Heiji looked up just in time to see Xatu being sent flying. He was completely bewildered. What just happened? I only looked at my computer for a second!
Not wanting to take any chances after Xatu was knocked back, Scizor followed up immediately. It appeared behind Xatu in an instant and delivered a heavy blow to Xatu's head with its massive claw.
Following another scream of pain, Xatu crashed into the ground, creating a shallow pit where it lay motionless. From the moment Scizor appeared behind Xatu to the moment it slammed it into the ground, less than five seconds had passed. It was that fast.
It was clear that Xatu had completely lost its ability to battle. Everyone on the sidelines began to cheer, filled with joy.
Heiji, however, was in a total daze, lost in three questions: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing? How did this happen? Did I lose?
"Heiji, you lost," Eichi said calmly.
Only then did Heiji snap back to reality. He had lost. During the battle, he had lost in the time it took to check his computer. One second he held the advantage, and the next, everything had flipped.
Azuma quickly ran up, shouting excitedly, "Eichi, you really are something!"
The others swarmed around him as well, leaving the defeated Heiji ignored.
Meanwhile, on a tree outside the Dojo, Muramasa and Masamune stood watching. They had seen everything that happened in the yard clearly. Seeing Eichi win, Mr. Muramasa showed a gratified smile.
Feeling too embarrassed to stay after his loss, Heiji left that evening immediately after dinner. Shingo had no idea what he had been doing; he was unaware of the morning's events, and since everyone tacitly agreed to keep it a secret, no one told him. Shingo remained confused, not understanding why his senior had left so early without even saying a word to him.
After dinner, Muramasa led Eichi to a porch outside where tea had been prepared on a small table. Eichi knew Mr. Muramasa wanted to chat, so he sat down opposite him.
Muramasa began to brew tea. Neither spoke as they watched the process, which was performed with smooth, flowing movements. After ten minutes, the tea was ready. Muramasa poured a small cup for Eichi.
"Drink," Mr. Muramasa said. "This tea is quite good."
"Then I won't be modest," Eichi replied. He picked up the cup and took a small sip. "It's delicious."
Muramasa then began the conversation in earnest. "What do you think of my disciples?"
"Teacher Muramasa, why do you ask me that?" Eichi asked.
"Eichi, although you are only ten years old, you give me the impression of being very mature," Muramasa said. "You don't act like a child at all; you seem like an eighteen-year-old man. That's why I wanted to talk with you. Don't have any reservations; speak your mind freely."
Seeing that Muramasa was not as serious as usual, Eichi replied, "Then I'll say it. I think everyone is quite good. They all train very hard."
"I am asking you about their strength," Muramasa noted.
"They are all quite good!" Eichi said.
Muramasa smiled. "How do you think they compare to your classmates at school?"
Eichi was silent for a moment before saying, "To be honest, although they train very hard, there is a huge gap between them and the more prominent students at our school. I haven't seen them battle much, but I can tell from their Pokémon. Most of their talents are Ordinary, and they eat common Pokémon food. They don't even have Pokéblocks, except for Azuma and Jin."
"You're right," Mr. Muramasa said, taking a sip of tea. "Their strength is indeed a bit lacking."
He continued, "Do you know? They are all children from ordinary families in town. They have no money, so they can only eat common Pokémon food, let alone Pokéblocks. But they all have dreams of becoming Trainers, and they are willing to fight for those ideals. I came from an ordinary family myself. You have no idea how much effort I spent to achieve what I have today. That's why I know they, like my younger self, are desperate for someone to teach them."
"So, I opened a Dojo here and took them in as disciples," Muramasa explained. "Jin and Azuma passed through here during their travels and ultimately chose to stay and learn. You can probably tell that their families are quite wealthy, but no one is jealous of them. Azuma and Jin aren't bullies either. Everyone gets along very happily. I know the others' families aren't well-off, but they are content. After all, they have me to teach them. They don't compare themselves to you; you are students of Silver Academy. The top geniuses are all there. How could they compare? Even if they don't become Pokémon Masters in the future, I believe they can become good Trainers."
"I understand," Eichi said.
"I still need to thank you for defeating Heiji today," Muramasa said. "Otherwise, they certainly would have felt uncomfortable."
"Teacher, it's what I should have done," Eichi replied. "Even if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have done it once I knew."
Muramasa nodded.
The crashing water of the waterfall washed over Scizor with incredible force. Scizor released the final twenty percent of its power that it had been holding back. Its speed instantly surged, and it pushed upward a great distance.
Its entire body felt as heavy as lead. The higher it went, the greater the force obstructing its progress became. Today was the last day; tomorrow, Mr. Muramasa would begin the next phase of training. Eichi didn't want Scizor to move on to the next exercise without having broken through the waterfall. Scizor was currently only a short distance away from the top.
Therefore, both Scizor and Eichi intended to break through the waterfall today. Scizor had reached the most critical stage; every inch of progress now was extremely difficult. Scizor clenched its teeth. The goal was right before its eyes, yet it felt like an unreachable chasm.
It had used all its strength and felt it had reached its limit, yet it simply couldn't close the final gap. Scizor grew frantic. I must get up there!
Below, Eichi felt Scizor's emotions. He took out an object—the remote control—and pressed the button to turn it off. Above, Scizor felt a surge of power erupting from its body. In one breath, it began its final, frenzied sprint.
At the final moment, it truly acted like a pair of scissors, cutting that section of the waterfall into two. Scizor stopped atop the waterfall and let out a long roar to vent its emotions.