This wasn't the first time Daemon had been to this room.
This was where Chasey had taught Kirlia much about how to heal Pokémon using [Heal Pulse] and [Life Dew].
"Everything alright?" Daemon asked as he walked in and saw Nurse Joy looking at a screen that showed numbers which made no sense to him.
His eyes turned to Charmander, who was sitting on a bed, his large eyes looking nervously towards him.
"...Char."
"Hey, buddy." Daemon walked over to the fire-type with a smile and raised his hand to pat his head. Foremer's eyes softened a lot when he saw the fire-type close his eyes in fear. 'What did Cross put this poor soul through?'
Even though he was smiling and trying to make himself feel less dangerous, Charmander was still afraid of the touch. But when he felt the warmth in the hands of the black-haired boy, the fire-type opened his eyes and looked up.
"Char?"
"Why did I catch you?" Daemon smiled and picked up the fire-type, settling him on his lap. "Because you are the most awesome Pokémon in the world."
"Charmander."
"So what if you lost?" The black-haired boy gently caressed Charmander's head. "You are now my Pokémon...part of my family. You don't have to worry about everything. I will make sure to make you super strong, and then we will beat Cross's ass. What do you say?"
"Char?" Daemon saw how the fire-type's eyes lit up, and the flame at the end of his tail burned brighter than before.
"Yes, I can make you strong, just like Deino." Daemon pointed towards the dragon, who was sleeping on his back, legs flailing in the air. 'He must have fallen asleep the moment Chasey healed him.'
"Charmander!" the fire-type spoke with a wide smile.
"Even if you don't become strong, I still won't abandon you." Daemon hugged the fire-type.
Cross had left a lasting trauma on the fire-type. Charmander was happy that Daemon had allowed him to join his family, but he also promised to never disappoint him.
Daemon knew why the fire-type said so...
Charmander did not want to be abandoned and was clinging to the small ray of hope the fire-type saw in the black-haired boy. He did not want to be left behind...alone...
So, when Daemon pulled him into a tight hug and reassured him, Charmander's eyes could not help but tear since for the first time he had opened his eyes to this world, he had felt warmth...ironic since he was a fire-type.
The fire-type wrapped its small arms around Daemon and hugged him tightly.
"Char Charmander."
"And I will be with you, forever."
Daemon smiled and, after a while, let the fire type back down in his lap.
"I told you he is better than Cross, didn't I?" Nurse Joy watched the fire-type snuggle close to Daemon and smiled.
"Char."
"How is he?" Daemon asked the pink-haired nurse.
"We have some good news, some bad news and some more good news."
The black-haired boy frowned while gently stroking Charmander's head. "What do you mean?"
Nurse Joy looked at the fire-type who was slowly but steadily falling asleep in Daemon's arms before speaking. "Charmander is healed, so that's good news. Bad news is, Cross gave him such high levels of TM for fire-type moves that the energy in these TMs is interfering with his draconic roots."
"How?"
"Pokémon inherit egg moves from their parents. Usually just one. Charmander has three: [Dragon Dance], [Dragon Claw] and [Dragon Tail]. I just checked, one of his parents is a Garchomp, which means his draconic genes were already very dominant over his fire-type. Giving him so many fire-type TMs before his body could even grow sufficiently and adapt to the draconic energy has led to a conflict where the draconic genes are once again trying to gain an upper hand."
Daemon thought for a moment and then asked. "Is this why his fire-type moves are so weak?"
"Exactly." Nurse Joy nodded. "The draconic energy in his body is interfering with his output for fire-type moves."
The black-haired boy frowned in worry as he knew this was a problem which could permanently stunt the growth of Charmander. But then he remembered what Nurse Joy had said previously.
"The last good news..."
Nurse Joy smiled. "Yes, it can be cured. Thankfully, I was able to figure this out before it was too late."
"How?"
"We just have to reverse everything." She pointed towards a machine at the corner of the room. "If moves can be taught, they can be removed as well. The best way of doing this is to create TMs from the moves Charmander has learned. It will take away all the unnecessary PP (Pokémon Power), but with the drawback of losing all the knowledge of these moves. Of all the TMs, you might only be able to recreate maybe four...five if you are lucky."
"Would it hurt Charmander?"
"The opposite, actually. It will restart the growth that had been stopped due to energy conflicts, and once he is old enough, you can use those recreated TMs without any worry." Nurse Joy explained. "The choice is yours."
"Let's do it." Daemon did not even hesitate for a second. If it helped Charmander, he did not care if those moves were lost for now. Actually, it was a good thing. "Wait, can something similar be done with Alice?"
"No, she used those moves before evolving...the energy is part of her. Removing it will only harm her since the evolution was not too long ago."
The black-haired boy nodded and then looked down at the Charmander sleeping peacefully in his arms.
"And you are sure it will not hurt him?"
"Yes."
"When can we do this?"
"How about now?" Nurse Joy asked. Internally, she was relieved that Daemon had readily agreed. Not many trainers would so easily agree to their Pokémon forgetting such expensive TMs.
Daemon carefully stood up, making sure Charmander did not wake up. The fire-type was curled in his arms; the fire burning on the tip of his tail did him no harm.
"What should I do?"
"Return him to the pokeball first." She walked over to the large structure in the corner, and once Daemon recalled Charmander to his pokeball, she took it from him and placed it in a slot.
"You can do something similar in Celadon or Saffron City, the two HQs of Silf Corporation, though they charge you for it." She explained and pressed a few buttons, starting the TM creation process. "Pokémon Centres are allowed to do the same in case needed for medical procedures...like now."
Daemon watched as every TM learned by Charmander was displayed on the screen.
Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Blast Burn, Flare Blitz, Flame Charge, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Brick Break.
"Choose the priority in which you would like them to be recreated."
The black-haired boy glanced over the list before rearranging the order.
Fire Blast - Blast Burn - Thunder Punch - Brick Break - Flame Charge - Flare Blitz - Flamethrower - Fire Punch
He would not mind [Flamethrower] being lost since it could be easily trained as a progression of [Ember]. On the other hand, [Fire Blast] and [Blast Burn] were something Charmander could only learn naturally as a Charizard, but having their TMs could be beneficial.
[Thunder Punch] and [Brick Break] were moves that would be hard to teach to Charmander, but were also important for coverage.
As for [Flame Charge] and [Flare Blitz], he would rather have the former since the latter was the progression, and so, if Charmander could learn [Flame Charge], [Flare Blitz] would come naturally to him.
[Fire punch]...Daemon could not understand why Cross even bothered with it. The move was easy to teach to a FIRE-TYPE. One did not need a TM for that.
Daemon gave the list and final glance, making sure everything was done correctly. "What's next?"
Nurse Joy simply pulled a lever, and the next moment the machine started to shake. It went on for at least fifteen minutes, during which he watched moves disappear from Charmander's Pokedex entry.
When the process was completed, Nurse Joy removed five TMs from the machine and handed them to Daemon.
"Lucky," she smiled as the boy took the TMs from her. "You got the five you wished to have."
"Is Charmander better now?" He cared little for the TMs at the moment.
Nurse Joy appreciated his concern for the Fire-type and took the pokeball before slotting it into a different machine.
Daemon's eyes were greeted by various graphs and readings that made little sense to him. The pink-haired nurse, on the other hand, nodded her head.
"The energy readings have stabilized. I would suggest holding off on training for the next two days. You can push him as much as you want after that."
The black-haired boy sighed in relief. "Thanks for the help."
"It's what I am here for." The nurse smiled. "You should rest now as well...also, are you still leaving tomorrow?"
Daemon thought and then nodded.
While he needed to buy food for Charmander, he had enough time to go shopping and come back to get some sleep. His next stay in the wilds was going to last longer since the training regime he had planned to put his Pokémon through was nothing like what they had done in Viridian Forest.
A good sleep on a comfortable bed would not be in his destiny for a long while.
So, once Nurse Joy was done inspecting the Fire-type resting in the Pokeball, Daemon rushed out of the Pokémon Centre to the nearest Pokemart.
He still had some money on him, enough to buy good-quality food for Charmander. His win over Cross had also earned him some extra cash, which he readily spent on the Fire-type.
'While I should not entertain the idea, I can always sell one or two of these TMs if my financial situation gets bad.'
Along with the five he had just gotten, Daemon now had eight TMs in total.
All of them were precious and ones he would need in future. So, he did not want to even think of selling them unless push comes to shove.
Once he was done purchasing everything, Daemon returned to his room and plopped down on the bed.
'Time to sleep.'
With a tired sigh, he closed his eyes.