"Since you want to go the Super Fire Dragon X route, let me think about what moves I can teach you."
Yu Feng stroked his chin, pondering what moves he could teach Charmander right now.
Yu Feng scrolled through his move pool. Many could be taught to Charmander, but most weren't suitable for Charmander in its current state.
Mega Punch? No, no, Charmander's form is too prone to injury. Protect? Sunny Day? These all take too long to learn.
While thinking about his move pool, Yu Feng inadvertently thought of a combination move, the three moves known as the 'Farmer's Three Punches'. Coincidentally, Charmander could learn two of them.
And after all, this is the real world. Who's to say Charmander absolutely can't learn Ice Punch? If it could learn these three moves, it would expand Charmander's offensive coverage. Plus, with accelerated methods at home, he could just ask his Lao Mei and the others to help with the training.
"Then let's start with the relatively simple Fire Punch."
Yu Feng excitedly raised a finger to Charmander.
"Lee!"
Charmander cheered along with Yu Feng's actions. Although she didn't know what Fire Punch was, if her Trainer was happy, she was happy.
"Kirlia... (These two guys...)"
A drop of sweat trickled down Shiny Kirlia's forehead. Watching the two inexplicably happy individuals, she thought, 'Like Trainer, like Pokémon.'
Yu Feng lit a flame on the finger he held up in front of Charmander, which made Charmander clap her hands in surprise.
She stretched out her hand, wanting to see if a flame could ignite on it. Unfortunately, no matter how she tried, apart from the flame on her tail growing stronger, nothing ignited like on Yu Feng's hand.
Charmander couldn't help but feel a little dejected. She couldn't do it; she was such a failure.
"Hahaha! It's okay. I've been practicing this for four or five years. It's perfectly normal for you not to be able to do it since you just started."
Yu Feng patted the somewhat dejected Charmander. He had also taken several days to learn it back then.
After all, not everyone is like Ash, who can spit out Seed Bomb and Bullet Seed.
Oh, and also Agility. So Ash is even more like a Pokémon than he is, hey!
"Lee!"
Hearing Yu Feng's comfort, Charmander made a 'cheer up' gesture to encourage herself.
"Hmm, when you usually use Ember, don't you gather Fire-type energy in your mouth?"
"Try gathering it in your hand. Maybe it will work."
Yu Feng suggested the method he used when he learned Fire Punch. Of course, when he learned it, it wasn't as convenient as for Charmander. After all, he wasn't a Fire-type Pokémon, so he needed a large number of Fire Stones to aid his learning.
And then, haha, during that time, he always had a scent of roasted meat lingering on him.
Charmander listened to Yu Feng's words, nodded thoughtfully, then stared at her right hand as if brewing something... "Boom!!!"
As Charmander's expression gradually became fierce, the flame on her tail grew larger and larger. Finally, it seemed to reach a critical point, and flames instantly ignited Charmander's body.
"Lee! Lee! Lee! Lee!!!"
Charmander realized she was on fire and frantically looked for water to extinguish the flames on her body.
Seeing Charmander like this, Shiny Kirlia on the side could only wave her hand. A cloud just large enough to cover Charmander appeared above her head, and rain poured down like a waterfall, instantly dousing the flames on Charmander's body, then disappearing.
"Lee."
Charmander, whose flames had been extinguished, wiped away the water droplets from her forehead and let out a sigh of relief. She had almost become a roasted lizard.
Then she lowered her head and tugged on Yu Feng's pants, as if apologizing for her foolishness.
"Hiss, Lao Mei, do you think that move just now was Flare Blitz or Flame Charge?"
Yu Feng gasped. He just wanted Charmander to practice Fire Punch; it shouldn't have learned those two moves, right?
"Kirlia. (It should be Flame Charge. Look, there are no burn marks on her body.)"
Shiny Kirlia observed Charmander's body and found no injuries. Also, her running speed was a bit faster than usual, and she told Yu Feng her opinion.
"You have a point. Then it should be Flame Charge."
Yu Feng pinched Charmander's leg and found that the muscles there were currently tense, consistent with the explanation that Flame Charge increases speed.
"Charmander, try to gather power in your hand, following the feeling you had just now."
Although Charmander could use Flame Charge, this was just a pleasant surprise. It wouldn't change the training plan Yu Feng had designed for Charmander.
"Lee."
Charmander obediently followed Yu Feng's instructions, gathering power in her hand, but unfortunately, apart from making her head muddled, there was no other reaction.
Annoyed, Charmander aimed an Ember at her hand.
"This is? Could she really be a genius?"
Yu Feng looked at Charmander's actions, somewhat shocked. Could she really use a move like that?
Yes, the Ember Charmander spit out did not harm her. Instead, it was like throwing a spark into a pot of hot oil.
It instantly ignited Charmander's arm, causing her arm to burst into fierce flames.
Although in the eyes of Yu Feng and Shiny Kirlia, it was just for show, hitting someone with it wouldn't even hurt as much as the recoil.
But it was good news nonetheless. After all, with the appearance, the rest would be a matter of course.
However, learning Fire Punch like this made him and Lao Mei seem a bit foolish, because it took them three days to get the hang of it.
But considering that Charmander is a Fire-type Pokémon, learning its own type's moves faster than them is normal, so Yu Feng felt balanced again.
"Lee! Lee!"
Charmander waved her burning arm, seemingly wanting Yu Feng to praise her.
"Yes, yes, you're very impressive. Use Fire Punch on that target."
Yu Feng was not stingy with praise. After all, Pokémon need to maintain a good state and mindset for their combat ability not to fluctuate too much.
Then he instructed Charmander to use the newly mastered Fire Punch on the spot where they usually practiced Confusion.
"Lee!"
Charmander spit Ember onto her hand, causing her arm to be engulfed in fierce flames, and then punched the target.
"Bang..."
The target remained unchanged, still as perfect as new. Charmander's Fire Punch didn't even leave a trace of black charring.
"Lee! QAQ"
No, it still had an effect. Charmander, in pain, put her hand in her mouth, as if that could alleviate the pain.
"Indeed, it's just for show."
"Kirlia (Yes, it is.)"
Yu Feng and Shiny Kirlia both made the same gesture of rubbing their foreheads. As they had guessed, it only had the appearance but no elemental energy infused.