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As Ash punched Damian in the face,
Damian was sent flying backward, crashing into the sofa. After knocking over the sofa, his body rolled over a dozen times before finally slamming hard into the wall.
Teeth and blood flew through the air, and the wooden wall developed several cracks from Damian's impact. It was estimated that several of his bones were broken.
Since acquiring Aura, Ash had always been careful to restrain his strength. He knew his power was immense, and a single slip could cause severe injury to someone.
This was true even without using Aura.
Only recently had he managed to control his strength with some proficiency, no longer worrying about accidentally harming others.
However, Damian's two short sentences directly caused Ash to lose his composure. He lost control of his strength for a moment and delivered a rather fierce punch.
Fortunately, Ash subconsciously withdrew ninety percent of his strength as he threw the punch. Otherwise, Damian wouldn't have just been sent flying backward, crashing into the sofa, and rolling a dozen times; his skull would have likely exploded on the spot!
But even after that punch, Ash was still not appeased. Such a fellow deserved to be cut into a thousand pieces!
"What do you take Pokémon for?! Because of your words, that Charmander stayed there for two days, not even daring to look for food, just waiting for you! He might even still be waiting for you to come for him, waiting until the flame on his tail extinguishes!"
Damian didn't answer Ash's words because he had already lost consciousness from Ash's punch.
Brock and Misty also reacted at this point. It was their first time seeing Ash so angry. They both placed a hand on Ash's shoulder and said, "Don't worry about this guy for now, let's go check on Charmander first."
"Yes, seeing Charmander is urgent. If we delay any longer, it might be too late."
Misty and Brock's words calmed Ash down. He quickly turned to rush out of the Pokémon Center but was stopped by an enraged Joy.
"I think you need to give me an explanation. Why are you brawling and causing trouble in the Pokémon Center?"
Damian's howling had also drawn out Joy, who was resting. When she saw Damian, his mouth full of blood, rolling on the ground in pain, she spoke with a hint of anger.
Someone dared to cause trouble in the Pokémon Center again? They must be tired of living!
Not long ago, someone caused trouble at the Pokémon Center in Viridian City, and now someone is causing trouble at this roadside Pokémon Center. Do they really think their Joy Family is a soft persimmon to be squeezed at will?
"I'm sorry, Joy. My friend didn't mean to." Brock quickly bowed and apologized to Joy. No matter how outrageous Damian's actions were, beating someone up like this in the Pokémon Center was indeed disrespectful to Joy.
"Sorry, Joy. If you want to scold or punish us, please wait until we get back. Right now, we need to go outside and find the Charmander this guy abandoned. In this rainy weather, if Charmander is still waiting for him, he will die!"
Ash's brief statement made Joy instantly realize what had happened. She then quickly ran to the front desk, took out three raincoats, and handed them to Ash and the others: "Be careful on the way. It's slippery outside, so watch your step."
"...Thank you, Joy." Ash took the raincoats and thanked her. Then, while tearing open a raincoat, he rushed out of the Pokémon Center. Pikachu and Ralts had already jumped onto Ash's shoulders. Misty and Brock followed closely behind.
Watching the three rush out of the Pokémon Center into the storm, and then looking at the group of delinquents who had gathered around Damian, Joy had made up her mind.
"Chansey, please treat this person."
Damian and his group were notorious delinquents in the area, and they had some connections.
Having been arrogant and domineering for so long, this was probably their first time suffering such a huge setback.
Although Joy didn't really want to deal with Damian, if she left him untreated, he might suffer some sequelae or even paralysis. For a doctor, seeing such a situation and not intervening would somewhat challenge her professional ethics.
Even though her profession was to serve Pokémon... On the other side, Ash and the others had already rushed out onto the road in the rain.
Even with the raincoats, the cold rain still slapped against their faces and any exposed parts of their bodies.
Amidst the torrential downpour, they arrived at the spot where Charmander had been.
As expected, Charmander was still on that rock. Even the heavy rain hadn't made him leave that spot!
At this moment, Charmander was holding a large leaf, swaying precariously in the heavy rain!
How could a single leaf block a torrential downpour?
And just as Ash and the others arrived, several uninvited guests appeared around Charmander.
It was the old villains—a flock of Spearow!
Four or five Spearow surrounded Charmander, their fierce eyes glaring. In this heavy rain, they should theoretically be seeking shelter. Even if they were to bully other Pokémon, they should wait until the rain stopped.
But in front of Charmander was a portion of Pokémon food. That was their primary target, and Charmander was only a secondary one.
The five Spearow had a clear division of labor: two attacked the already weakened Charmander, while the remaining three slowly devoured the food in front of Charmander.
They occasionally swapped, both satisfying their enjoyment of bullying Pokémon and getting to eat.
"Get out!" Ash roared when he saw this, but his Growl didn't scare the Spearow. Instead, several Spearow turned their fierce gaze towards him.
The next second, five Spearow charged at Ash. Ash took the lead, swinging a hand chop that collided with the sharp beak of the frontmost Spearow. In an instant, the Spearow was sent flying backward just as fast as it had come, even faster!
After knocking away the frontmost Spearow, Ash looked at the remaining Spearow with a fierce expression. Spearow are not unintelligent. Seeing their companion dealt with by a mere flick of the hand, they quickly assessed the power difference between them and immediately turned and fled!
Before leaving, they didn't forget to drag their unconscious companion, whom Ash had knocked out, with them.
After chasing away the Spearow, the three of them quickly came before Charmander. At this point, the flame on Charmander's tail was almost too faint to be seen.
Brock estimated that if Ash hadn't noticed Charmander that morning and given him some food, Charmander's stamina probably wouldn't have lasted until now.
Perhaps he would have already lost the last of his flame in this pouring rain and returned to the heavens.
"What should we do, Ash? From the look of this flame, Charmander can't possibly last until we get back to the Pokémon Center," Misty said anxiously, while using her raincoat to shield the small flame on Charmander's tail, trying to prevent it from getting wet.
But this action was merely a drop in the bucket for Charmander; the flame continued to diminish. Unless there was some way to rapidly raise Charmander's body temperature.
Ash gritted his teeth, a look of anxiety on his face.
"Wait... that's right, I have this! This should work!" Just as Brock and Misty were about to take Charmander away regardless of the consequences, Ash suddenly exclaimed.
The next second, a dazzling seven-colored light rose in the gloomy rain.
rainbow wing!!
The rainbow wing, a divine artifact left behind by the legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh.
According to the experts in the group, besides being a key to challenge Ho-Oh, the rainbow wing also had various other uses and was considered a top-tier held item for Pokémon.
Previously, Ash had no Pokémon perfectly suited for the rainbow wing, so it was basically rotated between Pidgeotto and Butterfree.
Because both had the Flying-type attribute, the rainbow wing provided some amplification to their growth. Their rapid leveling speed was also related to the rainbow wing.
Ash suddenly remembered that the rainbow wing might help Charmander's current situation, so he quickly released Pidgeotto and took the rainbow wing from Pidgeotto's body.
This was the origin of the rainbow light just now.
"Wh-what is this?" Brock saw the rainbow wing for the first time. Although Ash would rotate the rainbow wing between Pidgeotto and Butterfree, Brock hadn't noticed this at all.
Ash and Misty also hadn't mentioned anything about Ho-Oh to Brock. It wasn't that they were deliberately hiding it from Brock, as he was traveling with them, and their time together had made them well aware of Brock's personality.
The reason they hadn't told Brock about their encounter with Ho-Oh was simply... they forgot.
Now, seeing Brock's bewildered expression, Ash and Misty suddenly remembered that Brock apparently didn't know about their encounter with Ho-Oh.
"This is Ho-Oh's feather. It has very powerful life energy. Putting it on Charmander should help." Ash said, placing the rainbow wing on Charmander's body.
The rainbow wing's light seemed to become more dazzling, and the small tail flame, shielded by Misty, burned a little brighter at that moment. At least it no longer looked like it would extinguish at any moment, unlike before.
"It's working! Let's go, Misty, Brock, let's hurry back to the Pokémon Center!" Seeing the rainbow wing having an effect, Ash's face lit up with Joy, but he didn't forget the main task.
The rainbow wing could at most allow Charmander to recover slightly and prevent his condition from worsening. To fully recover Charmander, he still needed to be treated at the Pokémon Center.
Along the way, Misty used her raincoat to shield the flame on Charmander's tail, while Brock tried to shield Charmander's body. Ash held the rainbow wing firmly against Charmander's skin.
Ralts, on Ash's shoulder, used Confusion to deflect the raindrops that were about to fall on Ash, though she herself became soaking wet.
As they ran, in less than thirty minutes, they returned to the Pokémon Center. Just as Ash was about to remove the rainbow wing, it directly disappeared into Charmander's surface!
Ash was stunned for a moment. Then, his Aura Power spread out. Under the Aura's detection, a presence not quite in sync with his Aura appeared within Charmander's body. That should be the rainbow wing that had just disappeared.
Seeing the rainbow wing fuse into Charmander's body, Ash felt no regret for the rainbow wing, nor did he have time to wonder why the rainbow wing would fuse with Charmander. In any case, this current state was as good as it could get.
With the rainbow wing working inside Charmander and the Pokémon Center's treatment, Charmander should be able to fully recover without any sequelae.
Upon arriving at the Pokémon Center, Joy was already waiting at the main entrance. Damian and his group were nowhere to be seen, perhaps having fled out of fear that Ash would return and beat them again.
In any case, not seeing them upon their return made Ash feel less angry. Otherwise, given Charmander's current condition, Ash would have been eager to drag Damian up and beat him again!
"Please, Joy."
"Hmm, leave it to me."
Joy took Charmander and entered the operating room with Chansey.
As a roadside Pokémon Center, this place was actually quite simple, even the building was made of wood, but the equipment inside was not lacking at all, possessing all the emergency equipment found in any Pokémon Center.
Only the wealthy Joy Family could achieve such a feat.
After a period of anxious waiting, Joy emerged from the operating room. Facing Ash and the others' somewhat anxious gazes, Joy's tense face broke into a smile: "Everyone, don't worry, Charmander is safe and sound."
"That's great!!"
Since it was already late, only a few of them remained in the once-crowded lobby. Joy made a 'shush' gesture, signaling everyone to be quieter.
After all, many of the people staying at the Pokémon Center were already asleep.
After seeing Ash and the others cover their mouths, Joy then smiled and said, "This treatment went so smoothly that I can hardly believe it. The Charmander brought in initially was in quite a terrible condition, but a mysterious power within him stabilized his state."
"With subsequent treatment from the instruments and that power within Charmander's body, his condition rapidly improved. I even feel that if he were left alone, Charmander might have fully recovered due to that internal power. I've been a doctor for so many years, and this is the first time I've seen such a situation."
Joy sighed with emotion, her heart still reeling from the miraculous scene that had just occurred with Charmander.
As she said, having been a doctor for so many years and seen so many cases within a Family of doctors, this was the first time she had encountered a situation like Charmander's.
Logically speaking, in such a torrential downpour, Charmander's weakened physical condition should have worsened. Coupled with this Charmander's low level, the rain's impact on him would have been even greater.
Under these circumstances, Charmander's physical condition remained stable and was even continuously recovering. Either this Charmander's physique far surpassed that of an ordinary Charmander, or there was something special inside this Charmander's body... However, these were not things Joy needed to investigate. Although she was curious, she was just a doctor, and Charmander's recovery was better than anything else.
And when Ash and the others heard Joy's words, their expressions also softened, and they let out a huge sigh of relief.
The reason for Charmander's condition was probably known only to them.
The effect of the rainbow wing was stronger than imagined. The feather left behind by Ho-Oh not only enhanced the power of Fire-type Pokémon but also possessed immense life energy, which allowed Charmander to overcome the difficulties so smoothly.
"Ash, did you actively fuse the rainbow wing into Charmander's body?" Misty whispered after Joy left.
Ash shook his head: "It wasn't me, the rainbow wing fused on its own. I don't know what happened. Butterfree and Pidgeotto never had this kind of situation."