When Paul first captured Chimchar, what drew him in was the terrifying Blaze it had once unleashed.
Under that Blaze, Chimchar had displayed power far beyond its own level.
Back then, while still only at the Low level, Chimchar had faced a pack of Zangoose, and annihilated them in the blink of an eye.
Those Zangoose weren't weak either.
They were all at the High-Low level.
That scene had allowed Paul to glimpse Chimchar's latent potential. Convinced there was something extraordinary hidden within it, he captured Chimchar, determined to excavate that power.
But several months had passed since then.
Not only had Chimchar failed to awaken that power again, its level growth had been painfully slow.
No matter how many desperate situations Paul forced it into, Chimchar had never once triggered that Super Blazefire again. Its progress lagged far behind Paul's other Pokémon.
Under those circumstances, Paul concluded that Chimchar no longer held any value.
When he had called Chimchar "useless" on the battlefield, those words weren't truly directed at Chimchar.
They were directed at himself.
A Trainer who couldn't bring out a Pokémon's power, wasn't that Trainer useless as well?
At this rate, Paul had no idea how long it would take him to defeat Brandon at the Battle Frontier.
He couldn't afford to waste time on a Pokémon whose power refused to awaken.
So he chose to release Chimchar, here and now.
Leaving it with his brother would be meaningless, a waste of time for both of them. Letting Chimchar go was, in Paul's eyes, the best option for everyone involved.
"I've made myself very clear," Paul said flatly, turning away."I don't need you, and you don't need me. I'm not the one who can awaken the power inside you. That's all there is to it. Go wherever you want."
He took a step forward, ready to leave without looking back.
"Stop right there!"
A sharp voice rang out behind him.
Paul turned his head.
Ash stood there, fury written across his face. Pikachu bristled beside him, sparks crackling faintly, angry, though not particularly intimidating.
Seeing Ash, Paul's expression shifted slightly, interest flickering in his eyes. He turned fully around, hands in his pockets.
"So you're the Kanto Supernova," Paul said calmly. "I know you. You defeated a Substitute Elite Four within six months of starting your journey, and not long ago, you fought Elite Four Lorelei to nearly a draw."
"However," he continued coolly, "your battle style relies entirely on impulsive passion. If your Pokémon weren't strong enough, you never would've won those fights."
'Ash: Do I even know this guy?'
'We've barely spoken, why is he acting like a Champion lecturing a rookie?'
"What my battle style is like is none of your business," Ash snapped. "We're the same age, you have no right to lecture me. If you want to 'guide' me, beat me first."
Then his gaze hardened.
"More importantly, what did you do to Chimchar?"
Paul answered without hesitation, his voice icy.
"I determined that we weren't compatible, so I released it. Releasing Pokémon isn't rare. As long as you make your intentions clear and don't abandon them secretly, it doesn't violate League regulations."
The Pokémon League maintained strict rules regarding abandonment, but release was different.
If a Trainer clearly explained the reason, stated that the two parties were incompatible, and didn't deceive or forcibly discard the Pokémon, it was considered a peaceful separation.
The League would not intervene.
Forcing a Pokémon and a Trainer who were fundamentally incompatible to remain together would only create greater harm.
People like Damian were the real problem, lying, abandoning Pokémon in secret, leaving them to die.
Paul wasn't like that.
His reasoning might be cruel, but it wasn't illegal.
"Even setting that aside," Ash pressed, "Chimchar's injuries were sustained while fighting for you. Why didn't you even take it to a free Pokémon Center?"
Paul glanced at Chimchar.
For a brief moment, something unreadable flashed in his eyes, then vanished beneath cold indifference.
"There's no need. Injuries like that mean nothing to it. It'll recover quickly. Going to a Pokémon Center would just waste time."
Ash's fists clenched.
"So you're saying Chimchar has always been like this under your command?" he asked, forcing his rage down. "Constantly injured. Constantly pushed?"
"You don't understand it," Paul replied coolly. "And I'm no longer obligated to explain. Before today, it was my Pokémon, I could do as I pleased. Now it's a wild Pokémon."
"If you truly care," he added dismissively, "take it to a Pokémon Center."
Paul shook his head.
"I thought you'd be interesting. Turns out, you're only at this level."
He turned away again.
This time, Ash didn't stop him.
Instead, he knelt beside Chimchar.
Chimchar watched Paul's retreating figure, sorrow filling its eyes, but it didn't chase after him.
Paul had made his choice clear.
Even if Chimchar clung to him, what would be the point?
Without value, abandonment was inevitable.
'I'm not strong enough…'
As that thought sank in, a warm current suddenly flowed through Chimchar's body.
Gentle. Comforting.
The pain in its muscles eased. The injuries inside its body began to mend, slowly but surely.
Chimchar looked up.
A human knelt beside it, Ash.
This warmth was coming from him.
They were meeting for the first time, yet Chimchar felt an inexplicable closeness, something that resonated deep within its heart.
Moreover, Chimchar gradually realized that the warm current flowing through its body was coming from this human.
Was he healing it?
"It's okay, Chimchar. You'll recover soon," Ash said gently when he noticed Chimchar looking at him, assuming it was worried about its condition.
The truth was that Chimchar's internal state was far from optimistic.
Aside from the injuries it had sustained in today's battle, there were numerous hidden wounds buried deep within its body. Under normal circumstances, they lay dormant, but once Chimchar was pushed to its limits, they would erupt all at once.
One indirect consequence was that Chimchar's training progress had been severely hindered.
These injuries hadn't appeared overnight. They were the result of long-term accumulation.
Just as Paul had said, being injured had likely become routine for Chimchar.
And every single time it was hurt, Paul had probably never taken it to a Pokémon Center for proper treatment.
Ash didn't understand why someone would do such a thing.
That kind of behavior was slowly destroying a Pokémon's life.
Even if it wasn't as outright malicious as what Damian had done, it still made Ash seethe with anger.
How could someone like this exist?
Even Team Rocket's trio treated their Pokémon better than that!
"Ash, what happened? Where's Paul?" Misty's voice sounded as she and the others arrived a moment later.
They were already too late.
Paul had disappeared.
"He's gone."
"Gone?" Brock scanned the area, then his gaze fell on Chimchar. His voice trailed off.
"Then Chimchar…"
"He abandoned it," Ash said flatly.
The word struck like a hammer.
Brock, Misty, and Gary all stiffened.
Abandoned?
Was that man really capable of something like that?
"To be precise, he 'released' it," Ash continued, forcing himself to stay calm. "According to him, the two of them weren't a fit. But I know the truth, he just looked down on Chimchar for being weak. I felt some friction with him before, but I never imagined our philosophies would be this different."
Ash took a slow breath.
Chimchar's condition came first.
The culprit was already gone. Anger wouldn't help anyone now.
Tokiwa Power wasn't like the advanced technology of a Pokémon Center, capable of instantly restoring a heavily injured Pokémon, but its healing was far more thorough. Even injuries hidden deep within the body could be rooted out completely.
Ash wasn't just patching Chimchar up.
He was erasing the damage at its source.
That was why the healing took longer.
Under normal circumstances, restoring a Pokémon at Chimchar's level would've taken Ash less than a minute. Now, nearly three minutes had passed, and the green light around his hand still hadn't faded.
"What exactly happened?" Brock asked carefully. "Ash, why did you suddenly run out? Why did Paul aban..."
He stopped himself mid-sentence when he saw the hollow disappointment in Chimchar's eyes.
Saying that word again would only rub salt in the wound.
"While I was eating," Ash said quietly, "Chimchar's emotions reached me through Aura. It was probably unconscious. It wanted Paul's recognition, blamed itself for failing to meet his expectations, and resolved to work even harder."
Ash's eyes darkened.
"But that guy never felt any of it. So I came out to talk to him… and before I could say anything, he released Chimchar."
Plans never kept up with reality.
All Ash could do now was heal Chimchar first. Everything else would come later.
"That guy…" Gary clenched his fist, fury written all over his face. "With that kind of strength, I never thought he'd be so inhumane!"
To think he had once considered Paul a rival.
With that kind of character, Paul wasn't even worthy of being compared to Gary Oak.
If a Pokémon performed poorly, wasn't that the Trainer's responsibility?
Who the hell sends an Low-level Pokémon to fight an Peak opponent?
And then blaming the Pokémon for losing?
Gary had never seen someone so shameless.
"Forget it," Ash said firmly as he finally withdrew his hand. "Words won't reach someone like him. When I face him in the official tournament, I'll use battle to show him what it truly means to train, and care for, Pokémon."
If Paul needed to be awakened, battle was the only language he'd understand.
Ash turned back to Chimchar, his expression softening completely.
"Chimchar, the injuries inside your body are mostly healed now. Those pains that kept resurfacing won't trouble you again."
Chimchar's eyes lit up at once.
Its body felt unbelievably light, like a heavy burden it had carried for months had suddenly vanished. Even the deep aches that would flare up during training were gone.
Ash's credibility with Chimchar instantly shot to the maximum.
But then Ash asked:
"Where do you want to go next?"
"Chim?"
Joy faded into confusion.
Where… could it go?
The world was vast, but there didn't seem to be any place that belonged to it.
Ash hesitated for a moment, then extended his hand.
"If you don't mind, would you be willing to become my Pokémon?"
It wasn't just Chimchar's talent that mattered.
Its gratitude, its loyalty, and its instinct to think of its Trainer even while suffering, those were qualities Ash cherished deeply.
The Pokémon Paul discarded, Ash would treasure.
That man had no idea what kind of existence he had thrown away.
"Chim?"
Chimchar stared at the outstretched palm, disbelief written across its face.
One moment, it had been abandoned.
The next, someone was choosing it.
Someone who had treated it with more care in a single encounter than Paul had shown in months.
But…
Did it really deserve to stand beside someone like this?
The doubt lingered in Chimchar's eyes.