Mr. Muramasa set down the small bag he was carrying, which was clearly a Compression Backpack. He began continuously pulling out food bowls and Pokémon food from within.
The eyes of the gathered Pokémon lit up at the sight. For them, eating Berries every day had become somewhat tiresome; they much preferred the taste of Pokémon food. Eichi surveyed the surroundings and realized there were roughly a hundred Pokémon present.
If word of this got out, people would surely lose their minds. In other regions, Scyther are incredibly rare Pokémon. You would be considered lucky just to capture one, yet here stood over a hundred Scyther and Scizor.
Seeing that Mr. Muramasa was overwhelmed, Eichi hurried over to help. He assisted in pouring bag after bag of Pokémon food into the bowls. Eichi also released Heracross to help. One by one, food bowls were placed before the Scyther and Scizor until almost every individual had one.
Eventually, once all the food had been distributed, Mr. Muramasa realized he hadn't brought enough because he hadn't visited in quite some time. In that period, several new Scyther had been born into the tribe. Seeing this, Eichi set down his own backpack, pulled out several food bowls, and emptied multiple bags of Pokémon food into them.
Now, every Scyther and Scizor had food to eat, and the portions were quite generous. All the Pokémon raised their scythes and pincers to express their gratitude to Muramasa and Eichi before digging into the feast.
Watching Eichi's actions, Mr. Muramasa said, "Eichi, thank you for your help this time."
He then asked curiously, "How do you happen to have so many food bowls? You couldn't have known in advance that I was bringing food for them."
"I was born with a natural affinity for Pokémon," Eichi replied with a smile. "Whenever I stop to eat at night during my travels, many wild Pokémon gather around me. Most of them are very weak and struggle to find food, so I always carry a certain number of bowls and a large amount of Pokémon food prepared just for them."
Hearing this, Muramasa's perception of Eichi shifted slightly. He said with some relief, "Bringing you here was indeed the right choice."
While the Pokémon ate, Eichi and Muramasa sat nearby. Heracross sat beside Eichi, who suddenly thought of something and asked, "Heracross, do you think your 'Big Brother' is as strong as their leader?"
Heracross glanced at the Scizor leader and replied, "Yakkulu, yakkulu (Big Brother is very strong. I don't know exactly how strong the Scizor leader is, but they should be at the same level.)"
This completely shocked Eichi. He asked with disbelief, "Are you sure your senses aren't wrong?"
"Yakkulu, yakkulu (I guarantee my senses are correct; it is on the same level as Big Brother. Furthermore, among the opponents Big Brother has fought, there was a Scizor just like this one.)" Heracross insisted.
Now Eichi was certain: Heracross's "Big Brother" was truly an Elite Four-rank Pokémon. It was hard to imagine that such a powerful Pokémon would have crossed paths with him. Of course, this was a private conversation between the two of them; he didn't know if the other Scyther or Scizor had overheard.
An hour later, they finished the food, and Eichi and Teacher Muramasa tidied up the area.
Now it was time for business. The Scizor leader looked at Muramasa, waiting for him to speak. Seeing all the Pokémon looking at him, Mr. Muramasa cleared his throat and said seriously, "The purpose of my visit is to conduct a training session for this Scizor."
Muramasa pointed at Eichi's Scizor and then explained the details of the trial to the tribe leader. The goal was to have Scizor blindfolded and have it reach the three giant trees in the core area from the edge of the territory within a set time.
The Scizor leader's role was to dispatch most of the Scyther and Scizor to block Scizor's path, delaying it so that it couldn't reach the finish line in time. Of course, since Eichi's Scizor was only an Elite-rank Pokémon, the tribe could not send out any Pokémon higher than Elite-rank.
After hearing the request, Eichi and Scizor looked at the Scizor leader. It didn't agree immediately but sat in deep thought. Its sister, standing nearby, saw its hesitation and began speaking in favor of Muramasa.
Muramasa struck while the iron was hot, adding, "If you agree, I will bring Pokémon food for all of you every day."
This sentence truly moved the Scizor leader, and it agreed to the matter on the spot. Within the entire tribe, there were only eight Scizor above the Elite-rank; the rest were Elite-rank or below. Excluding those who were too young or weak, there were about forty Experienced and Elite-rank Scyther and Scizor left to participate.
Eichi suddenly felt something was wrong. So many Scyther and Scizor blocking Scizor while it was blindfolded? Reaching the goal under such conditions was truly a "Hell Mode" difficulty.
"Teacher Muramasa, is this really okay?" Eichi asked worriedly. "The difficulty is far too high."
"What, do you lack confidence in your Scizor?" Muramasa replied. "I made these arrangements because I believe it has the strength. Look, Scizor isn't afraid at all."
Eichi turned his head and saw that it was true; Scizor wasn't afraid. Instead, it was extremely excited, feeling that this was a great challenge. Eichi felt a bit ashamed; as its trainer, he had failed by worrying about defeat.
After composing himself, he began preparing for the trial. First, a Scyther and Eichi led the blindfolded Scizor out to the edge, while Muramasa stayed at the destination to wait.
Once they reached the boundary of the territory, Eichi said to Scizor, "When I say start, you charge in. You must reach the finish line within 10 minutes, understand?"
Scizor nodded in understanding. Eichi then took out his Communicator and dialed. On the other end, Mr. Muramasa picked up his own device.
"Eichi, are you ready?" Mr. Muramasa asked.
"Ready," Eichi replied.
"I'll count down. Three, two, one... Start!"