Three days later, early in the morning, Ash, Sabrina, and Emiya Shirō set out again, continuing their journey toward the next Gym city.
During these three days, Shirō and his Pokémon had completely memorized the chakra meridian diagrams and burned the scrolls afterward.
With Ash's guidance, Shirō's Pokémon quickly learned the first three gates of the Eight Gates Technique, and their strength improved dramatically. Among them, Hitmonlee and Hariyama progressed the fastest. Both of them managed to open up to the Fifth Gate, though that level already represented a major bottleneck.
This rapid progress was only possible because of the vitality provided by Ash's Mokuton. Otherwise, mastering five gates in just three days would have been impossible.
During those three days, Ash constantly pushed them through intense training. He repeatedly forced them to open the first few gates of the Eight Gates, allowing them to gradually adapt to the side effects and the physical state after opening the gates.
Whenever the duration of the gates ended and their bodies collapsed from exhaustion, Ash would use the life force of Mokuton to instantly restore them to perfect condition.
Then the process would begin again.
Open the gates. Train. Collapse. Recover. Repeat.
Through this relentless cycle, Shirō's Pokémon managed to fully master the first several gates of the Eight Gates Technique in only three days.
After learning the technique, Hitmonlee broke through to the Quasi-Champion level, and Hariyama reached the same level as well.
To help Shirō himself break through, Ash also fought many Pokémon battles against him. As Pokémon grow stronger, a trainer's command style must evolve as well.
Through constant battles, Shirō gradually adapted to commanding Pokémon that could use the Eight Gates Technique. Once his experience accumulated to a certain level, he finally broke through.
He advanced from the King-tier to the Quasi-Champion level, jumping three entire ranks in one step.
The night he reached the Quasi-Champion level, Shirō couldn't sleep at all.
Before beginning his journey as a wandering trainer, it had taken him years of hardship to reach the peak of the King-tier. The bitterness of that journey was beyond words.
Yet after becoming Ash's disciple, he had reached the Quasi-Champion level in only one month.
His strength had increased to an unbelievable degree.
Because of this, Shirō's admiration for Ash grew even deeper. Becoming Ash's disciple was undoubtedly the luckiest decision of his life.
"Ash, the berries in this forest look great, and there are plenty of lakes nearby. Let's rest here for a bit and have lunch before continuing," Sabrina suddenly suggested as they passed a small lake.
"Sure. We're not in a hurry anyway. According to the map, Cianwood City isn't far from here."
Ash glanced at the map and nodded.
As usual, Ash used Mokuton to quickly construct a wooden cabin. After that, Sabrina and Shirō began preparing lunch.
"Pika!"
Just as Ash was about to sit down and rest, Pikachu, sitting on his shoulder, suddenly cried out while pointing toward the lake.
"What is it?"
Following Pikachu's gaze, Ash looked toward the lake.
At that moment, he noticed something unusual.
A sharp horn was moving up and down in the lake water.
"...That's..."
Ash narrowed his eyes as the image became clearer.
"It's a Rhydon... and it's swimming."
As the realization struck him, Ash's eyes widened slightly.
Rhydon was a Ground- and Rock-type Pokémon, which meant it had a severe weakness to Water.
Yet the Pokémon in front of him was calmly swimming in the lake.
"Master, what's wrong?" Shirō asked when he noticed Ash staring silently at the water.
"Look at the horn sticking out of the lake," Ash said, pointing toward it. "That's a Rhydon. As a Ground- and Rock-type Pokémon, it shouldn't be able to swim like this."
"What?!"
After hearing Ash's explanation, Shirō widened his eyes and stared at the lake.
Even Sabrina turned to look at the water with curiosity.
"System, pull up the data for that Rhydon."
Although Ash knew that some Pokémon could undergo mutations, he had never personally encountered one since arriving in this world.
[DING!]
Name: Rhydon
Level: King-tier Peak
Abilities: Lightning Rod +
Types: Rock, Ground, Water
Potential: B+
"Water-type?"
Ash frowned slightly when he saw the system's information.
"System, what do you mean by Water-type? I've never heard of a Rhydon possessing that attribute. It should only be Ground and Rock."
Ash asked the question silently in his mind.
[DING!]
[This Rhydon is a mutant Pokémon. Its mutation has altered its attributes, granting it an additional Water-type.
Because of this mutation, Water-type attacks do not cause significant damage to this Rhydon. When facing Water-type Pokémon, it can even fight on equal footing.
Although Rhydon normally has a chance to learn the Water-type move Surf, this individual has undergone a complete mutation and now permanently possesses the Water-type attribute.]
"I see…"
After hearing the system's explanation, Ash immediately understood.
"So even completely opposing attributes can mutate together. My luck today is pretty good."
The Rhydon in front of him was essentially the same as an ordinary one, except it possessed an additional attribute that completely altered its weaknesses.
Such a Pokémon was extremely rare.
Naturally, Ash had no intention of letting it escape.
"Pikachu, Iron Tail!"
Since they had encountered such a powerful Rhydon, Ash immediately decided to capture it.
Shirō was a trainer who specialized purely in combat-oriented Pokémon, so he naturally wouldn't try to capture a Pokémon like Rhydon.
As for Sabrina, she only preferred Psychic-type Pokémon. Otherwise, given the resources of her family, she wouldn't have carried so few Pokémon with her.
"Pika!"
After hearing Ash's command, Pikachu leaped into the air and landed above the lake.
Its tail shone with bright metallic light as Iron Tail activated.
With perfect accuracy, Pikachu swung its tail down toward the horn protruding from the lake.
"Boom!"
The powerful strike slammed directly into the Rhydon's horn, sending the massive Pokémon flying out of the water.
Its huge body crashed heavily onto the grass near Ash.
(End of Chapter)
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