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Anger increases the temperature of flames.
Li Xiang couldn't help but think of Lin Feng's Charmeleon, whose Berserker Blaze was also a manifestation of anger.
From his observations, Charmeleon in its Berserker Blaze state was extremely irritable, filled with a desire to destroy everything.
At the same time, Lin Feng had mentioned to him a few months ago that the reason Charmeleon's Blaze took this form was because when its stamina dropped to a certain level, the accumulated damage would cause its anger to peak.
At that point, its brain would automatically secrete a unique substance that stimulated its organs and muscles, temporarily boosting its abilities at the cost of increased stamina consumption and heightened emotions—
Hmm... From this perspective, it's almost no different from the effects of burnt catnip.
Both result in lower responsiveness to the trainer's commands, and the boosts in ability are similar.
But in the end, they're still different. One is a reaction to an external substance, while the other is self-produced, albeit with stamina requirements.
Li Xiang wasn't particularly interested in Charmeleon's Berserker Blaze. What he really wanted to know was how much of an impact emotions had on Pokémon.
Was the Berserker Blaze more influenced by its original ability, or by its emotions?
If it was the latter, Lin Feng might be able to break free from Blaze and let Charmeleon decide when to activate its Berserker state. If it was the former...
It would suggest that Pokémon idealism wasn't all that significant.
However.
Emotions still had some use, more or less.
Li Xiang had already deeply realized this from Torracat.
It also gave him some inspiration. After all, he had been struggling with teaching Torracat Flare Blitz all winter because it was just too difficult to learn.
First, the temperature of Flare Blitz was much higher than that of Flame Charge.
The former was blue flames (in the anime), while the latter was red flames.
According to color temperature theory, red flames have the lowest temperature of all, nowhere near blue flames.
Even if Li Xiang suddenly had the wild idea of using the fur balls inside Torracat's body to fuel and increase the flame's temperature, it still wouldn't reach the required level.
At best, it only increased the power of Flame Charge.
Second, Flare Blitz was a move that dealt 120 damage to the opponent while costing 40 to the user, making it inherently different from Flame Charge, which was focused on speed.
Compared to Flame Charge, Flame Wheel actually had more in common with Flare Blitz, almost like an upgraded version.
Look, they both have the same chance of burning the opponent and can thaw the user from being frozen.
Aside from the difference in power and the recoil damage of Flare Blitz, there's no real difference.
Learning Flare Blitz through Flame Wheel would likely be more reasonable than trying to learn it through Flame Charge.
These two factors were the main obstacles preventing Torracat from learning Flare Blitz.
But Torracat's method of accumulating anger to increase flame temperature showed Li Xiang that there were other ways to learn moves.
It even demonstrated feasibility.
It was truly fascinating.
With this, the path to learning Flare Blitz was now clear, but could Froakie and Riolu also use this method of learning?
Li Xiang pondered this and found himself itching to try.
However, he soon began to worry whether exploiting Pokémon's emotions in this way could harm their mental health or even cause stress reactions.
Some mental illnesses are caused by overly intense psychological stimuli.
Primeape and Vigoroth are special cases, with different body structures, so they can't be used as benchmarks under comparable conditions.
And as everyone knows, battles require a certain amount of emotional investment.
Their homeroom teacher had said that mild anger could help Pokémon achieve many unexpected results. As long as they didn't lose control, anger could be a stimulant for battle.
Other emotions were also important, not just in battles but in daily life as well.
If Li Xiang used various emotions to teach moves or achieve other effects, could excessive emotionalization lead to psychological issues, significantly weakening their emotions? This was a question that needed to be clarified.
Strength was important.
But Li Xiang didn't believe that battles were everything for Torracat and the others. They had their own joys and sorrows, their own interests and hobbies.
To strip them of these for the sake of strength would be too cruel.
...
At night.
Li Xiang tried searching online for information on whether Pokémon emotions could aid in battles and training.
It had to be said, there were far more clever people in this world than he had imagined.
Using Pokémon emotions to achieve various effects wasn't unique to Li Xiang.
But what surprised Li Xiang was that the research papers and reports online were pessimistic about whether emotions could significantly affect a Pokémon's combat capabilities.
They believed that Frustration and Return, which change power based on emotions, were exceptions, like Primeape, and couldn't be used as references.
Remaining calm during battles was more important and reliable than relying on mild anger to boost power.
Blindly using emotions could make a Pokémon's combat power unstable, even leading to disobedience of the trainer's commands.
As for learning moves... they acknowledged that ambition and frustration were also emotions, and these could help Pokémon during the learning process.
But the effect was minimal.
After all, emotions couldn't make a Pokémon learn a move it couldn't naturally learn.
They could only slightly speed up the process of learning moves it was already capable of.
The cost-effectiveness wasn't high.
And there were many cases of Pokémon suffering psychological trauma due to excessive emotionalization, just as Li Xiang had feared.
—Not all Pokémon are suited for battles, nor can they psychologically accept the inherently violent nature of battles.
Their homeroom teacher had emphasized this many times.
No matter how much it's dressed up and turned into a sport, battling is still an act of violence, and since it's violence, it can cause psychological harm to Pokémon.
Healing a Pokémon's psychological wounds is one of a trainer's responsibilities, but the problem is, many Pokémon, once psychologically injured, find it difficult to recover.
The reason their psychological wounds are hard to heal is also related to excessive emotionalization—fear, hatred, aversion, etc.
Torracat and the others hadn't shown any signs of this yet.
The only one with a psychological shadow, Riolu, who physiologically disliked cats, had also completely recovered not long ago.
But Li Xiang couldn't be certain that they would never develop such issues.
No one could guarantee that.
As for his doubts, Master Duan Tianxing gave him an answer.
"Train the mind."
The old man in the maroon robe said calmly, "Both human willpower and Pokémon willpower can be tempered. With the right methods, one can maintain their sense of self even in the midst of emotional storms. So-called anger, fear, and jealousy are all like tides in the heart. If you want to borrow the power of emotions, your own will must be as hard as iron, unwavering!"
This... was way too idealistic, wasn't it?
And he just wanted to use this to learn a move. Were there really prerequisites?
Li Xiang couldn't help but complain in his heart. Seeing his expression, Duan Tianxing's face grew even sterner, and he let out a cold snort.
"You've practiced martial arts for half a year, stood in stance for half a year, and trained your body for half a year, yet you understand nothing! As long as your will is firm, opposing emotions can coexist. The angrier you are, the calmer you become; the more fearful you are, the more you understand weighing pros and cons; the more jealous you are, the more you strive to climb higher!"
Yes, yes, yes.
When it came to this, Li Xiang couldn't help but feel disheartened.
Ordinary transmigrators were all martial arts prodigies, while he was a block of wood that couldn't be carved.
He was slow at learning everything, and he couldn't even compare to his senior brothers and sisters.
The straightforward Wang Dong often sated that even his father had more talent for martial arts than him.
"Go to the main hall and stand in stance! If your mind isn't calm and your will isn't steady, how do you expect to master Martial Arts, let alone harness the power of emotions? Maybe in your next life!"
Duan Tianxing chased him out, "Pokémon are the shadows of their trainers. Whatever you are, your Pokémon will be. When your mind is trained, theirs will be too!"
Who understands this stuff?
The old master's teaching style was half hands-off, teaching only the form and not the essence, leaving it up to the disciples to figure things out on their own.
For the clever, this was a good thing, helping them forge their own path. But for the dense people....
"Sigh..."
Li Xiang sighed and walked back to the main hall.
Coincidentally, Second Senior Sister and Third Senior Sister were inside. Their school started later, so they probably had about a month left.
At the moment, they were sparring, going back and forth quite fiercely.
Especially Third Senior Sister Jiang Shangrou. Her fists were like Buzzwole's, capable of creating sharp gusts of wind that tore at her opponent's clothes.
Second Senior Sister Qi Sunsun's clothes were torn at the chest, revealing a fair expanse of skin, quite eye-catching.
Li Xiang stood to the side and watched carefully. When the two finished, he went up to complain.
"Hehehe, Junior Brother, you've come to the right person."
Qi Sunsun pointed at Jiang Shangrou with a smile, "In our dojo, aside from the old man, when it comes to strength, your Third Senior Sister is number one. When it comes to training the body, she's also number one. And when it comes to willpower, she's the number one of number ones!"
"Senior Sister." Jiang Shangrou called out helplessly, her tone still as gentle and indifferent as ever.
Qi Sunsun stuck her tongue out at Jiang Shangrou, then wrapped an arm around Li Xiang's shoulders, pressing her ample chest against him.
She whispered in his ear, "Listen to your Second Senior Sister. Learning from your Third Senior Sister is much more reliable than learning from the old man!
"The old man just has a few more years of experience. When it comes to teaching, he's nowhere near as clear as your Third Senior Sister. Second Senior Sister guarantees that by the time Third Senior Sister is twenty-five, she'll be able to take on ten old men!"
Jiang Shangrou's hearing was exceptional, so Qi Sunsun's words didn't escape her, but with this senior sister, she had no choice but to say, "Senior Sister, that's enough. You're exaggerating."
"Exaggerating?" Qi Sunsun turned her head, raising her voice by an octave, successfully drawing the attention of the other three people practicing martial arts.
She said, "When you were little, you were so lively! So mischievous! The difference between your personality then and now is huge. Whether it was cultivated or not, you know better than I do!"
The method of training inner energy in Zhenxing Dojo was actually quite simple. It was just about maintaining a calm mind while standing in stance and breathing at a fixed rhythm.
Li Xiang had practiced for half a year but saw no results.
Perhaps there were some, but he just hadn't noticed.
"Duan Yu! Isn't that right?" Qi Sunsun tried to drag Duan Yu into the conversation.
Duan Yu glanced at the speechless Jiang Shangrou, then at the expectant Li Xiang, and nodded, "That's right, Junior Brother. And Third Senior Sister's teaching ability is indeed the best in the dojo."
Hey hey hey! Duan Tianxing is going to faint from anger!
But...
Li Xiang directly grabbed Jiang Shangrou's delicate hand and said sincerely, "Senior Sister, please help your pitiful junior brother. I'm too dense and I've have already been rejected by Master!"
Jiang Shangrou felt quite weary. With Li Xiang pleading like this, how could she refuse? How could she bear to refuse?
"Alright... Let me prepare and think of a method first."
"That's more like it!"
Qi Sunsun, who loved stirring up trouble, giggled and pinched Li Xiang's cheek, "Junior Brother, how will you repay your Senior Sister for helping you like this?"
"I have nothing to offer but myself." Li Xiang said righteously. At his young age, Qi Sunsun was almost completely unguarded around him. She had even once stripped down to her underwear in front of him.
It was just too much!
More of this, please!
"Tch! You're just a kid! What do you know about offering yourself?" Qi Sunsun pinched his nose.
She never saw Li Xiang as a man. A little brat who didn't even have an Adam's apple or the beginnings of a beard on his chin—what could he possibly understand?
What she didn't know was that Li Xiang understood everything, and not only that, he had once been quite proficient!