It's got spirit, just as expected!
Satoshi tilted his cap slightly, feeling somewhat pleased. For some reason, he could vaguely sense Torchic's thoughts.
Probably due to the power of Aura or something.
He guessed silently in his heart, watching as Torchic's flames burned even brighter, spinning rapidly and creating a fiery vortex—a whirlwind of blazing fire.
Its speed grew faster and faster, scorching air rushing forward, the blazing flames circling around Grookey.
Torchic clearly intended to attack but didn't want to repeat its earlier mistake, so it kept building up speed, biding its time.
"It's moving so fast...and it's getting even quicker. Could this Torchic actually have the Speed Boost ability?"
[Speed Boost]:Pokémon with this Ability have their speed increased by one stage after each turn.
Among starter Pokémon, if a hidden ability was available, trainers almost always chose it—unless the hidden ability was utterly useless, like Damp!
Abilities like Blaze, Torrent, and Overgrow only kicked in at dangerously low HP, making them difficult to utilize consistently.
Satoshi especially liked Pokémon with high speed, and if Speed Boost was an option, he'd always pick Speed Boost.
Plus, after Mega Evolution, Blaziken retained Speed Boost—making it basically perfect.
All three Generation III starters had decent Mega forms, except a certain Grass/Dragon-type Pokémon.
Grass/Dragon already had a quadruple resistance to Electric attacks, yet they gave Mega Sceptile the Lightning Rod ability. Compared to Blaziken's Speed Boost or Mega Swampert's Swift Swim...
In one word...
Trash!
In the Pokémon world, the first strike was always the most important, whether in-game or reality.
Not to mention that in the real world, higher speed also improved evasiveness.
Torchic's fiery spinning intensified, as if intending to ignite the entire battlefield.
Suddenly, Torchic stopped spinning. A blazing-hot shockwave erupted outward in all directions, the flame's temperature instantly hitting its peak. With a piercing cry, its speed became dizzyingly fast.
Torchic, like a blazing gust of wind, charged fiercely at Grookey. Its flames streaked across the ground, leaving brilliant trails and waves of blistering heat that made it hard to keep one's eyes open.
"Cha!"
"Grookey, carefully watch its movements, then use Grassy Glide!"
Satoshi calmly analyzed Torchic's moves without a hint of panic.
"Pachi!" Boosted by Grassy Terrain, Grookey moved even faster than Torchic, sliding neatly beside it. Grassy Glide let Grookey's attack land first.
A flash of green appeared as Grookey's move landed solidly on Torchic, sending it flying back.
"Chaaa!" Torchic spun helplessly in midair, flames extinguishing as it landed heavily, motionless.
"Go, Pokéball!"
With victory assured, Satoshi seized the opportunity, throwing the Pokéball without hesitation. It struck Torchic squarely.
This was a true Pokémon capture moment, filling Satoshi with anticipation.
But…
Shake shake shake—click!
The Pokéball shook erratically, then flashed with a red glow as Torchic broke free, emerging with its feathers ruffled—clearly, the capture had failed.
"Cha..."
[Ehehe Satodear, looks like you really blew it this time~ If you ask nicely next time, I could give you a Quick Ball or something~]
[Quick Ball]:Pokéball with a high success rate if thrown at the very start of battle.
Furiko's teasing voice echoed in his mind, but Satoshi wasn't paying her much attention right now.
"No, it seems like it's troubled by something—that's why it refused to be captured so strongly."
In front of Satoshi, Torchic began walking closer, clearly wanting to communicate something.
"Cha cha~" Torchic waved its tiny wings and turned its head toward another direction, taking a few steps forward.
Satoshi had to admit...those tiny wings were actually pretty cute!
"Hm? You want me to follow you?" Noticing Torchic's gestures, Satoshi took a few steps forward, and Torchic nodded eagerly, clearly agitated.
"Cha cha~!"
[Wait, how do you understand what it wants?]
"Wait, how do you understand what it wants?"
Furiko and Sakiko, who'd just arrived, both muttered in unison.
"Um...just a feeling, I guess. It seems Torchic needs help—let's follow it."
"But what about training and capturing Torchic at the EcoDome?"
"Forget it! Helping Torchic resolve this issue first is definitely more important—I can't just leave someone (a Pokémon) troubled like this."
The corners of Satoshi's mouth rose gently into a dazzling, sun-like smile, his clear expression causing Sakiko's cheeks to redden faintly and her heart to beat faster.
"He's too dazzling…"
This was bad; he was literally sunshine itself!
Compared to the people she'd met in her corporate-slave lifestyle, he was infinitely brighter.
Togawa Sakiko suddenly wondered if she'd need sunglasses just to look at him properly in the future.
"All right, then—I'll help you too."
Following Torchic's lead, the two arrived at a small wooded area. They soon found several injured Pokémon nearby. Satoshi immediately went forward, applying medicine to each Pokémon. Observing their injuries, he quickly realized they'd all been attacked by the same Pokémon.
"There's a powerful, aggressive Ursaring around here. We've received a lot of complaints recently, but the EcoDome rarely provides assistance to weaker trainers, so these complaints are generally ignored."
With her usual dignified tone, Sakiko briefly described the situation.
As a trainer, Sakiko genuinely wanted to resolve things herself, but sadly, her job as EcoDome customer service gave her absolutely no spare time.
"I see."
"Cha cha... (I want to become stronger...and beat Ursaring.)"
Torchic lowered its head repeatedly, pleading urgently. Satoshi gently rested his hand on Torchic's head in reassurance.
"I understand. Leave it to me."
Even though they couldn't communicate directly, Satoshi felt Torchic's emotions deeply. Perhaps there really was a special connection between them—maybe they were the same kind (Pokémon).
Words were only one way to communicate; beyond language, invisible connections between hearts also existed.
"Sorry, Sakiko, you should go back first. I need to stay here and help Torchic."
Satoshi stood firm, pulling out Frogadier's Pokéball from his pocket.
If they wanted to get stronger, it was best to challenge the strongest, most disadvantageous opponent possible. He'd let Frogadier head over to Sakiko for some quick training first.
"Actually, I don't have work this afternoon."
Sakiko's long eyelashes fluttered slightly in embarrassment as she spoke. In fact, she had accidentally messaged her boss just moments ago, taking the afternoon off.
---
T/N: ACCIDENTALLY SURE