Chapter 180: The Dojo in the Forest
After staying in Charizard Valley for one night, Ash explained a brand new training plan to Charizard and, after telling it that the depths of the valley were not simple, Ash's group continued their journey in the Johto region.
The group headed towards Azalea Gym, but got lost again while passing through a forest that day.
"Oh my, what's going on! We're lost again," Misty complained.
"You can't blame me for this; there is no marked information on the map, but I am sure we are not far from Azalea Gym!" Brock explained.
"It's fine, Misty. Getting lost just wastes some time. Look at it from a positive perspective; every time we get lost, we always gain something different. Isn't that the fun of traveling?"
Anyway, Ash was used to getting lost, and if he didn't get lost, he might not have encountered high-quality Pokemon.
"That may be true! But the number of times we've gotten lost is just too high. Every time we enter a forest, we get lost..."
Misty always felt that they were cursed by the forest; otherwise, there was no reason why they would get lost every time they entered one.
"Pika?"
At this moment, Pikachu turned its head vigilantly to look behind.
"Eevee?"
The next second, Eevee also made the same movement as Pikachu.
"What's wrong?"
The unusual behavior of Pikachu and Eevee made Misty very confused.
Ash explained: "It's nothing, it's just that Pikachu sensed someone was tailing us."
Just moments ago, Ash's Aura had sensed a rapidly moving figure following them, and this figure seemed to have briefly overlapped with the position of the Team Rocket Trio. In less than half a minute, the Aura of the Team Rocket Trio had changed significantly, clearly having been beaten up.
"Tailing us?" Misty and Brock looked around suspiciously.
"Pikachu, eleven o'clock direction, use Iron Tail!"
"Pika!"
Crackle!
Accompanied by the glowing yellow electric light, Pikachu appeared in mid-air as if teleporting. Its tail behind it glowed with white light, and it slashed forward fiercely with a weapon resembling the scythe of the Grim Reaper.
Clang!
A sound of metal clashing rang out, followed by a dull thud. A red figure was sent flying by Pikachu's strike, only stopping after crashing into and breaking a large tree.
The group looked closely and saw a red mantis leaning against the stump of the fallen tree, its eyes already spinning in circles.
"Scizor?"
All three were very confused.
"Masamune, are you okay?"
At this moment, a lean middle-aged man walked out from the direction the Scizor had attacked from.
"Uncle, what are you doing? Following people like this and launching a surprise attack, that's too dangerous!" Misty went up and argued reasonably.
The intimidating Aura made the middle-aged man flinch, and he hurriedly apologized: "I am truly sorry. I just wanted to test your strength. Please forgive me!"
Hearing this, Misty was instantly furious, stamping her feet with clenched fists, and sternly questioned: "Test strength? That was clearly a sneak attack! If we weren't strong enough, we might have been hurt!"
"I'm really sorry, please forgive me!" The man could only apologize subserviently.
Misty wanted to say more, but Brock hurriedly pushed her aside.
"My name is Muramasa, and this is the Scizor. I named it Masamune." The man suddenly introduced himself, then looked at Ash seriously: "Your Pikachu is very strong. What I have been searching for is a Pokemon Trainer like you."
"Looking for me? Why?"
Ash was very confused. He had been very angry, but considering that Pikachu had severely injured the opponent's Scizor with one tail, and the opponent's apology seemed sincere, he decided to let it go.
"The situation is like this: I run a Gym in this forest. For some reason, my son Shingo has lost his enthusiasm for Pokémon battles and has become obsessed with computer data analysis. So, I want to find an excellent Pokemon Trainer to battle him, to help him regain his passion for battling." Muramasa explained.
"Even if it's for your child, you can't sneak attack passing Trainers!" Misty's anger clearly hadn't dissipated.
"I am truly sorry. Because I have tried to initiate normal Pokémon battles, but the results were always unsatisfactory, so I could only use this method to test. Don't worry, my Masamune is very measured and has never hurt anyone. And if one cannot even detect being followed, Masamune would not attack."
After Muramasa finished explaining, he looked at Ash again, "Young man, I implore you to have a battle with my son Shingo! I am willing to pay!"
"A battle is no problem, but is your Gym far from here, Mr. Muramasa?"
"Not far, it's less than a kilometer ahead."
Led by Muramasa, Ash's group was soon brought into a large courtyard.
Entering the gate, Ash and the others saw many people and Pokémon training. Some were sparring, some were lifting weights; no one in the entire courtyard was Slack Off.
"Master!"
Seeing Muramasa return, those people greeted him very politely. It was clear that Muramasa held a high status in their hearts, and they respected him very much.
"These children are training themselves and their Pokémon here. My dream is for these disciples to one day win Champion in tournaments around the world." Muramasa said.
"Mr. Muramasa has taught them very well; I believe they will not let you down."
"I hope so, Ash!"
The young Trainers in the courtyard, seeing Muramasa being so polite to Ash, all showed confused expressions. In their eyes, Ash was about the same age as them.
On the second floor, by the window facing the main gate, a young man glanced at Ash and the others, then lowered his head to look at the computer, his hands typing rapidly on the keyboard.
"Everyone, welcome!" One of Muramasa's disciples said politely to Ash and the others.
"Uh... there's no need to be so polite..."
The level of politeness made Ash and the others feel embarrassed.
"I think I can't stand this atmosphere!" Misty whispered.
"I think Mr. Muramasa must be a very powerful Trainer, otherwise how would he be able to guide so many juniors? And these young Trainers have such a respectful attitude towards Mr. Muramasa." Brock pondered.
"Of course, our Master is a Trainer with many Champion experiences. He opened this Gym to pass on his experience to new Trainers and let them become Pokémon Master. Especially the teacher's Scizor, Masamune, known as the Red Shinny." The person said with eyes full of reverence.
"Red Shinny? That speed is indeed well-deserved."
Ash nodded in agreement; Scizor's speed burst in mid-to-close range was indeed very strong.
"That's nothing special."
At this moment, a young man holding a laptop leaned against the doorpost.
"Ash, this is my son, Shingo."
Muramasa walked over from the training ground.
"Oh, so that's him!"
Seeing the main person, Ash barely managed to remember. This person in front of him was also a character who appeared in the original work, and his Pokémon was also a Scizor.
"Hello, I am from Pallet Town..."
"Ash from Pallet Town, I know you. You are the new Trainer who won the Indigo Plateau Conference in Kanto not long ago."
Shingo said as he sat cross-legged, opened his computer, and started checking Ash's information.
"Did you collect the information on these Trainers?" Ash asked curiously.
"That's right. The information on Pokemon Trainers who have achieved excellent results in the past five years is all here. I can know the Pokémon they have used and the tactics they have used!" Shingo said confidently.
On the wall.
The Team Rocket Trio set up eavesdropping equipment and listened to the conversation of Ash and the others.
"Did you hear that?" Jessie's mouth curled up slightly.
"Heard it, heard it."
"That data seems very useful."
"I think as villains, we should also keep up with the trend of information warfare!" James suggested.
"If we have the data of powerful Pokémon and Trainers, our future combat plans will be much easier, Meowth!"
"Maybe we can even find a tactic to defeat the Ash from the data!"
"Then, download his data immediately!"
"Yay!"
Having decided on the combat goal, Jessie looked at James and Meowth suspiciously and asked: "By the way, what is downloading?"
"Uh..."
The smiles on James and Meowth's faces disappeared instantly.
...
"According to my data, you belong to the A-type, adjusting tactics based on the opponent's Pokémon, but many battles are dominated by power.
However, none of this matters. The level of Trainers in the Kanto region is not high. The contestants of the Indigo Plateau Conference are quite ordinary when placed in other regions." Shingo said.
"What do you mean the level of Trainers in Kanto is not high!"
Misty and Brock were a bit annoyed. Both of them were heirs to Gyms in the Kanto region, so this sentence was equivalent to saying they hadn't fulfilled their responsibilities as Gym Leader?
"Just telling the truth. In the past five years, the contestants who reached the top 16 at the Indigo Plateau Conference basically disappeared after going to other regions to travel. Even if they qualified for other regional leagues, most of them didn't pass the preliminary rounds."
Shingo continued to add salt to the wound.
This sentence directly stabbed into the hearts of Misty and Brock.
Shingo continued typing on the keyboard and said: "However, the level of the recent Indigo Plateau Conference was quite good. At least those top 16 contestants were able to collect badges in the Johto region after arriving, and the fastest person has collected 4 badges now.
Let me see, Ash, you only cleared the Violet Gym 7 days ago and got 1 badge, am I right?"
"That's right, but your data is probably not complete, right?" Ash said indifferently.
Five years of Trainer data sounds impressive, but can he ensure that others haven't captured new Pokémon within five years?
Data is something that can only be used for reference. Obsessing too much over data can only defeat those Trainers who are standing still.
"What do you mean?" Shingo looked up at Ash.
"Your data analysis sounds very high-end, but when you really put these data into battle, if you meet an evenly matched opponent or an opponent stronger than you, you will have no power to fight back.
Pokémon battling is not Pokémon research. Data only has reference value and cannot determine the outcome."
"Impossible!"
"Don't believe it? Then let's have a battle and try it out."
What to do when meeting someone who is unconventional? Of course, beat them up hard until they wake up.
Seeing Ash take the initiative to declare war, Muramasa's hanging heart was mostly put down.
"Okay, then let's have a match, one-on-one!"
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