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Paul's Chimchar is an undisputed genius Pokémon, but it hasn't had enough time to grow. It's too early for it, currently only at the Advanced Level, to step onto this stage. Ash also doesn't understand why Paul would let Chimchar participate here.
And what is that Super Blazefire Ability Ability of Chimchar? Is there a difference from the ordinary Blaze Ability?
While Ash was pondering, the battle on the field had already begun. The opponent, Xiu's Pokémon, was a Rock and Ground-type Golem, which had a considerable advantage against Chimchar.
Not to mention, Golem's current level is a solid Superior Peak, which is significantly stronger than Chimchar. Furthermore, Chimchar's various stats haven't been trained to their limit yet, and coupled with its attack stat, which fluctuates like Pikachu's, it's incredibly difficult for Chimchar to defeat Golem.
Or rather, it's impossible to win.
Even if Ash were to control it, the chances of winning wouldn't exceed thirty percent. This is the estimated win rate assuming Ash doesn't know what Super Blazefire Ability is.
After all, even with Aura amplification, an Advanced Initial Level Pokémon would at best reach Superior Initial Level, which is still quite a gap compared to Golem's level. Its stats aren't maxed, and it hasn't evolved. Ash doesn't know how Chimchar is supposed to fight above its level.
If that's the case... why did Paul send out Chimchar?
On the field, Chimchar had already used Flame Wheel under Paul's command and charged forward, but Golem stood its ground without dodging, blocking the attack.
After Flame Wheel hit it, scorching flames splashed, but they didn't affect it at all. Instead, it raised its fist and slammed it down from above. The Flame Wheel burning on Chimchar's body instantly extinguished, and its entire body was hammered to the ground!
A deafening sound echoed on the field, and even the rocky ground showed some cracks, indicating the immense force of that punch.
Chimchar's face showed extreme pain, looking quite miserable, but Paul, as the Trainer, remained expressionless, just coldly watching Chimchar.
This behavior made Ash's brows furrow slightly. What exactly is wrong with this guy?
Sending out a weaker Pokémon is one thing, but his commands also lack any strategy, seeming like reckless direct attacks. When his Pokémon was heavily struck to the ground, he didn't show the slightest concern.
It's as if the Pokémon fighting on the field isn't his. Isn't this a bit too much?
Chimchar struggled to get back up. It looked very pained, yet it still chose to stand and fight for its Trainer. Seeing this, Xiu showed no mercy and continued to have Golem use Rock Slide to attack.
Paul ordered Chimchar to use Flame Wheel to dodge, but the level gap between them was too large. Even with the speed boost from Flame Wheel, Chimchar still couldn't evade the Rock Slide attack.
Fortunately, the flames on its body cushioned much of the force for Chimchar, otherwise it would have already lost its ability to battle.
Even so, Chimchar is now on its last legs, looking like it would lose its ability to battle if touched by the opponent again.
At this moment, Paul's expression finally changed slightly. His cold expression became a few shades more serious, and he said coldly, yet with a hint of expectation, "It's time, Chimchar. Show me that power of yours. Ignite the flames within you!"
Chimchar turned to look at its Trainer, then gritted its teeth, desperately squeezing out all the power within its body.
It knew what power its Trainer was expecting, but it had been with its Trainer for a long time and had never managed to ignite that power. Now, with its stamina nearing its limit, this was its best chance to unleash that power.
But even with Chimchar putting in its utmost effort, the flames on its tail didn't grow stronger. Let alone the Super Blazefire Ability Ability, it couldn't even use the most basic Blaze Ability.
Xiu didn't know what Paul and Chimchar were up to, but she couldn't just watch the opponent play tricks. So she directly commanded Golem to attack the opponent. Rollout was launched, and Chimchar, still desperately trying to squeeze out power, had no time to dodge and was directly hit by the opponent!
The Rollout attack took away Chimchar's last bit of stamina. Chimchar slid back heavily and fell beside Paul. However, Paul not only showed no comfort to Chimchar but also had eyes full of disappointment.
"Useless thing," Paul said, recalling Chimchar into its Poké Ball, then sent out his next Pokémon, Torterra.
Paul's voice wasn't deliberately suppressed, but even Ash and his companions, who were relatively close, didn't hear much due to the noisy surroundings. However, Ash's ears are more sensitive, so he heard what Paul said.
This made an unconcealable look of anger appear on Ash's face: "This guy... is simply too much!"
"What's wrong, Ash?"
"Just now, when Chimchar slid back to his side, Paul not only didn't comfort it, but instead told it it was useless!"
Ash's words also startled Brock and the others, and then anger and indignation appeared on their faces.
"That's too much. After a Pokémon loses its ability to battle, instead of comforting it immediately, he says it's useless. How can there be such a Trainer?"
"That kind of guy can train a Gym Advanced Level Pokémon in just a year and a half? I can't accept it!"
"Ash, if you can meet him in the competition, you must teach him a good lesson!"
The three of them had unusually strong opinions about Paul's actions. A Pokémon struggles so hard for you on the front lines, and after it loses its ability to battle, you call it a useless thing?
What Paul did is no different from Team Rockets! Even the Team Rocket Trio's care for their Pokémon is countless times stronger than Paul's!
How can someone who shows no affection for Pokémon train them to such a powerful level? Is there no justice in this world?!
With Paul sending out Torterra, there was no need to watch the subsequent battle. Xiu's Pokémon were not weak, but against the Gym Peak Torterra, they were completely powerless to fight back.
Moreover, Torterra didn't exert itself at all. Even if someone with ulterior motives wanted to collect Torterra's data for analysis, there simply wasn't enough information.
Aside from knowing Torterra's level was Gym Peak, all other information was unknown. This is also why Paul chose to send out Torterra as his second Pokémon.
Torterra is his ace. If its information were exposed, it wouldn't be very beneficial to him. But conversely, an ace Pokémon dealing with weaker Trainers doesn't need to use its full power. In that case, even if Torterra battles, its information won't be collected by others.
At most, others would only be able to tell that Torterra's level is Gym Peak; other aspects of its information would be impossible to collect. Anyway, some of Torterra's information had already been known during the previous Sacred Fire incident, so he might as well continue to let Torterra battle.
This was Paul's strategy.
In fact, this strategy was very successful. Even though Paul used Torterra to achieve a 3-0 sweep, those who were observing Paul's information still didn't discern anything.
Only Ash took in all of Torterra's information.
"I didn't expect Paul's Torterra to already be Gym Peak. He really did continue to improve in these past few months!" Gary said somewhat sourly, watching Paul recall Torterra on the field and walk off the competition stage with a cold expression.
He felt this guy was showing off, but he had no proof.
Although Paul is cool, his appearance is actually not bad. The cool Aura he exudes even adds to his appeal, so many girls around were cheering and boldly expressing their love for Paul.
Of course, Paul naturally wouldn't pay attention to such things, but Gary was a bit displeased by others hogging the limelight like this.
Ash was fine; he really couldn't compare... But what was Paul?! At most, he just traveled a little longer than him. If they had the same amount of time, he could definitely beat Paul hands down!
But then again, the current competition is about current strength. If future strength could be included, then everyone would be borrowing from the future. So, Gary's indignation was of no use.
"That Torterra is not just simply Gym Peak; if the pressure of this Indigo Plateau Conference is sufficient, it might even advance to Elite Four Class," Ash, who hadn't spoken much, suddenly interjected.
He had been analyzing Paul's Torterra, and now he had come to a conclusion: Paul's Torterra was not simply newly arrived at Gym Peak, but had been stuck there for some time.
The evidence was that Torterra's various stats had all been trained to their peak, with one stat, stamina, reaching S-rank.
Without long periods of training, it's basically impossible to max out stats.
Now that Torterra's stats are maxed out, advancing to Elite Four Class should just be the final step. As long as it gains enough battle experience in the adaptation tournament, or is subjected to enough pressure, it can advance to Elite Four Class.
Gary was right, Paul was indeed his strong rival, and his biggest opponent in this Indigo Plateau Conference. In terms of Pokémon level alone, only Pikachu among his Pokémon could rival Paul's Torterra. If he didn't use those special methods, the outcome between them would truly be hard to say.
However, in a serious battle, Ash naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to hold back; all necessary methods would naturally be used.
After Paul's match ended, the group watched the next match for a bit, found it uninteresting, and then left.
As they left, some people noticed Ash, but with Misty's 'shush,' no major commotion was ultimately caused. They just signed a few autographs and successfully left.
Ash is now a minor celebrity. Without a mask, he's quite easily recognized.
After safely exiting, the group prepared to eat at a nearby restaurant. Contestants received free lunch and dinner, and could bring up to three family members. Gary and Ash combined could bring six people, and since there were only two of them now, there were plenty of spots.
The food here at Indigo Plateau couldn't be said to be bad, but it was indeed mediocre. After two bites, Ash found it quite different from what he cooked himself, and for a moment, he couldn't eat it.
This made Ash himself feel a bit incredible. So... his palate had become picky because of his own cooking? Good heavens, is that even possible?
Pikachu isn't so demanding; as long as there's ketchup, anything is edible!
Ash, in any case, doesn't understand what ketchup with rice is all about.
With nothing else to do, Ash looked out the window and his expression suddenly froze.
"You guys eat first, I'm going out for a bit," Ash said, grabbing Pikachu, who still had ketchup on its mouth, and ran out. Brock and the others looked at each other, not knowing what had happened.
Until Gary looked out the window... "Is that Paul? And that Pokémon is Chimchar? What are they doing there?" From the window, they could just see Paul and Chimchar standing face to face on a small lawn outside. Chimchar's face showed a very dejected expression, while Paul still had that cold look.
"It seems Ash must have heard or sensed Chimchar's situation. Looking at Chimchar, it hasn't even recovered at the Pokémon Center," the scene outside made Brock's expression darken.
Chimchar hadn't recovered at the Pokémon Center for so long after the battle. What kind of Trainer is Paul?
"Let's go, we'll go out and see too."
"Okay."
...Outside, Ash, with a bewildered Pikachu, arrived on the lawn. At this moment, Paul just spoke: "You can leave. I no longer need you here."
"Hoo?" Chimchar looked up, its face full of disbelief, as if it thought it had misheard.
"I don't have the ability to train you. Just go wherever you came from... never mind, go wherever you want. Anyway, there's no longer a place for you in my team. My team has no weaklings."
Paul originally wanted to say, 'go back to where you came from,' but then he remembered this wasn't the Sinnoh region, so he slightly rephrased it. However, the general meaning remained unchanged: he was telling Chimchar to leave his team.
Chimchar had been—abandoned by him.
"Gogogo!!" Hearing Paul's words, the usually timid Chimchar uncharacteristically cried out loudly. Although Paul didn't understand Pokémon language, he could roughly guess that Chimchar was probably saying something like 'don't abandon me.'
But his mind was made up.
Several months had passed since he caught Chimchar. He had sent Chimchar out in every Gym challenge in Kanto, but without exception, Chimchar had lost every time.
In several months, its level had only progressed from Ordinary Peak when it was caught to its current Advanced Initial Level. The progress was truly somewhat dismal...