Yan Saw a Knee-High Ball of Fire

The smoke in the Fireproof Encounter Room grew thicker and thicker.

Yan pushed open the door and first saw a metal basin overturned on the floor.

Two little red feet stuck out from behind it.

The feet shuffled left, and the metal basin moved left with them. Yan took a step closer, and they ducked right again, the bottom of the basin scraping across the floor with a piercing squeak.

"Come out," Yan said.

Everything behind the basin went quiet.

A moment later, a round red head peeked out. Three blunt bumps protruded from the top of its head, and its mouth jutted forward like a short beak. It had probably choked on the smoke just now. It sniffled, then sneezed.

Pfft.

A puff of white smoke hit Yan's boots.

Yan looked down.

The little fellow looked down too.

The edge of his shoelace was slightly singed.

"Magby, a Fire-type Pokémon. A fire constantly burns within its body. The better its condition, the cleaner the flames it produces, Rotom."

Rotom's voice came from outside the observation window.

Yan raised a hand to measure.

Magby's head barely reached his knee.

Xie Yue stood outside the window. "You just said you couldn't judge height by voice."

"Indeed, you can't," Yan said without changing expression. "Nor by smoke."

Hu Liena asked, "Then what can you judge by?"

"Fire."

Yan crouched in front of Magby without reaching out. The fiery aura around him had long been impossible to hide. The little fellow stepped out from behind the basin and circled him once, its nose twitching constantly.

It suddenly stopped behind Yan and took another deep sniff at the hem of his clothes.

Yan turned around in time. "You can't burn that."

Magby closed its mouth, its cheeks puffing out slightly.

"You just burned my shoe."

"Magby."

"Clothes cost more than shoes."

Magby seemed to understand and slowly swallowed the hot air in its cheeks. Then it raised a claw and pointed at Yan's right hand before pointing at itself.

"You want to see my fire?"

It nodded hard.

A dark red flame lit up in Yan's palm.

Magby's eyes lit up as well. It rose onto its toes and opened its mouth, breathing out a pale yellow ball of flame. The two flames faced each other from half a foot apart, and heat quickly spread through the room.

The temperature strip along the wall slid from green toward yellow.

Indeedee immediately knocked on the observation window.

Yan withdrew his fire, but Magby was half a beat slower. It realized its flame was still burning and hurriedly shook its head, finally swallowing the last wisp of sparks.

"Not a bad reaction," Yan evaluated.

Magby could tell it was being praised and puffed out its round belly.

Indeedee pushed open the door, carrying a rectangular iron tray. Six thin Berry slices were neatly arranged on it, with a temperature-sensitive paper strip beside them.

She placed the tray between them and pointed at the yellow zone on the wall.

"What is this for?" Yan asked.

Rotom explained, "First fire-control mini-game. Roast the fruit slices until they soften, but don't let the strip enter the red zone, Rotom."

Yan glanced at the thin slices. "This counts as fire control?"

Magby had already crossed its arms and snorted in imitation of him.

It clearly thought this was too easy too.

One human and one Pokémon each picked a slice.

"Start."

Yan raised a finger, an extremely thin flame emerging from its tip. He deliberately suppressed his soul power and slowly brought it toward the fruit slice.

On the other side, Magby only blew out a tiny puff of hot air.

The edges of both Berry slices curled at the same time.

Yan saw Magby's slice change color first and moved his finger a little closer. Magby caught his movement from the corner of its eye and puffed out its cheeks too.

Whoosh.

Two bursts of flame shot up from the iron tray.

Indeedee had just picked up the tongs when the fruit slices had already turned black.

One human and one Pokémon stopped at the same time.

The air was filled with a burnt sweetness.

Outside the observation window, Zorua used an illusion to cover both blackened slices in a golden sheen. They looked excellent from afar, but once Indeedee opened the door, she merely sniffed them before using the tongs to take away both the illusion and the burnt fruit.

"Awoo."

Zorua flopped back onto the windowsill, indicating that it had done its best.

"Again," Yan said.

In the second round, both sides kept their flames very low.

Yan's fruit slice showed no change for ages, and Magby's only gave off the faintest warmth. Tired of waiting, it lowered its head for a closer look, its nose nearly touching the tray.

Yan reached out to stop it. "Don't get so close."

Magby pushed at his hand, signaling that it was not afraid of heat.

"Even if you aren't, you might knock over the tray."

Before he finished speaking, its round belly bumped into the rim of the tray.

Clang.

The iron tray tipped, but Yan caught it with quick reflexes. The two half-cooked Berry slices slid together, and no one could tell which belonged to whom.

Xie Yue said from outside the window, "This round is a draw."

"It isn't over yet." Yan steadied the tray.

Magby refused to admit defeat either. It picked one of the slices and breathed out an extremely thin flame, while Yan sent heat from the other side with his palm.

This time, neither of them rushed.

The slice slowly softened, then took on an even golden color. The temperature strip stopped between yellow and green and never rose again.

Hu Liena said softly, "They did it."

Magby jumped with delight.

The corners of Yan's lips had just begun to rise when he saw it grab the next slice. The little fellow clearly thought it had learned the trick and opened its mouth to increase the flames.

"Wait. Do it the way we just did first."

"Magby."

Magby pointed at the slice that had already been roasted, then pointed at itself. Its meaning was clear: Yan had helped just now, but this time it wanted to do it alone.

"Fine, but make the fire even smaller."

Magby shook its head.

"You already burned one slice black."

It pointed at the black mark in front of Yan too.

You burned one too.

Their faces met across the iron tray.

Hu Liena turned to Xie Yue. "Who do you think will back down first?"

"Indeedee," Xie Yue said.

Sure enough, Indeedee reached out and took away the iron tray.

Magby's flame missed its target, and the fire that had just appeared at Yan's fingertip only scorched the floor. The two streams of heat collided, immediately leaving a dark scorch mark in the center of the fireproof mat.

Indeedee lowered her head to look at the scorch mark.

Yan withdrew his hand. "I can pay for it."

Magby lowered its head too and patted around in front of its belly, naturally finding no money at all.

It looked up at Yan.

Yan fell silent for a moment. "Its share is on me too."

Magby immediately puffed out its chest and edged a little closer to his feet.

Indeedee did not let them off just because someone was willing to pay.

She brought over a basin of warm water and two soft cloths, then set the blackened iron tray in front of Yan and Magby.

"We're washing it now?" Yan asked.

Indeedee nodded.

"The meeting isn't over yet."

She tapped the scorch marks on the tray again.

Magby had already picked up the smaller cloth. Copying the way Indeedee usually wiped tables, it rubbed the edge of the tray twice. The blackened grime did not come off, but its excessive body heat turned the water into white steam.

The little fellow jumped in fright and immediately tossed the cloth back into the basin.

Yan crouched beside it. "Warmer water makes it easier to wash. Keep going."

"Magby?"

"You keep the water warm. I'll scrub."

Magby pressed both claws against the outside of the wooden basin. Yan rolled up his sleeves and picked up the other cloth. One slowly supplied heat while the other bent down to scrub the tray. The flames neither had been willing to reduce just moments ago now worked together smoothly.

Zorua lay against the observation window for a while, then quietly made the black marks on the tray disappear.

Halfway through scrubbing, Yan lifted the tray to inspect it and nearly thought it was clean. Magby's nose twitched, and it scratched across the illusion with a claw, immediately revealing the black grime underneath.

It turned to look at Zorua.

Zorua closed its eyes and pretended to sleep.

"Don't make things worse," Yan said.

The little fox flicked its tail, and several more Yans carrying basins and scrubbing pots appeared on the observation window.

Hu Liena finally burst out laughing.

By the time the iron tray was truly clean, the red skin on Magby's belly gleamed from the steam. One section of Yan's sleeve was wet too, and he looked far less neat than when he had entered.

He glanced down at himself without complaining, merely wrung out the small cloth and laid it over the edge of the basin.

Magby copied his motion and tried to wring out its own cloth. It lacked the strength, and even after twisting it twice, water still dripped from it. In the end, it simply dried the cloth with its body heat.

"That works," Yan said.

Magby proudly held up the dry cloth.

Xia Che finally walked over from the window. He picked up the only successfully roasted fruit slice, broke it in half, and handed one half to Yan and the other to Magby.

"That's enough for today."

"We were just getting the hang of it," Yan said.

Magby chewed its fruit slice and nodded hard too.

"You found the feeling, but the mat is nearly done for."

Xia Che pointed toward the wall.

Although the temperature strip had returned to green, the uppermost section bore a red mark. Neither side had been willing to put away their fire first, and the heat had crossed the stop line once.

Yan did not speak again after seeing it.

Magby slowly lowered its head too.

Indeedee brought over a new little card, drawing flames, Berry slices, and three hourglasses on it. Finally, she drew a complete yellow circle at the end of the card.

"Continue tomorrow?" Yan asked.

"Indeedee."

"What are the conditions?"

Rotom translated the card. "Three trays of Berries. They can only be roasted yellow. Whoever burns one black washes the trays, Rotom."

Magby looked at Yan.

Yan looked back at it.

One human and one Pokémon reached out at the same time and pressed down on the card.