Chapter 11: The Cold and Stern Scyther
After consulting with Machop and witnessing a battle up close, Rio realized it was already approaching noon.
Rubbing his empty stomach, Rio casually took out a normal Berry from his [Backpack] and began to munch on it, "crunch, crunch."
He had painstakingly collected these Berries while wandering in the forest. Each was the size of a cantaloupe from his previous life, sweet to eat, and rich in juice.
However, Rio's attention was not on the Berry at this moment.
"The Pokémon at the valley entrance, and one that knows [Quick Attack]... Hmm, it couldn't be that guy, could it!"
A sharp blade-like shadow flashed through Rio's mind, and the fur on his body felt like it wanted to bristle again.
However, learning moves was crucial for Rio's survival and growth in this real Pokémon world. He had no choice but to steel himself and walk towards the valley entrance.
At noon, most Pokémon had returned to their dwellings to enjoy the midday tranquility. Apart from the gurgling sound of the flowing stream, the valley entrance was quiet.
Rio walked out of the valley mouth with a pounding heart, glanced left and right, and headed towards a patch of grass on the side.
"Gulp."
He unconsciously swallowed. His heart was enveloped by the murderous aura hidden within this silence.
"Swish."
Suddenly, an extremely faint sound, and Rio abruptly realized there was a figure behind him.
Sharp eyes carrying a murderous intent.
"Plop."
Rio decisively turned and prostrated himself at extreme speed, hands on the ground, shouting, "Big brother, don't kill me!"
A hint of coldness flashed in Scyther's eyes, and its voice, as cold as ice, sounded: "What are you doing here?"
As it spoke, Scyther's bladed arms waved, intentionally or unintentionally.
Rio carefully crawled up, shifting his feet slightly to distance himself from those two sharp scythes, a fawning smile on his face. "Um, Big Brother Machop said that you, Big Brother Scyther, are quite skilled at [Quick Attack], and he told me to learn from you."
"…"
Scyther gave Rio a cold look without any reply.
Seeing that his journey to learn moves was about to end, Rio had a flash of inspiration and quickly took out a large Berry: "This is to honor you, Big Brother."
Even Mew liked to eat these; there was no way Scyther would dislike it...
The sweet aroma of the large Berry caused a slight ripple in Scyther's eyes.
Looking at the Riolu holding up the Berry with a pitiful expression, Scyther suddenly raised its right arm and knocked the Berry away.
A chill ran through Rio's heart, and a wave of frustration washed over him.
"In my past life, due to the misfortune of getting heart disease, I had to leave the professional arena. Now that I'm reborn, am I still so unlucky that I can't establish myself in this new world because I can't learn to use moves?"
Just as Rio was disheartened, the scene before him made him hold his breath and observe with rapt attention:
After knocking the Berry away, Scyther didn't leave directly as Rio had imagined. Instead, it bent down slightly, its sharply angled, spiky thighs tensed, its sharp claws gripping the ground tightly, and the insectoid wings on its back vibrated even more frequently.
"Swish!" Scyther kicked off the ground forcefully, lunging forward at a speed difficult for the naked eye to follow. A white gleam of energy trailed behind it, leaving afterimages in the air like a flash of lightning.
"Swish swish swish swish!" The Berry had been knocked into mid-air and hadn't yet landed when this lightning-fast figure, coordinating with its incomparably sharp arm-blades, instantly sliced the Berry into several pieces.
Scyther's figure came to an abrupt halt.
From extreme speed to sudden stillness, the transition was incredibly brief, and the dust kicked up by the rapid movement had only just settled.
Rio's eyes shone as he watched, a flash of understanding illuminating his mind: "Body like lightning, moving and stopping at will, is this [Quick Attack]?"
With that thought, he couldn't help but also bend his knees slightly like Scyther, his core fixed, legs tensed forcefully, and his mind highly concentrated. Instantly, a familiar yet unfamiliar warm current flowed within his body. He felt his entire being filled with power that he wanted to unleash.
"Is this my Fighting energy?" Looking at the faint layer of brownish-red light emerging from his body, Rio was incredibly excited.
"[Quick Attack]!"
Feeling the power build to its peak, Rio couldn't help but shout loudly.
In the anime and games he had watched in his previous life, whether it was trainers or Pokémon, they always liked to shout out the names of their moves during battle. Rio had always been somewhat scornful of this practice, believing it would only needlessly reveal to the enemy the move they were about to use. Now that he had become a Pokémon, he finally understood. The moment he shouted the move's name, his spirit, energy, and focus achieved an unprecedented unity. This highly concentrated mental state allowed him to finely adjust every detail of the move and precisely mobilize his body's strength, enabling a more fluid and powerful release of the move.
And, most importantly, shouting the move's name felt awesome!
Following Rio's shout, enveloped in the glow of energy, he too became like a flash of lightning, streaking across in a brilliant trace, charging towards Scyther.
Watching the figure approach with lightning speed, a hint of appreciation flashed in Scyther's eyes. At the same time, it unhurriedly released another move.
"Pop."
Rio slammed hard into Scyther's body but surprisingly felt no solid impact, passing straight through Scyther's midsection. The Scyther standing in place shattered like an illusion.
"Whoa-ooh-oof—Bang!"
The immense inertia sent Rio tumbling forward, head over heels, until he crashed hard into a tree and finally stopped.
Rio laying prostrate on the ground, seeing stars.
"Was that... [Double Team] just now?"
Rio thought, relying on the last bit of clarity in his mind.
The real Scyther descended from the sky, glanced disdainfully at the Riolu on the ground, then paid him no more attention. With a flash of its insectoid wings, it disappeared.
"It seems I need to practice moves a lot more. If I can't control them freely, I don't have enough backs to break... Ouch, that hurts like crazy."
Pokémon moves, like fighting techniques in his previous life, could only be used more effectively in battle if one could both unleash and retract them. Moreover, the moves in the Pokémon world were even more powerful. If one couldn't control them freely, it was very possible to be affected by one's own move after releasing it.
"But just now, did Scyther happily eat all the Berry pieces...?" Recalling the moment Scyther departed, licking the Berry pieces skewered on its arm with what looked like a smile, Rio thought his brain might have been scrambled from the impact.
"An illusion, it must be an illusion. But at least I learned how to use a move!"
Rio rolled over, narrowing his eyes at the clear sky. Although his body felt somewhat empty from expending a large amount of energy at once, he couldn't help but happily pat the ground with his tail.
After lying pleasantly on the grass for a while, Rio calmed his excited heart, sat up, and propped his head with his paw, thinking about his next plan.
"Powerful moves require an abundant supply of energy, and ample Fighting energy comes from a thoroughly tempered body. Therefore, training my body to gain stronger energy is the primary goal. Secondly, I need to strengthen my control over the [Quick Attack] move through extensive practice."
Remembering Scyther's freely controlled [Quick Attack], Rio felt a surge of longing.
"As for how to train my body..." He recalled the various arduous training regimens he underwent in his previous life to become a professional fighter, and a confident smile appeared on his face.
"In this aspect, I'm an expert."
Rio could no longer suppress his excitement and rushed back towards Sunrise Valley.