Ash's Infernape: Difference between revisions

=====With Paul=====

Infernape was once a Chimchar owned by Paul. Prior to the events of ''[[Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl]]'', Paul saw Chimchar being chased by a furious group of wild {{p|Zangoose}} and followed. The situation began to look bad for Chimchar as he was cornered by a cliff's edge, but in his stress, he pulled off an extremely powerful {{m|Flame Wheel}} and defeated all of the Zangoose. This impressed Paul enough to add Chimchar to his regular team. However, this first impression did not match up with Chimchar's normal abilities or personality, resulting in Paul looking down on him and criticizing him for being weak. Since then, Paul has been pushing Chimchar to the limit to duplicate the amazing power he saw before. Traumatized, Chimchar had also gained a morbid fear of Zangoose.

In ''[[DP015|Shapes of Things to Come!]]'', Paul used Chimchar in his Gym Battle against [[Roark]] and his {{p|Onix}}. Chimchar immediately took damage from Onix's previously placed {{m|Stealth Rock}} but remained standing. Chimchar then continued to use {{m|Dig}} until Onix was knocked out, having support from [[Paul's Elekid]] and its {{a|Static}} Ability slowing Onix down. Chimchar then went up against [[Roark's Cranidos]]. Paul used the same strategy again, having Chimchar dodge and attack with Dig. However, Roark had figured it out and dealt major damage from continuous attacks from {{m|Headbutt}} and {{m|Zen Headbutt}}, causing Chimchar to activate {{a|Blaze}}, something it turned out Paul had been waiting for. Chimchar attacked with a powered-up Flame Wheel and injured Cranidos's leg, following up with Dig, but was knocked out by a Headbutt, leaving Paul angry with Chimchar for his defeat and promising to deal with him later.

After losing to [[Cynthia's Garchomp]] in ''[[DP040|Top-Down Training!]]'', Paul realized that Chimchar was not fulfilling his expectations. This culminated in the [[Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition]] in ''[[DP051|Glory Blaze!]]'', where he was forced to battle alongside Ash. That night, Ash discovered Paul's training regime, which involved directing several of his other Pokémon to attack Chimchar in the hopes of recreating the power he had displayed against the Zangoose before. Chimchar accidentally struck Ash with his {{m|Flamethrower}}, causing him to panic and check on the trainer, but Ash simply complimented Chimchar on his growing strength. After both Ash and [[Dawn (anime)|Dawn]] questioned Paul on his harshness towards Chimchar and not his other Pokémon, he explained that he was training Chimchar as it wanted, something the {{t|Fire}}-type nodded to confirm. Ash sadly tried to explain to Chimchar that there were other ways to get stronger, but a conflicted Chimchar still followed Paul to return to training when called on.

Paul's brutal methods soon left Chimchar unable to even stand, at which point Paul instructed Elekid to use {{m|Thunder}} on the defenseless Pokémon to wake it up: at this point, an angered [[Ash's Pikachu|Pikachu]] rushed in with {{m|Volt Tackle}} to defend Chimchar from the attack, and Ash finally intervened and took Chimchar to the Pokémon Center, where Nurse Joy sternly told an impatient Paul that he would be unable to battle and that he had to be given time to recover. Paul ignored this warning, however.

During the next battle, Chimchar and Ash's Turtwig were pit against a {{p|Metagross}} and a Zangoose, leaving Chimchar too afraid to even attack and having to be saved by Turtwig, who had been instructed by Ash to protect the weakened Fire type, when caught in Zangoose's claws. However, Paul commanded the reluctant Chimchar to attack with Flame Wheel even when Turtwig would be hit and seriously injured by the super-effective {{t|Fire}} move, which a remorseful Chimchar made up for when it acted against its fear to shield Turtwig from the Zangoose's {{m|Fire Blast}} attack. Realizing that being forced to relive the trauma of being attacked by Zangoose only frightened Chimchar instead of motivating it and activating Blaze, even as it courageously held off Zangoose's attack, Paul gave up on the [[Pokémon category|Chimp Pokémon]], turning his back and refusing to give Chimchar further orders. However, as all seemed lost, Ash stepped in and gave Chimchar commands instead, helping him defeat Metagross with a powerful Flamethrower, and the three soon won the battle. Chimchar celebrated alongside Ash and Turtwig, but his happiness was cut short as he noticed Paul's continued silence.