapons, capable of easily tearing through their opponents in battle.
And Chimchar, having stolen the Zangoose's food, was now desperately fleeing for his life.
As Chimchar kept running, without even realizing, he found himself trapped against a steep cliff.
By the time he realized and tried to escape another way, it was already too late!
The three Zangoose had completely surrounded him.
Perhaps because their appearances closely resembled cats, the Zangoose shared the feline trait of cruel playfulness.
Though they could easily have killed Chimchar, they chose not to.
Instead, they toyed with him, prolonging his suffering.
Even Chimchar's escape route had been deliberately set up by them.
Otherwise—how could a Novice-tier Chimchar outrun multiple Excellence-tier Zangoose for so long?
"Ho-cha!"
Chimchar desperately launched an attack, hoping to break through the encirclement.
Swish!
A flash of cold light sliced through the air.
A casual Slash from the Zangoose.
With that single blow, Chimchar was instantly crushed.
Once, twice, thrice…
No matter how Chimchar struggled, he couldn't escape the siege of the three Zangoose.
Seeing their prey's helpless yet desperate struggle—the three Zangoose felt immense satisfaction.
It wasn't long before—Chimchar's entire body was covered in wounds.
After playing around, the Zangoose began to lose interest.
Channeling Normal-type energy into their claws, they approached Chimchar slowly...
Intent on ending him directly!
Seeing all this through the power of Aura, Hu Yan'er felt immense anxiety—she desperately wanted to help Chimchar!
With no other choice, she poured even more Aura into their connection.
Unexpectedly—she suddenly entered Chimchar's memory itself.
The power of Aura.
A power of the heart and mind.
Right now, Chimchar had lost his reason, leaving his mind entirely unguarded.
And Hu Yan'er was his trainer—instinctively, Chimchar recognized her presence as safe.
This created the current situation.
Just as one Zangoose raised its claw to deliver the final blow, a swift kick suddenly flew toward it.
"Eat my shorts!"
Accompanied by Hu Yan'er's fierce shout, the attack landed squarely on the Zangoose's body.
It was kicked flying instantly.
In reality, though Hu Yan'er possessed a Super Rookie Physique, she hadn't fully grown into its strength yet.
To physically kick away an Excellence-tier Pokémon would be incredibly difficult for her.
But here was Chimchar's spiritual world.
In this place—as long as Hu Yan'er's Aura was strong enough, she could easily take down even a Legendary Pokémon.
Let alone a few mere Zangoose.
Seeing their companion kicked away, the other two Zangoose immediately lunged at Hu Yan'er without hesitation.
Hu Yan'er showed no fear, standing protectively in front of Chimchar, adopting a fighting stance.
During this time—Hu Yan'er had also learned various martial arts techniques; it was the perfect chance to test them out.
In this mental space, she was an immortal, tireless machine.
She could fight without restraint or fear of injury!
Two Zangoose approached simultaneously, attacking from left and right with Slash.
Hu Yan'er narrowed her eyes, clearly capturing their movements.
As they drew near, she quickly struck out with her fists—
Bang! Bang!
Under the stunned gazes of the Zangoose, both were knocked flying backward.
Just as Hu Yan'er prepared to press the advantage, Chimchar suddenly entered his berserk Blaze state.
"Ho-cha!"
Accompanied by a familiar roar, Hu Yan'er saw Chimchar become exactly like he was outside.
Those empty, lifeless eyes stared fiercely at Hu Yan'er, flames violently roiling across his body.
It seemed like he now viewed her as his enemy!
"Hah!"
Yet, faced with this, Hu Yan'er suddenly showed an inexplicable grin.
Without another word—she punched Chimchar straight in the head.
This action left the three Zangoose—who had just managed to get back up—utterly dumbfounded.
Boss!
Whose side are you even on!?
However—at this moment, Hu Yan'er paid no attention to the three Zangoose, instead engaging in fierce combat with Chimchar.
If Chimchar couldn't control this power on his own, then she would use her own strength to help Chimchar subdue it!
Perhaps...
Even Guo Yi himself hadn't anticipated Hu Yan'er would adopt such an approach.
He had assumed Hu Yan'er would use the power of Aura to gently unravel Chimchar's mental knots.
After all—if it had truly been Ash himself here, that was exactly what he would have done.
Unfortunately—Hu Yan'er only possessed Ash's Template; she wasn't Ash himself.
Having a character Template didn't mean one would behave identically to the character whose template they carried.
A Template indicated potential and talent rather than personality.
Therefore, Hu Yan'er was resolving Chimchar's out-of-control Blaze issue in her own unique way.
After battling for an unknown amount of time, Chimchar finally awakened.
With his awakening—the three Zangoose vanished from sight.
Now, only Hu Yan'er stood before him.
At this moment, Chimchar felt both confused and at a loss.
This place had once been his living nightmare.
But now—
Something felt…wrong!
"Chimchar, everyone has a past they can't forget—something they fear."
"But only by defeating that fear can we truly move forward!"
Hu Yan'er gently stroked Chimchar's head, speaking solemnly.
"If you can't even control your own power, how will you stand with me at the world's summit?"
Seeing Hu Yan'er's serious expression, Chimchar finally discovered a new purpose to chase.
The world's summit…
I can definitely reach it!
Sensing Chimchar's determination, Hu Yan'er exchanged a smile with her Pokémon.
As for those trivial Zangoose—
They were nothing more than stepping stones for his growth.
And in pursuit of his and his trainer's grand goals—
The uncontrollable power before him would become the first enemy he must overcome.
...
The events unfolding between Hu Yan'er and Chimchar were completely unknown to the outside world.
Right now—the referee stood aside, holding a stopwatch, counting down two minutes precisely.
As soon as time was up—he'd immediately declare Ishimori the winner.
Although Guo Yi had used his influence to arrange challenging opponents for each of his disciples—when it came to matters involving fairness on the surface, Guo Yi absolutely would not intervene.
Doing so—regardless of whether the school permitted it or not—would just make unnecessary trouble for himself.
"How much longer? Has two minutes passed yet?"
"Not yet, still about ten seconds left."
"Only ten seconds…looks hopeless. Even though Chimchar stopped attacking, commanding him to fight properly still seems impossible."
"Ai! What a pity. If only she had sent Pikachu out instead. Even one against two, I think she'd still stand a good chance!"
"You don't understand. Maybe this is what Teacher means when he talks about the bond between trainer and Pokémon."
"A bond is far more important than the match itself."
The students watching shook their heads and sighed, convinced that Hu Yan'er couldn't possibly restore Chimchar's sanity in such a short span.
Of course—many others also admired Hu Yan'er's decision.
To risk losing the match entirely, choosing instead to trust her Pokémon...
Especially when she clearly had a Pokémon powerful enough to turn the tide—that wasn't something just anyone could do.
...
In the spectator area.
"Guo-kun, do you think Yan'er-chan will succeed?"
Bai Cai asked anxiously, worry clearly etched on her face.
She was especially attentive toward Hu Yan'er—not just because of the girl's orphaned background, but also due to her optimistic, cheerful personality, and genuine care for her Pokémon.
In Bai Cai's view—once Hu Yan'er matured, she'd surely claim a place at Dragon Country's peak.
"I'm not sure either."
Faced with Bai Cai's question, Guo Yi shook his head—a rare admission.
After all, this was ultimately a private matter between Hu Yan'er and Chimchar. Even as her teacher, he couldn't possibly anticipate every single outcome.
All he could do—was to try his best to awaken the latent potential within his disciples.
Just like now.
Had he not deliberately chosen Ishimori as Hu Yan'er's opponent—
Who knew when Chimchar might ever have displayed this terrifying Blaze again?
But as for whether they could master this power—that depended entirely on the disciple and Pokémon's own strength and will.
Seeing that even Guo Yi was unsure, Bai Cai could only refocus her gaze anxiously onto Hu Yan'er and Chimchar.
Just as the two-minute countdown approached its end, Hu Yan'er's tightly closed eyes suddenly reopened.
At the same instant—
"Ho-cha!"
The long-silent Chimchar suddenly reacted.
The wildly flaring flames shrank visibly at an astonishing speed.
Simultaneously, Chimchar's aura steadily intensified.
The flames continued shrinking until they and Chimchar's aura both reached a critical point.
At that moment, Hu Yan'er swept her arm dramatically, calling out passionately to Chimchar:
"Show everyone your brand-new power—"
"Chimchar!"
As her voice fell...
A dazzling white light exploded forth from amidst the roaring flames.
"This… This is the light of evolution!"
The surrounding students cried out in astonishment.
Evolution—they had seen it plenty of times.
But this was the first time they'd ever witnessed it happening amidst such raging fire.
The searing flames and brilliant evolution light persisted for a full five minutes.
A completely transformed Chimchar—no, a Monferno—emerged before everyone's eyes.
Monferno was an orange monkey-type Pokémon.
Compared to Chimchar, Monferno's ears, mouth, hands, feet, and abdomen were darker, almost flesh-colored.
Additionally, Monferno's face now bore red and blue markings resembling a painted mask.
Especially striking was the blue color, which could only be described as a deep, intense blue.
According to researchers—the blue coloring on a Monferno's face correlated directly with its strength.
The deeper the blue, the more powerful the Monferno.
Judging from this—
A Monferno who evolved through mastering Blaze was clearly far more terrifying than a typical Monferno.
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T/N: i was gonna say something uhhhhhhhhhhhhh uhhhhhhhhhhhh peekaboo also i did eat my shorts hueeuheuheu OHHH right was it dragon nation or country i forgot what i was using its been like a month since i translated this ahhh whatever its the same anyuways
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