Chapter 30: Catching Charmander - Part 5
Watching Flint leave, Brock took out the Poké Ball he had just received and released the Pokémon inside. After a flash of red light, a Charmander appeared before Brock and the others.
The Charmander that had been staying near Meowth saw the Charmander Brock released and ran over from a short distance away. After a few moments, the two Charmander met. Then the two Charmanders started 'chatting' with each other, "Char~ Mander~" "Char~ Mander~". Meowth also walked over.
Seeing Meowth approach, Brock said to him, "Meowth, translate for us what the two Charmander are saying."
Meowth agreed after hearing Brock and immediately walked over beside the Charmander to listen to what they were saying.
The two Charmander chatted away, "Char~ Mander~ Char~ Mander~," while Meowth translated nearby. Only after hearing Meowth's translation did Brock and the others understand: the two Charmander were actually biological brothers! They had been separated by someone one day and had only just met again now. (Brock's Charmander is the older brother; the one abandoned by Damian Oak is the younger brother.)
After a while, Brock and the others saw the two Charmander stop chatting. Brock then turned to Ash at his side and said, "Ash, you can catch the Charmander that was abandoned by Damian Oak!"
Hearing Brock, Ash lit up with happiness. But then he considered that Brock had been the one to rescue Charmander, and asked somewhat shyly, "Brock... but you were the one who saved Charmander! Can I really catch it?"
Hearing Ash, Brock replied, "Ash, it's no problem! Haven't you always dreamed of catching a Charmander? Besides, don't I have a Charmander now too? So it's best if you catch the one abandoned by Damian Oak!"
After speaking, Brock thought, From the anime I watched in my previous life, I quite liked Ash's Charizard. Besides, an Ash without a Charizard... would that even still be Ash?
Hearing Brock's reasoning, Ash thought for a moment and replied, "Okay, Brock!"
After agreeing, Ash walked over beside the two Charmander. Addressing the one abandoned by Damian Oak, he declared, "Charmander, let's battle! I'm going to catch you!"
Hearing Ash, the Charmander cried out a few times at Ash, "Char~ Mander~ Char~ Mander!", as if saying, "Bring it on! I'm not afraid of you!" Meanwhile, the other Charmander (Brock's) walked over beside Brock.
Hearing Charmander's cry and seeing its stance, Ash understood its meaning and nodded. He took out a Poké Ball and threw it. "Pidgeotto, I choose you!"
A flash of red light, and Pidgeotto appeared in the air. Ash looked up at Pidgeotto in the sky, then pointed at Charmander and commanded, "Pidgeotto, use Gust!"
Hearing Ash's command, Pidgeotto vigorously flapped its wings, unleashing a Gust attack towards Charmander.
Charmander saw the Gust slowly approaching and lashed out at it with its claws. It seemed to want to see if it could cut through the Gust. However, before Charmander could fully execute its attack, it was caught by the Gust and blown into the air.
Brock watched the battle between Ash and Charmander for a bit, found it uninteresting, and recalled his own Charmander. Then he entered his mindscape to check the Potential of the Charmander Mr. Oak Bridge had given him.
Entering his mindscape, Brock saw Bell there, doing something unknown. Brock asked curiously, "Bell, what are you doing here?"
Hearing Brock, Bell turned around, saw Brock looking at him, and replied, "Host Brock! You haven't come in to see me recently! I noticed the system hasn't given you any missions in a long time, so I was just checking if the system was broken."
Hearing Bell's answer, Brock asked doubtfully, "Bell, isn't this Points System always inside my mind? Also, I've never heard of a system breaking down before!"
Bell replied, "Host Brock, actually, every system can break down. It's just that some systems break easily, while others are more difficult to break."
Hearing Bell, Brock didn't say anything further and just opened the system's Inspect function. He checked his own Charmander's Potential:
Name: Charmander
Master: Brock
Potential: King
Strength: Elite Rank - Early Stage
Brock looked at his Charmander's data and thought, After what happened, Mr. Oak Bridge indeed didn't dare just fob me and my dad off with a low-Potential Pokémon. A King Potential Charmander suits me perfectly! If he had given me a Pokémon with Potential lower than King, I definitely would have continued holding a grudge against Mr. Oak Bridge and Damian Oak of the Oak Clan.
Brock then wanted to check the Potential of the Charmander currently battling Ash, curious about his own Charmander's younger brother's potential. After all, in his previous life, Ash's Charmander evolved into Charizard and even defeated an Articuno! He used the Inspect function on the Charmander battling Ash. Its data appeared:
Name: Charmander
Master: Wild
Potential: Champion
Strength: Entry Rank - Late Stage
Brock looked at this Charmander's data and thought, They really are biological brothers! Even their Potential is the same tier. I really don't understand why Damian Oak would abandon a Charmander with such high Potential! Raised properly, it could become incredibly strong! Could it be that Damian didn't know the Potential of the Charmander he abandoned? Possible?
Brock emerged from his mindscape just in time to hear Ash exclaim, "Brock! Misty! Daisy! Melanie! I caught Charmander!" He then saw Ash striking the same corny pose he made when catching Bulbasaur.
Hearing Ash, Misty and the others said together, "Congratulations, Ash!"
Hearing Ash, Brock said, "Congratulations, Ash! You absolutely must take good care of Charmander!"
Ash replied happily, "I know, Brock! I'll definitely take good care of Charmander!"
After hearing Ash's response, Brock suggested they should get going, and so, Brock's group once again headed towards Vermilion City.
In a manor somewhere in the Kanto region, a middle-aged man and a teenage boy were chatting. Yes, they were Mr. Oak Bridge and Damian Oak of the Oak Clan.
Damian Oak asked his father doubtfully, "Dad, are we really just letting this matter go? That was a Charmander with King Potential! We just gave it to him for nothing?"
Hearing Damian, Mr. Oak Bridge said angrily, "You brat! Didn't you say you threw away your old Charmander? That's why I brought a Charmander with good Potential! That King Potential Charmander was originally meant for you! But you provoked those people and almost caused a major incident! So it's only right that we compensate him with a Pokémon! Let this matter be settled!" After speaking, Mr. Oak Bridge sighed and said nothing more.
Hearing his father's words, Damian Oak thought, There's no way this matter is just settled like that! My family's Pokémon aren't taken so easily!
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