Rushing right up to Ron, Gastly suddenly halted, no longer idly rubbing against his cheek. It felt almost liquid—cool and strangely comforting.
Gardevoir, eyes fixed on Gastly, maximized her psychic powers; if Gastly had any mischievous intent, she would react in an instant.
After a brief moment of playful drifting, Gastly seemed to remember something and floated directly in front of Ron, looking up at him with a pitiful expression.
When Ron failed to grasp what it meant, Gastly abruptly dove into his shadow. In that instant, a peculiar warmth rose from deep within Ron's heart.
"Mom, I'm hungry," came a small, childlike voice in his mind.
Hearing that unexpectedly tender call, Ron froze. Even Gardevoir's psychic sense detected that a unique bond had just formed between Ron and the Gastly.
As Ron's Fighting Aura circulated, it flowed gently into the Gastly concealed in his shadow.
"So warm… so comfortable," murmured Gastly in a soothing tone, so relaxed that one might think it could drift off to sleep at any moment.
Taking advantage of the lull, Ron produced the food he'd prepared for Gastly.
First, he offered a top-tier Pokéblock; unlike most Pokémon, even a newly hatched Gastly could draw sustenance from such potent nourishment.
Next came some Concentrated Gas—a treat favored by Gastly and even its evolved form, Gengar, after all, Gastly is part Poison-type.
The savory aroma made its way to Gastly, which leisurely floated out from Ron's shadow. It quickly devoured several chunks of the Pokéblock and then began to absorb the Concentrated Gas bit by bit.
Once satisfied, Ron retrieved a Poké Ball and captured Gastly without any resistance.
After the capture, he promptly released it again. Casting a curious glance at Ron, Gastly didn't hesitate—it slipped back into his shadow and resumed a deep, contented sleep, behaving as naturally as ever.
Ron exhaled in relief—and couldn't help feeling a surge of excitement.
Raising a Ghost-type Pokémon from an early age was a dream for many trainers, and Ron's Gastly even seemed to be a cut above the rest.
Suddenly, Ron remembered that he hadn't yet corrected the way Gastly addressed him; he should be called "daddy," not "mom," little ghost!
Ignoring Ron's exasperated shout, Gastly simply slept on.
It reminded him of how Nidoran and Torchic were during their infancy—life was just eating and sleeping.
The one consolation for Ron was that they never fussed; perhaps the nurturing power of his Fighting Aura helped them be so well-behaved, sparing him the trouble of dealing with unruly "brat" Pokémon.
Once he was sure Gastly was all right, Machamp and the rest of his team heaved a collective sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, before Ron had a chance to introduce Gastly to Machamp and the others, the little fellow had already drifted into a deep sleep.
At that moment, Ron felt his Fighting Aura subtly shift, sending delicate tendrils toward the slumbering Gastly within his shadow.
Then Ron resumed his earlier plan—finding a suitable opponent to help Torchic complete its first-stage evolution.
With their psychic powers in full swing, Gardevoir and Persian began to take action.
As Ron's group set off, Gardevoir spotted more and more wild Pokémon along the way.
Within ten minutes, a Mankey was completely surrounded—its face a picture of weakness, pity, and utter helplessness.
"Torchic, use Ember!" Ron commanded.
Facing Torchic's assault, the Mankey initially refused to dodge.
Yet, when the first burst of Ember hit, instinct took over and the Mankey rolled away, almost as if performing a clumsy tumble. Immediately, a second Ember shot out, again engulfing the Mankey.
Seeing that Machamp and the others weren't interfering, the Mankey gathered its courage and swung a punch, aiming precisely at the incoming Ember with a well-timed Sucker Punch to disperse it.
No sooner had it retracted its fist than a third Ember followed in quick succession. Once more, using Sucker Punch, the Mankey shattered Torchic's Ember.
Not one to simply take hit after hit, the Mankey then charged directly at Torchic. As it began to retreat, Torchic maintained a precise distance and unleashed another Ember attack.
Unwilling to be outdone, the Mankey countered with another Sucker Punch, scattering the Ember into tiny sparks that drifted away.
At that point, Torchic resembled a living flamethrower—continually launching Ember after Ember, leaving the Mankey with no choice but to respond repeatedly with Sucker Punch.
At first, the damage was minimal, but as the exchanges mounted, the Mankey's stamina began to wane. Compared to Ember, the power of Sucker Punch was undeniably stronger but it also drained energy at a much higher rate.
With both Torchic and Mankey at level 15, it was clear that this exhausting battle would eventually force the Mankey to collapse first.
Realizing its predicament yet lacking any alternative moves, the Mankey continued to pour every ounce of strength into running, desperately trying to close the gap with Torchic.
But Torchic's relentless Ember attacks, bolstered by its activated Speed Boost ability, pushed its speed to astonishing heights—far beyond what the Mankey could compensate for with sheer effort.
When yet another Ember surged forward, the Mankey instinctively tried to counter with Sucker Punch, but its body froze in place. Overexertion had driven the Mankey to its limit, leaving it nearly immobile.
After the Ember struck, Torchic charged forward with lightning speed. The Ember had cleared the way, obstructing the Mankey's vision and forcing it into a counterattack.
Seizing the opportunity, Torchic followed up immediately with a Peck. The Flying-type move proved highly effective against the Fighting-type Mankey, which couldn't withstand the assault—sending it flying and stripping it of any further ability to fight.
Perhaps Torchic's performance in this bout wasn't showy, but it had maximized its own strengths, effortlessly outpacing and defeating the Mankey.
Remarkably, the Mankey wasn't able to land a single hit on Torchic—a performance that, in itself, was praiseworthy.
After the battle, a transformation began in Torchic's body. Amid the brilliant white glow of evolution, the once small Torchic started to change.
As the light subsided, Torchic had grown from a roughly half-meter little creature into one over a meter tall.
No longer entirely cloaked in orange feathers as before, the evolved Combusken now boasted light-yellow plumage on its upper body while its lower body and head retained the classic orange.
The most dramatic change, however, was in its wings.
Previously weak and feeble, they had become robust and powerful, now sporting sharp, gleaming claws that shimmered with a frosty gleam—imbuing the entire Pokémon with an aura of majesty.
Curious about its newly evolved form and gradually growing accustomed to its transformed body, Combusken leaped into Ron's arms, repeatedly nuzzling his cheek with its own to express the unbridled joy of its evolution.
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