"Go, Mega Charizard Y! Descent of the Fire Dragon!"
At Gu Yuan's roar, Mega Charizard Y flapped its wings and dove from the sky. At this moment, Mega Charizard Y was engulfed in raging flames that continued to spread until they formed a massive dragon made entirely of fire.
As the dragon condensed, its horns, whiskers, eyes, and even scales became lifelike, as if a true divine dragon had been born.
"Roar!"
A near-solid sound wave rippled out, and the giant dragon suddenly launched a charge. On the ground, Tropius had no chance to dodge and could only choose to endure Mega Charizard Y's assault head-on.
The outcome, naturally, was never in doubt. Faced with Mega Charizard Y's attack, Tropius's counterattack couldn't even stir a ripple before being utterly destroyed.
As the fire dragon crashed down, a crimson airwave expanded, carrying such intense heat that the surrounding trees began to wither. When the airwaves and smoke finally cleared, Tropius lay at the bottom of a giant crater, lingering on its last breath.
Using Teleport, Hatterene began to treat Tropius.
"How was it? Do you want to try fighting a battle yourself next?"
Looking at Volcanion, Gu Yuan asked for its opinion.
"Okay! Okay!"
Without hesitation, Volcanion agreed immediately. Watching Charizard and the others show off their great power along the way had left it unable to restrain itself any longer.
With Life Dew combined with Heal Pulse, Tropius recovered at an incredible speed. By the time it stood up unsteadily, Volcanion was already standing before it.
"Go, Volcanion! I will leave this battle to you as much as possible and will only issue commands at critical moments."
Gu Yuan's voice rang out, but he was in no hurry to direct the fight. Instead, he wanted to see Volcanion's innate combat level. Nodding, Volcanion proactively launched an attack.
The arch-like arms on its back opened, releasing its signature move, Steam Eruption. A massive amount of steam surged out, frantically attacking Tropius. Simultaneously, Volcanion released its aura, suppressing the strength of Tropius, who was not a Legendary Pokémon.
Solar Beam condensed quickly, barely managing to block the power of Steam Eruption. The moment it entered a combat state, Volcanion felt an instinct driving it, making it subconsciously enter a battle-ready rhythm.
Volcanion's reaction was swift; it surrendered the fight to its instincts and tried to learn from them.
Flames gathered as Volcanion released Flame Charge to accelerate, while simultaneously trapping Tropius within a Fire Spin. Tropius released Magical Leaf, and through consecutive impacts, it managed to break free from the Fire Spin at a very fast speed.
Harnessing the steam, Volcanion vanished from its spot with startling speed, later using Steam Eruption on Tropius from mid-air. Tropius released Seed Bomb, which exploded the moment it contacted the Steam Eruption.
Flames surfaced again. Volcanion used steam to float in the air, constantly launching offensives with Fire Spin and Incinerate.
"Is this a Legendary Pokémon?"
"Even though it's the first battle, it can achieve this level by relying purely on instinct."
Gu Yuan murmured softly as he watched Volcanion pressuring Tropius. Before letting Volcanion fight, Gu Yuan had already learned from Moltres that Legendary Pokémon possess their own innate combat instincts. Even in their first battle, they can display strength far exceeding that of ordinary Pokémon.
Now it seemed this was not exclusive to the Legendary Birds, but an ability possessed by every Legendary Pokémon.
The battle continued. Under the repeated skills of Steam Eruption, Fire Spin, and Incinerate, the surrounding temperature rose steadily. For a Grass-type like Tropius, this environment undoubtedly caused it to consume more physical strength.
Worse yet, facing Volcanion—who had used Flame Charge early on to boost its speed—Tropius had no good way to counter it. Feeling the timing was right, Volcanion suddenly launched its final assault.
First, it released Fire Spin to obscure Tropius's vision, followed immediately by the flames of Incinerate. Tropius charged up Solar Beam at maximum speed, which turned into a beam of light that tore through the fire.
However, Volcanion had appeared behind Tropius at some unknown point, and a Steam Eruption burst forth, instantly enveloping Tropius. Flapping its wings, Tropius quickly charged out of the steam, but Volcanion was even faster.
Weather Ball condensed.
Although neither Tropius nor Volcanion had used weather moves, the high temperature of the surroundings turned the Weather Ball into a Fire-type move, which struck the ascending Tropius squarely.
Flames surged as Volcanion, using Flame Charge, rushed in front of Tropius, its arms death-gripping Tropius's body. In Volcanion's descriptions, it is said that when its arms open, it releases energy capable of leveling a mountain.
The source of this power is steam! The power released, directly swallowing Tropius.
Faced with Volcanion's special ability, Tropius was heavily injured. Volcanion then threw Tropius aside and struck it with Incinerate.
As an observer, Gu Yuan saw it clearly. Volcanion's special ability likely couldn't be released consecutively in a short time; otherwise, there would have been no need to throw Tropius before finishing it off. Or perhaps, with Volcanion's current strength, it wasn't yet enough to release it twice in a row.
As the flames dissipated, before the charred Tropius could breathe, Volcanion's Weather Ball hit its face again. Then a Fire Spin rose, trapping Tropius inside. By the time the flames faded, Tropius lay on the ground, having lost its ability to battle.
"Great job, Volcanion!"
"I really didn't expect you to perform so excellently in your first fight. But you must not become arrogant. You still need to continue honing your combat techniques and enriching your battle experience."
Patting Volcanion on the shoulder, Gu Yuan praised it while not forgetting to give it some advice, lest it become overconfident.
"Don't worry, Gu Yuan, I won't let you down!" Volcanion said excitedly.
Obviously, Volcanion hadn't yet calmed down from its excitement and still looked at Tropius with intense fighting spirit. It wasn't until Tropius woke up with no desire to continue fighting that the battle intent in Volcanion's eyes finally faded.
Noticing this, Gu Yuan felt that Volcanion had learned some things it shouldn't have.