Chapter 63

The boy's eyes met Ash's, each time making his heart pound with anxiety; he kept changing locations in disbelief,

but no matter what method he used to confuse the senses,

Waveguide Power never lies,

no matter where he went, Ash's eyes remained locked on him.

After several rounds, the ninja boy's back collar was completely soaked with cold sweat.

What powerful ninja skill,

he must be a senior, certainly a strong ninja senior, but his age……

so he's a genius peer?

As the master said, indeed there are mountains beyond mountains, people beyond people.

Thinking this,

the ninja boy leapt down from the tree, came before Ash, and respectfully dropped to one knee and kowtowed,

"Novice ninja Sanpei of the Ninja Village, greets the senior!"

Performing such a great salute right away made Ash feel a bit awkward being too cold,

"Senior-whatever, that's a bit exaggerated; just call me Ash."

At that moment,

Serena and the others heard the commotion and curiously came over.

Their gaze fell on the boy: a blue headscarf revealed only his face, an orange scarf tied at the collar, loose ninja garb, and his signature wooden clogs on his feet.

Ninja?

"Ash, what's going on?"

Remembering the iron law of ninjas—seniors are paramount, experts are teachers,

Sanpei dared not bother the senior to explain for him, and immediately spoke up first.

"I saw from afar that the senior had a Croakhead Frog, which sparked my desire to spar."

Everyone just thought Sanpei recognized Ash's status as a Five-time Champion, so they didn't dwell on his use of 'senior.'

But Ash, upon hearing about a fight, instantly shook off his drowsiness,

Lately he'd been grinding levels and hadn't properly tested the Croakhead Frog's strength; now here comes a nap delivering a pillow.

"Want to fight? Then let's go."

Speaking, he first moved to a relatively spacious open area nearby,

Seeing this, Sanpei's attitude became ever more humble and respectful,

"Senior's guidance, how could I not follow!"

"Nice kid, laying on the flattery thick?" Ash rolled his eyes,

"I wouldn't dare!"

Just thinking of Ash's exaggerated ninja skill, Sanpei immediately felt terrified and dropped to one knee, making a gesture of apology.

"Cut it out!"

He was also a same-age senior who disliked formalities and excelled at looking out for juniors; in that moment, Sanping couldn't help but feel even greater admiration and emotion toward Ash's noble character.

Thus,

Sanping felt he now fully understood Ash's character, so he nodded and stood up.

"I understand, senior; from now on, whenever I see you, I will surely follow your teachings!"

Ash:???

"What do you understand? What have I taught you? We haven't even fought yet!"

Meanwhile, the unaware Serena believed it, and a hint of pride and arrogance appeared on the beautiful girl's youthful, vibrant face.

"Truly worthy of Ash!"

Clemont also nodded in admiration, "Ash, do your best!"

As for Yurie, needless to say, she had already entered cheerleader mode.

At this moment, Sanping also called his Croagunk onto the field,

"Go, Croagunk, let the senior test your training results!"

"You little brat, still bringing on the repeated flattery—are you really trying to embarrass me?"

Ash only remembered that whenever the opponent appeared, it was always related to the Ninja Frog, even to the first bond evolution with the Koga Ninja Frog,

but he never expected the actual opponent to be a flattery monster.

Being praised over and over, especially under the full attention of Serena and the others, Ash now had no choice but to take this battle seriously.

【Pokémon】: Croagunk (♂)

【Type】: Water

【Ability】: Bond Phenomenon 1 (When the Koga Ninja Frog and the Trainer are present, Bond Phenomenon can be activated to enter Bond Form)

【Level】: 30

【Moves】: Pound, Howl, Bubble, Aura Sphere, Acrobatics, Water Pulse, Flash, Smokescreen, Double Team, Sword Dance, Rain Dance,

【Item】: Mystic Water

【Special Ability】: Waveguide Power (Intermediate)

【IV】: 6v

【Base Stats】: Total 314, HP 41, Attack 56, Defense 40, Sp. Atk 62, Sp. Def 44, Speed 71,

This is Ash's Croagunk,

the result of a few days of level‑up training.

But the opponent……

【Pokémon】: Croaking Head Frog (♂)

【Type】: Water

【Ability】: Transformative (the user's type changes to match the move used)

【Level】: 34

【Skills】: Smokescreen, Bubble, Water Pulse, Electric Flash, Shadow Clone, Water Flow Split,

【Individual】: HP31, Attack31, Defense21, Sp. Atk30, Sp. Def22, Speed31,

……

Fortunately, only the Ability Transformative and Level 34 are noteworthy; in terms of Individual values, Ash's Croaking Head Frog completely overwhelms the opponent.

The skill pool is completely ahead.

Just need to solidly strengthen, and this battle can be surely won!

"Sword Dance!"

As Ash's words left his mouth, Wisdom Frog immediately began Sword Dance to boost its own attack.

"Electric Flash!"

Sanping's Croaking Head Frog had white light appear on its body, bursting forth with a speed far surpassing Wisdom Frog's by almost double, lightning fast!

The Croaking Head Frog streaked through the air, even enough to leave sonic booms in its wake.

Bang!

Wisdom Frog was violently blown away, its body like a cannonball fresh from the barrel slamming into a large tree that two people could embrace,

Boom!

The tremendous impact transmitted backward, causing even that large tree embraced by two people to shake.

Huh? This speed?

Ash's eyes narrowed slightly,

What great speed, did you max out the Speed EV?

Extreme speed, combined with the Ability Transformative, when the Croaking Head Frog uses Electric Flash, it will turn the Croaking Head Frog into Normal-type, enjoying a 1.5x damage boost for that type.

The power increased to 60 for Electric Flash,

Against a frail Croaking Head Frog, a few hits in a row, his Croaking Head Frog definitely can't withstand it.

Interesting, I thought it was just a weakling, but now it's truly interesting; a little carelessness could lead to overturning.

"Water Flow Split!"

"Shadow Clone!"

The Croaking Head Frog raised a knife-hand, the blade glowing with azure light chopping toward Wisdom Frog ahead, Water Flow Split directly passing through Wisdom Frog's body.

It's an illusion!

"Waveguide Bullet!"

All remaining Croaking Head Frogs placed their hands on their waists, and blue Waveguide Bullets quickly gathered.

Waveguide Bullet???

Sanping almost quit the match outright—how could a Croaking Head Frog learn Waveguide Bullet? Is that legal?

Bewildered as he may be, the battle must still continue.

"Smokescreen, Shadow Clone!"

Sanping wanted to use a diversion to confuse the opponent, but clearly he underestimated Wisdom Frog's Waveguide Power.

Even without Ash's Waveguide Power boost, relying on the Croaking Head Frog's newly developed rudimentary Waveguide Power, one can still sense where the true body is.

Whoosh!

The blue Waveguide Bullet shot out instantly, like a cannonball piercing the smokescreen,

Boom!

With a tremendous bang, the Croaking Head Frog struck by the Waveguide Bullet was blown away, crashing to the ground with its eyes spinning in circles.

Instant KO!

"How... how could this happen?"

Sanping went completely dumbfounded—just one move and it was instantly KO'd?

Even Clemont and Serena felt something was off.

Only Ash, although surprised, quickly showed an expression of realization.

"It's Shadow Clone and Transformative!"

At the last moment, the Croaking Head Frog used a Normal-type Shadow Clone, triggering Transformative, which changed its own type to Normal.

Added to its frail build,

this is why the Croaking Head Frog's Waveguide Bullet, which deals double damage against it, knocked it out in one hit!

At the same time,

Wisdom Frog showed a thoughtful expression, as if savoring something.

After a few minutes, to Ash's surprise, a new skill appeared on the Croaking Head Frog's attribute panel.

A skill that the opponent had just used once in the battle,

and is also urgently needed by Ash and his Croaking Head Frog to pair with Sword Dance, soon to be the core strength for challenging the Remote Fragrance Rock Stone Gym!

Water-type physical output skill 【Water Flow Split】