Chapter 7: Hand-to-Hand Combat with a Beautiful Girl!
"A high wall?"
Is 'High Wall' a Pokémon move?
Bea was stunned.
She had never heard that phrase before, but after a moment, she understood its meaning.
In response, she simply revealed a confident smile. She clenched her fists, her eyes firm.
"Please, bring it on."
"I will prove the value of martial arts itself!" Bea said, her voice firm as iron.
Seeing this, Asher shrugged and turned, leading the girl into the dojo.
The dojo, still under construction, looked very rustic. The wooden floorboards were fitted tightly together as they arrived at the empty training area.
Bea stood in place and began to warm up.
"So, could I ask him to record our fight? I'd like to use it as video material, and it would also be good promotion," Asher asked, pointing to the Machamp on the side.
This was free traffic delivered right to his doorstep. Close-quarters sparring with a beautiful Gym Leader!
A martial arts duel!
If he edited the video and posted it online...
It might be another million-view video!
In this day and age, if you wanted to run a dojo, you had to seize every opportunity.
The Machamp, which had been training on the side, was startled to be suddenly called upon. Bea, however, chuckled and agreed.
"Of course."
She didn't think she would lose.
Although he had a thousand-year-old ancient sword art, modern martial arts had also evolved through constant iteration!
Asher nodded, picked up a wooden sword from a nearby rack, and stood opposite Bea.
At the same time, a line of text flashed before his eyes.
[Combat detected. RPG Module is now online.]
[Load complete!]
...
On the dojo's training floor.
"Come on."
Asher gripped the wooden sword with both hands, smiled, and looked at Bea.
Bang—!
Bea stamped her foot, and her small frame exploded with astonishing speed, rushing straight at Asher.
A straight punch, aimed right at his face!
But Asher wasn't flustered at all.
He already had a rough estimate of Bea's strength in his mind.
The fact that her wrists get injured when she spars with Machamp already proved, to an extent, that her body couldn't be compared to a Pokémon's.
Her physical stats were probably about the same as his.
In a simple spar, they were likely on the same level.
But, as he had just said.
The "high wall" between an unarmed and an armed fighter could not be easily overcome.
Unless the gap in their basic physical stats was massive, the armed party had already secured victory from the start.
"Pa—!"
The flat of the wooden sword accurately struck the inside of her wrist as she punched. In that instant, while Bea couldn't twist her hand, he put his strength into it!
A diagonal slash from top to bottom closed in on Bea in the blink of an eye.
Bang!
In a panic, Bea stamped her foot and her figure shot backward, retreating several steps to put distance between them.
When Bea collected herself, she realized the young man hadn't pursued her. He just stood in place, holding the sword's hilt with both hands.
"Are you alright?" Asher asked, relieved to see she wasn't hurt.
Even though it was a wooden sword, if that blow had landed, it probably would have hurt for a long time. After all, neither of them was wearing any protective gear.
If he bullied her so badly right at the start, who knows what the online comments would say.
Bea pressed her lips together, her brows furrowed.
He clearly had a chance to end the sparring match in that instant, but he didn't.
Bea finally realized.
"His strength... is actually greater than mine?!"
Bea's sharp instincts recognized this fact, but she didn't feel discouraged. On the contrary, she grew more excited, clenching her fists as a blush appeared on her cheeks.
Her parents had taught her: fighting someone stronger than you is the key to growth!
Even if she couldn't win, she had to go all-out and aim for a draw!
If she could do that, it would be a huge step forward for her!
The Machamp on the side, holding the camera, saw its Trainer at a disadvantage and couldn't help but worry. It was also astonished.
Its Trainer was so strong!
She trained with them every single day, enduring the same harsh regimen. But now, she was actually being beaten by this boy...
What a terrifying guy!
At the same time, Bea, standing her ground, took a deep breath.
She suddenly moved, but not to attack. Instead, she circled Asher, trying to find an opening in his defense.
But it was obvious. With Asher holding the sword in both hands, his mind was calm and his body still. He had almost no openings to be found.
In that case, she just had to create an opening in the fight!
Bea's eyes narrowed. Her body moved like a gust of wind, closing the distance in an instant. She struck at the lower right side of Asher's back.
Just as she expected, his reaction was extremely fast. He gripped the cross-guard sword and spun, bringing it down in a straight chop.
Bea saw it and decisively dodged to the side.
The cross-guard sword had a lot of power, but it required two hands to be fully effective. In terms of mobility, she still had the upper hand!
However, to her surprise, Asher suddenly released the sword with one hand, clenched it into a fist, and punched straight at her.
Bang—!
Bea reacted quickly, bringing her arms up to block, but her body was still sent flying back by the powerful force. She stumbled back several steps before catching her balance.
But Bea wasn't discouraged. Instead, she charged forward again and again.
Unfortunately, no matter how she attacked or from where, she was always on the losing end. Her arms were already covered in bruises.
If this had been a real sword, Bea would have lost her ability to fight long ago.
Asher saw that they had recorded enough footage, plenty to edit into various clips. He took a few steps back, holding the sword in one hand, putting several meters between them.
"Alright, let's stop here for today," Asher said with a slight smile, rubbing the wrist that had been holding the sword.
Making one hand bear the force of the cross-guard sword, even a wooden one, was still a bit of a burden.
Good thing it was a wooden sword. If it had been iron, it would have been much harder.
But that was fine. Having a weakness just meant he had significant room for improvement!
"Now you should understand why I said there's a high wall between an unarmed and an armed fighter," Asher said.
At that moment, new text appeared before his eyes.
[This battle has concluded. Calculating RPG experience. Two stats have leveled up.]
[Sp. Atk: 43 → 44]
[Sp. Def: 65 → 66]
Excellent!
Even though the battle was short, it supplied the last bit of EXP I needed!
And it had raised his stats again!
"Hah... You really are strong!"
Bea stood there, panting, but her eyes were still filled with an unyielding fighting spirit.
"I'm not your match right now. But one day, I will overcome this 'high wall'!" Bea said, her voice firm after she'd calmed down. She gave him a respectful bow.
She acknowledged the power of the ancient sword art, but in the end, it just meant she was still too weak!
She had to become stronger!
Noticing the look in Bea's eyes, Asher shook his head. "My sword skill is the only thing that's decent. If this were a proper Pokémon battle, I'd be no match for you."
"This isn't the ancient era anymore. Humans no longer need to fight Pokémon with their bodies. Instead, we can work together and become stronger, side-by-side."
"So, for most people," Asher said with a soft sigh.
"Martial arts are much simpler than ancient swordsmanship, and more suited to this era."
Just as he said, in this day and age, the only people who could rely on this ancient sword art to fight powerful Pokémon... as far as he knew, it was probably only him and his deadbeat dad who'd abandoned his son.
Hearing this, Bea looked thoughtful. A smile appeared on her face, and she held out her hand to Asher.
"Anyway, thank you for the spar. I'll post about it in a bit. I'm really looking forward to this dojo opening!"
At this, Bea suddenly blinked, looking a little mischievous. "But at the end of the day, you're a Trainer, too. Don't you have any interest in challenging the Gym?"