Curse Flame

Having successfully recaptured Substitute Entei, Yan Yang's team had reached double digits, filling him with a sense of satisfaction.

Looking at the Substitute beside him, who looked as imposing as Entei but lacked even a hint of his majesty, an idea that had long lingered in Yan Yang's mind resurfaced—he needed to give him a proper new name.

It did not sound good to keep calling him "Substitute," and various unexpected events had delayed it until now.

Looking across the entire team, Pyroar was currently the only one with a name Yan Yang had personally chosen.

Silvally used its species name, not one Yan Yang had invented himself. Still, Silvally itself surely counted, so that was probably still considered having a name.

Yan Yang did not insist on naming every Pokémon, but for Substitute... a one-of-a-kind name was necessary.

Banette... Substitute Entei... He pondered, trying to extract a suitable combination from those two keywords.

Curse Flame? Dolltei? Curse Substitute? Flame Curse... Several ideas flashed through his mind.

In the end, the name "Curse Flame" stood out. It was concise and powerful, while also combining both of their traits.

"Decided!" Yan Yang patted Curse Flame's warm flank. "From now on, you'll be called 'Curse Flame'! Do you like it?"

Substitute... no, Curse Flame, tilted his enormous head slightly upon hearing the name, as though it had stirred some string of memory.

He hesitantly said, "Yang... when I came here before, I met a very powerful Alakazam... He seemed to... call me that too..."

"Master Hu?" Yan Yang's heart jolted, and he blurted out.

It was normal that Curse Flame did not know Master Hu. After all, during the period when he had been active as "Substitute," he had never crossed paths with Master Hu.

But Master Hu possessed extraordinary wisdom. It