The Path of a Genius to Becoming a Pokémon Champion

Chapter 213: Amen

The moment Arthur asked his question, Luna relayed his words to the few Pokémon that had stopped on their own.

However, the response she received was to be ignored.

The drawback of catching more than a dozen Pokémon in a single year was once again apparent: many of these Pokémon had a remarkably low level of recognition for their master, Luna, and couldn't even be bothered to explain themselves.

As Arthur walked over, a Houndoom, having the worst temperament of the bunch, even stood up, bared its teeth, and let out a threatening low growl, spewing hot flames from the corners of its mouth.

Arthur smiled. "You have the energy to roar at me, which means your stamina hasn't been fully exhausted yet. Why did you stop running?"

Seeing Arthur unfazed by the Pokémon's threats, Bella and Luna were the first to cry out, "Be careful!!"

The two of them were still worried about Arthur's safety.

Meanwhile, Greninja and Little Lapras, watching from the side, had already begun to say a silent prayer.

May this Houndoom's life force be tenacious. Amen…

The next moment, Bella and Luna had the honor of witnessing Arthur's combat power after drawing his sword!

He had specifically brought Honedge on his back today; how could he possibly give these Pokémon a chance to rebel?

The instant the Houndoom couldn't resist spewing fire, Arthur moved!

He instantly slid sideways to dodge the "Flamethrower" attack, then closed the distance and landed a hook punch with his left hand on the side of the Houndoom's face. The blow sent a ripple-like shockwave through the black dog's head. Its head snapped to the side, and its entire body went flying.

Then, the light of a sword flashed!

With a "swoosh," Honedge was joyfully unsheathed. After many days, it once again showed its might, using the skill "Slash" to shatter the "Leaf Blade" from an attacking Sceptile with one stroke.

Then, Arthur followed up with a direct kick that sent the Sceptile flying a full five or six meters away.

"ROAR!"

An Aggron, which had also been resting there, could sit still no longer. It stood up and let out an angry roar, thinking that its two-meter-plus height, monster-like physique, and ferocious horns and claws could intimidate the human before it.

Unfortunately, Arthur didn't hesitate for even a second. The moment it stood up, he turned his gaze on it, instantly closed the distance, broke through the keratinous armor on its belly with one sword strike, and then followed up with a kick that greatly widened the crack, kicking this large, just-stood-up monster back down onto the ground after its first roar.

If it weren't for the tail behind Aggron, it would have been lying flat on its back with its limbs in the air right now.

After it sat down, Aggron's height was lowered, allowing Arthur to reach up and grab the horns on its head.

Then, holding its horn with his left hand to press its head down, he simultaneously drove his right knee up sharply.

With a loud "BANG," the keratinous armor on Aggron's chin also shattered.

Letting go of its horn, Arthur reversed his grip and placed the sword against Aggron's neck, then looked back at Luna.

"Ask them, can they still run now?"

Bella and Luna, standing more than ten meters away, both swallowed hard, their faces a picture of someone whose worldview had been greatly impacted.

Ah, this…

Did we see that wrong?

At this moment, the two women looked at Arthur with an unprecedented sense of unfamiliarity.

Is this still that handsome shota whose face Bella would pinch, whose abs she'd squeeze, and whose shirt she'd lift for photos every day?

Seeing the two women not moving, Arthur frowned and repeated himself.

This time, there was no need for Luna to relay. Before she, the master, could even speak, the Houndoom and Sceptile that had gotten up were already scrambling away, rejoining the main group that was still running around the field.

Pokémon also had intelligence. As the saying goes, there is great wisdom to be found between life and death. The desire to survive became the best translator at this moment.

The Aggron with Honedge at its throat looked at him tremblingly, cautiously stretched out a claw to tap the spine of his sword, and then pointed a short finger towards the running Pokémon over there.

Arthur then sheathed his sword. It immediately scrambled away on all fours at the fastest speed of its life. Only after rejoining the main group did it stand up straight again and start running.

Luna stared blankly, her face a picture of someone doubting their existence.

This obedient appearance from these three Pokémon was something she had never seen before when they were with her, their master.

Seeing this, Arthur sheathed his sword and shrugged at her. "Emmm, looks like you don't need to relay."

Luna could only reply dumbly, "Yes."

...

A few more minutes passed, and successively, some Pokémon truly couldn't run anymore. When they stopped, their eyes were filled with fear as they looked at Arthur.

Luna, expressionless, helped translate for them one by one.

"They said... they really can't run anymore. This time, they're definitely not faking it. They're begging you not to make a move, that we can talk things out."

More than a dozen Pokémon begging a single human for mercy, saying "we can talk things out"—this was a scene Luna was truly seeing for the first time in her life.

Her entire worldview had been refreshed…

Arthur nodded, then, with Luna's help in calming them, he walked up and checked the condition of these Pokémon one by one.

Finally, he selected four Pokémon: "These will do. You can prioritize training these."

Luna had followed him the whole time and was very surprised by the basis of Arthur's selection.

"Why them?"

These four Pokémon were: a Beedrill, a Swellow, a Kadabra, and an Ice-type Vulpix.

They were neither the ones with the highest current combat power among these Pokémon—Arthur hadn't chosen final-form Pokémon like Sceptile or Aggron, but instead chose Kadabra and Vulpix, two younger Pokémon still one evolution away.

Nor were they the ones with the best potential: among these dozen or so Pokémon was a Growlithe that Luna had spent a lot of money on, whose evolved form, Arcanine, could be said to be one of the Pokémon with the highest potential below pseudo-legendaries. In a certain game from a parallel world, its base stat total was as high as 555!

But Arthur hadn't chosen it either.

Instead, the chosen Beedrill and Swellow didn't have high base stat totals, not even reaching 500.

This truly left Luna confused.

At this moment, Arthur picked up the exhausted Beedrill and handed it to Luna.

"She wasn't one you caught in the last year, was she? I'm guessing she's been with you for a long time, just hasn't been given much attention. In this test, she was the one who pushed her stamina the hardest out of all the Pokémon. She probably reached her limit two minutes ago, but she kept on flying, holding out until she was the very last one to stop. And when I approached, she wasn't trembling."

Luna took the completely exhausted Beedrill, and vaguely seemed to understand Arthur's meaning.

Beedrill didn't tremble because Arthur approached, which meant it wasn't pushing so hard because it was afraid of him.

It was probably… just trying to prove itself, to prove to its master, in the hope that its master would look at it one more time.

This was one of Luna's earliest Pokémon. Before becoming a professional player, who didn't struggle with cheap Pokémon like Beedrill?

"My training philosophy is different from those coaches. In my view, a Pokémon's willpower, obedience, and endurance limit are more important than its aptitude. These four Pokémon were the ones who pushed their own stamina the most thoroughly in this test, and they didn't disobey or rebel throughout. So, they are suitable for my training methods."

Arthur checked the final state of these Pokémon one by one precisely to distinguish to what extent they had exhausted their own physical strength.

There were many different kinds of being unable to run.

Being tired and panting, being exhausted and collapsing, and passing out from exhaustion—there were big differences.

Luna was lost in thought as she listened to his words.

But for a moment, Luna still had some confusion.

"I can understand you saying that willpower and obedience are important, but why is the endurance limit also included as a criterion? There are rarely times in a match where this needs to be tested, right?"

Her thinking was clearly still stuck at the arena match stage.

Hearing this question, Greninja and Little Lapras, watching from the side, couldn't help but begin to say a silent prayer again.

Sigh, these Pokémon clearly don't know what awaits them after falling into master's hands.

The endurance limit is very important. You'll understand soon enough. Amen…

Arthur turned back and gave Luna a bright smile.

"No, this is the most important part."

The little Vulpix at the side even gave two ingratiating yaps towards Arthur, probably thinking that this human's smile was very nice and approachable.

Greninja and Little Lapras, seeing this, both cast it a sympathetic look.

What an ignorant and pitiful child.

Amen…

(End of Chapter)

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