To progress through a character's story, the player has to fill up their hearts, displayed on the top right corner of the screen
These include Piglet - Pooh Pirate Captain, 003-184, John Silver - Greedy Treasure Seeker, 003-071, and, lastly, Pan's archrival and the card he is built to counter, Captain Hook - Master Swordsman
However, they can be well worth the investment if you want to add some pizzazz to your Pokmon TCG deck
As for the Red Elemental Blast versus Pyroblast question well, it wasnt always as easy as it is today (where the default of split them is the most common solution, thanks to cards like Cabal Therapy and Meddling Mage)
Your Commander must be a Legendary creature (or, in some cases, a planeswalker, if they have the text, can be your commander) and doesnt reside in your deck