Two Pokémon, big eyes staring at small eyes.
"Togetic—"
"Togetic!"
"Togetic?"
"Togetic."
"...."
It seemed to turn into a family recognition meeting.
Togetic and Togepi quickly became familiar with each other, pulling Chimchar to jump around in the living room. Chimchar's nervous demeanor was eased quite a bit under their influence.
"Quite familiar, huh."
Soon after, Natsuhiko walked out carrying two steaming big bowls of udon.
In a place like the Sinnoh Region where the north is generally cold, udon can be considered the most popular food.
Hilona, sitting like a little girl on the chair, lightly sniffled her fair nose, her eyes blinking.
"Smells great, looks delicious."
"Go ahead and eat."
After arranging Energy Blocks for the Pokémon, Natsuhiko also sat down and began eating without reservation.
The noise whilst eating was quite large, yet Hilona was not displeased.
If not for her instinct to restrain herself, she might have eaten loudly like Natsuhiko.
This bowl of noodles definitely deserved such sounds.
"Very delicious."
Hilona finished off the big bowl of udon, not leaving a single noodle.
This was beyond her usual appetite.
No doubt, it showed Natsuhiko's culinary skills were indeed impressive.
"Just right, after the meal, I'd like to ask about training Chimchar," Natsuhiko said.
"Hmm... I don't have an Infernape, so I'm actually not very knowledgeable, but I can get you a summary of experience from Sinnoh's Chimchar Trainers over the years."
Natsuhiko's eyes lit up.
That's exactly what he needed.
"By the way, what's your Chimchar's trait?" Hilona asked somewhat puzzled, "It's like 'Iron Fist' but not quite."
"It's 'Fierce Fire.'
Hilona realized, "Fierce Fire? But its talent in punching techniques is excellent and could be further developed."
"Yeah, I think so too."
"Here."
Her fingertip pushed a sheet of paper towards Natsuhiko.
"This is..."
"These are the observations and judgments I've collected, it could be helpful to you."
Natsuhiko looked down.
Pokémon: Chimchar
Gender: Male
Attribute: Fire Type
Trait: Fierce Fire
Strength Evaluation: Excellence Level
Inherited Techniques: Flame Fist, Thunder Fist, Clap Attack, Enhanced Fist (rest unknown for now)
Mastered Techniques: Grab, Glare, Sparks, Taunt, Flame Wheel, Trick
Suggested Learning: Flame Vortex, Jet Flame, Iron Tail, Knock Down...
Suggested Development Direction:...
There was quite a lot that coincided with Natsuhiko's thoughts.
However, upon seeing "Clap Attack" among Chimchar's inherited techniques, Natsuhiko knew...
Everything was starting to change.
Perhaps...
The time for Insect Monkey's debut had arrived.
As everyone knows, the nickname for "Universe's First Tiger," Incineroar, is "Insect Tiger," which can jokingly be called "What does Fire-type Techniques have to do with me, Insect Tiger."
This is because Incineroar has a special and powerful combination.
Rapid Return paired with Clap Attack.
If the Pokémon combination is reasonable enough, it becomes a very annoying existence.
But actually, this move combination by Incineroar originally began with...
Infernape!
Infernape can also learn both Rapid Return and Clap Attack, focusing on whether Clap Attack can be inherited.if inherited, then Infernape can learn Rapid Return and use them together.
Moreover, Infernape has advantages over Incineroar.
Because it's faster, though slightly lacking in attack capability, Infernape is more adept in both Physical Attack and Special Attack as a dual-blade master. Learning the two buff techniques "Trick" and "Sword Dance," combined with its ability to acquire numerous practical and multi-attribute techniques, makes its attack range broader.
Each has its merits.
This combination is already annoying in games, and that's in a turn-based game, in the real Pokémon Realm, it's even more annoying.
Imagine.
If paired with a fast enough "Takeover" Pokémon for support, continually using buff techniques, Takeover, Clap Attack, Rapid Return, augment, Takeover...
Infernape might only need two techniques to "slap" the opponent to death.
Therefore, when Natsuhiko saw "Clap Attack" in Hilona's summary of Chimchar's techniques, he knew from that moment, things were starting to change.
Natsuhiko didn't doubt Hilona's observational skill regarding Chimchar's inherited techniques.
In Breeder's exams, one assessment criteria is to deduce some of the Pokémon's mastered techniques through observation; different levels require judging a varying number of techniques.
Natsuhiko could deduce part of the techniques some Pokémon had based on his understanding.
Regarding learning about Pokémon like Chimchar he had not delved deeply, hence some uncertainty, but Hilona's understanding of such Pokémon undoubtedly far surpassed his.
Of course.
Once settled, Natsuhiko would still test all the techniques with Chimchar.
Not only to know what it can do but also to assess its grasp of these techniques and based on the test results, plan the upcoming cultivation approach.