"Hiss…"
Theo could not help but suck in a sharp breath of cold air, while Milotic, Metang, and Tyrantrum beside him all revealed shocked expressions one after another.
Flannery stood behind her grandfather, looking at Typhlosion's back, her small face filled with a sense of pride as if sharing in its glory.
Larvesta was also completely dumbfounded.
The Flame Charge it had always been proud of in the past was simply incomparable to Typhlosion's Blast Burn. The gap between them was far more than just a little.
After finishing the demonstration, Typhlosion turned around and walked up to Larvesta. It slightly lowered its head and gently blew out a small wisp of soft flame toward it.
When the flame landed on Larvesta's body, it did not cause any harm. Instead, it felt like a layer of warm energy film, lightly wrapping around it.
In the next moment, the Fire type energy within Larvesta's body seemed to be guided by invisible threads, beginning to flow slowly along a specific trajectory.
At first, Larvesta felt a little panicked, its body instinctively wriggling a few times.
But very quickly, it became captivated by that strange and wonderful guidance of energy. It closed its eyes and began to carefully sense the flow of power within its body.
It could clearly "see" a pure stream of Fire type energy coming from Typhlosion, guiding its own energy as it circulated and gathered.
In the end, that energy condensed within Larvesta's mouth into a blazing, concentrated sphere.
"Now, follow the feeling and release it!"
Moore reminded at just the right moment.
Larvesta instinctively opened its mouth, and a ball of flame suddenly shot out.
Although the Blast Burn it released looked more like Flamethrower, with a crooked and unstable shape far from the imposing power of Typhlosion's version, it had already taken on a faint initial form.
"Not bad, not bad."
Moore stroked his beard, a trace of satisfaction flashing in his eyes.
"To reach this level on the first attempt, its talent truly speaks for itself."
Seeing this method of teaching, Theo could not help but admire Mr. Moore even more.
It was almost comparable to the TM's in his system. Although it was limited to Fire type moves, it was still incredibly remarkable.
Over the next seven days, Theo temporarily stayed in Lavaridge Town, living within the Lavaridge Gym.
Every day, once the sun had risen high, the gym's training area would become lively and bustling.
Typhlosion patiently guided Larvesta step by step, starting from the energy condensation techniques of Blast Burn, to the range control of Heat Wave, and finally to Overheat, which required squeezing energy to its absolute limit for release.
Moore knew that once Larvesta evolved, he would still have dealings with it, so he taught everything without holding back, pouring out his knowledge completely.
Various valuable items in the gym, such as fragments of Fire Gems, specially customized nutritional food for Fire type Pokémon, and high quality Pokéblocks, were all provided to Larvesta without reservation.
Flannery also spent almost every day in the training area, bringing her own Pokémon to train alongside Larvesta under Typhlosion's guidance.
She had always liked Fire type Pokémon, and seeing how clever and lively Larvesta was, she often could not resist teasing it.
From time to time, she would feed it snacks she had personally made and play with it, forming an extremely harmonious relationship between human and Pokémon.
Under the combined care and feeding of Mr. Moore and Flannery, Larvesta's favorability toward them skyrocketed.
However, what puzzled Moore was that, for some unknown reason, Larvesta seemed especially attached to Theo.
Whenever it saw him, it would eagerly run over, wagging its body and acting cute.
Even if it was in the middle of eating, it would still abandon its food and rush toward him.
This behavior made Moore frequently mutter,
"What kind of Fire type Pokémon behaves like this? It is practically disgracing Fire types."
Typhlosion standing nearby would even nod in agreement.
Larvesta's learning speed did not disappoint anyone.
On the first day, it barely managed to grasp the essentials of releasing Blast Burn. By the third day, it could already skillfully unleash a properly formed Heat Wave.
By the seventh day, it had even successfully learn Overheat, the most difficult move to control.
During these seven days, aside from Larvesta, the happiest one was undoubtedly Tyrantrum.
This fellow had an incredibly thick skin. Relying on its good relationship with Larvesta, it followed behind it every day, shamelessly freeloading food and benefits.
The Pokéblocks given to Larvesta by Mr. Moore always somehow ended up shared with it, and the snacks Flannery specially prepared for Larvesta would also be "sampled" by Tyrantrum without hesitation.
Even when Typhlosion was guiding Larvesta, it would stand nearby to observe, occasionally letting out strange cries as if offering commentary.
In the end, Typhlosion was so bothered by it that it personally taught Tyrantrum the move Fire Fang.
After all, the principle behind Fire Fang was quite similar to Fire Punch, so it was a trivial matter for Typhlosion.
After seven days, Tyrantrum had consumed quite a lot of the Lavaridge Gym's resources, and its body looked as if it had grown slightly… perhaps a little plumper.
It had truly taken freeloading food, training, and benefits to the extreme.
Of course, Larvesta was not the only one busy during training.
Milotic and Metang were not idle either, actively serving as sparring partners.
When Larvesta practiced Heat Wave and Blast Burn, Milotic would use Surf and Water Pulse to defend and counter.
Metang, on the other hand, would use Confusion to interfere.
This forced Larvesta to release its moves under more complex conditions, accelerating its mastery of using skills effectively in real combat.
At the same time, Metang would also act as a target, using Magnet Rise while letting Larvesta attack it with its moves.
This allowed Metang to improve its proficiency with Magnet Rise while also helping Larvesta refine its accuracy.
Meanwhile, Mr. Moore's Typhlosion and Ninetales would occasionally offer guidance to Milotic and Metang, sharing their own experience.
As a result, Milotic gained new insights into its use of Water type moves, and Metang became increasingly proficient at combining Confusion with Magnet Rise.
Even more surprising was that, after being hit several times by Larvesta's Fire type attacks, Metang managed to gradually figure out and learn the move Sunny Day.
Although its current casting speed was slow and the weather effect it produced was very weak, only slightly increasing the temperature and sunlight in a small area, it could still be considered a successful acquisition of the move.
This delighted Theo and also gave him ideas on how to teach Metang Sandstorm and Rain Dance.
During future travels, he could have Tyrantrum guide it with Sandstorm and Milotic guide it with Rain Dance, which would surely produce results more efficiently.
Starting from the third day, Moore simply allowed Theo and Larvesta to act as a "special challenge guest" of the Lavaridge Gym, temporarily taking over Flannery's role as Gym Leader.
The requirement Mr. Moore set for Larvesta was to release moves with the lowest possible energy consumption while quickly mastering the details of move usage through real battles.
This turned out to be a blessing for the trainers who came to challenge the gym, as Theo's judging standards were far more lenient than Flannery's.
As long as challengers demonstrated good tactical thinking, or their Pokémon showed enough perseverance and highlights during battle, even if they ultimately lost, Theo would still award them the Heat Badge while pointing out their shortcomings and offering directions for improvement.
(End of Chapter)