The dream of becoming a Pokémon master

With three weeks to go before the Indigo League, Ash seemed anxious but was actually quite calm, watching videos of Elite Four member Seabas at home.

Xiaoxia walked over and decisively turned off the TV: "You call this independent training, but you're just slacking off here!"

Xiao Gang quickly stood up and explained, "That was a videotape of Shiba, one of the Four Heavenly Kings. We were about to learn Shiba's ultimate technique!"

Ash chimed in indignantly, "Yeah! But what's the Secret Technique?"

Xiaoxia looked at Xiaozhi with disdain.

Xiao Gang was also helpless, but what could he do? That's just Xiao Zhi's personality.

"The so-called 'secret technique' is the key to making trainers stronger!"

"Yes! That's the secret technique! I'm going to visit Shiba and learn it!" Ash exclaimed, full of fighting spirit!

"Pikachu!" Pikachu nodded!

"That's impossible," Xiaoxia said, pouring cold water on the idea.

Xiao Gang nodded in agreement: "The Four Heavenly Kings are superstars, people we can never reach."

Xiao Zhi crossed his arms and asked, "Then is there no way to see Shiba?"

"Pikachu..."

"Of course!" Aunt Hanako suddenly appeared. "I heard someone saw Shiba, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, on Mount Miacha!"

"Okay, then let's go to Miacha Mountain!" Ash immediately stepped out of the house!

"Pikachu!" "Ash, wait for us!"

Xiao Zhi, haven't you ever wondered where your mother got all this information from?

On their way to Mt. Mia, Ash and his friends helped an old woman at a tea shop drive away Team Rocket and obtained information about the gentle Onix before finally reaching their destination.

"Did Master Shiba really practice in a place like this...?" Xiao Gang asked, wiping the sweat from his brow as he looked at the jagged rocks around him.

However, it was Xiaozhi who really wanted to ask this question!

As Xiaozhi reached the corner of the road, he discovered a magical ditch!

"Look, there's a really big road over there."

Before Xiaoxia and Xiaogang could answer, Xiaozhi decisively jumped into the middle of the road.

Xiaoxia and Xiaogang had no choice but to follow.

Standing in the middle of the ditch, Xiao Gang felt something was off: "This doesn't look like a road; it looks more like the tracks left by something large?"

A rumbling sound rang out at just the right moment.

"What's that!" Xiaoxia had good eyesight and saw something standing up in the distance that was coming towards her. She quickly grabbed Togepi with one hand and pointed at it with the other.

"It's... the Giant Onix of Mount Miacha! It's huge!" "Pikachu!"

"This isn't the time to talk about this! Let's run!"

The three of them quickly ran along the road.

However, the distance is gradually decreasing...

"This way!" a voice rang out.

The three then noticed a fork in the road ahead and quickly dodged it, while the Giant Onix left along the main road.

"We're saved..."

"Everyone, are you all alright?"

"Yes, thanks to you... Ah! You are...."

"What's wrong with you two?" Xiaoxia asked, looking at the two stunned people.

"Ah, Master Shiba!"

Shiba walked towards his residence, with Ash and the others following closely behind.

Hibat waited until they were almost at the cave he had found before turning around and asking, "Why did you follow us?"

Ash was momentarily speechless: "It's like this...we..."

Xiao Gang immediately knelt down: "Master Shiba, this kid," pointing to Xiao Zhi standing to the side, "want to participate in the League Tournament. Although he's a bit silly and clumsy, he's a very serious person. Please teach him the Secret Technique, I'll do anything!"

"Ash, you should ask for help too," Brock said, looking at Ash who was standing there looking lost.

"Huh? Oh." Xiao Zhi quickly knelt down, straightened his posture, and said, "Please."

Xiao Gang quickly pressed Xiao Zhi's head down: "Xiao Zhi, you need to be more polite!"

"Master! Please!" Xiao Zhi's head was pressed down to his knees.

"Are you really willing to do anything?" Shiba asked.

"Yes!" Xiao Gang quickly answered, then looked at Xiao Zhi, "You're willing too, right?"

"Okay." Ash nodded to Brock.

"We are willing, we entrust everything to you, Master."

Carrying water, chopping firewood, moving stones, and whittling wood.

Thanks to Ash and Brock's efforts, Master Shiba finally got to eat a hot meal!

Ash and his two friends watched Shiba eat from behind.

"He's full of openings when he's eating," Ash remarked, watching Shiba's retreating figure.

As a true newcomer who grew up with Kyosuke, Ash's horizons are quite broad.

"What a boring adult. I bet he's a fake Shiba," Xiaoxia chimed in.

"Nonsense! You have absolutely no idea how great Master Shiba is!" Xiao Gang, a devoted fan of Shiba, retorted.

Picking up a stick from the ground, Xiao Gang's face was already sweating: "Don't be fooled by the fact that the master seems to have many flaws when he's eating; actually, his mind is open!"

Xiao Gang swung the wooden stick at Shiba's head, making use of his previous training: "Master, show us your ultimate technique!"

As expected, or more precisely, as Ash and Misty predicted, Brock accurately hit Shiba's head!

The effect is outstanding!

Shiba has fallen!

When Shiba woke up, he sat down in front of Kyosuke and Kogoro, coughed twice, and tried to regain his strong demeanor, but the bump on his head still made people feel out of place.

"The trainer's ultimate technique..." Shiba said calmly.

"Yes! Please, Master, you must teach me!" Xiao Zhi said quickly.

He casually took a towel soaking in the bucket and draped it over his bag, then continued, "I don't have that kind of thing."

"Master, you've always lived in the mountains, isn't it all for the sake of cultivating a great secret technique?" Xiao Zhi quickly raised his doubts.

"I have been living in the mountains all this time in order to subdue the largest rock snake here."

"As a trainer, your job is to catch the strongest Pokémon!" Shiba said to Ash with a smile.

Xiao Gang felt that the image of Master Shiba in his mind had shattered...

"Satoshi, I think you should ask Kyosuke for advice instead of Shiba," Misty suggested.

Xiao Gang quickly recovered: "Right, if it were Kyosuke, he could definitely have dodged my attack! Besides, he's incredibly strong, his Pokémon are very well trained, and his command is impeccable. Instead of this fake Shiva who might be faking it, we should ask Kyosuke about his improvement methods!"

"Yeah! If it's Kyosuke, it'll definitely work!" Ash realized he might be looking for something far too easy! He'd always trusted Kyosuke!

"But Kyosuke is also going to the tournament, and he hasn't returned to Pallet Town yet." Ash was disheartened again.

"You mean Kyosuke? Who is that?" Shiba was quite indignant when he heard Ash and the others refer to him as someone else.

He's one of the Four Heavenly Kings! How could some nobody compare to him?

"Kyosuke is a trainer who set off on the same day as me," Ash said.

"A rookie trainer? Comparing a rookie trainer to me? Heh." Shiba expressed his disdain.

Seeing Shiba's attitude, Ash's dislike for him intensified. Kyosuke was both his friend and his rival, and had always taken good care of him. Ash disliked Kyosuke even more than he disliked him.

With a snort, he left that awful place with Xia, Gang, and Pikachu.

I learned nothing and wasted a whole day of special training!

However, it seems that independent training is not something that Ash can do, right?

Meanwhile, Kyosuke also arrived at the foot of the mountain.

Looking at the high mountains, the vegetation is much sparser than in other places.

"Miyacha Mountain...this must be it?"