Pokémon: Did you play Pokémon today?

Chapter 327 What kind of monsters are participating in today's competition?!

The area east of Shilin.

"Hahaha! Kids! Strength isn't something you can build up overnight! Your training is far from sufficient!"

Ah Si looked at the two young trainers he had beaten to their knees and laughed heartily as he spoke.

"Go back and train for another three years, then come challenge me again! This stone symbolizes strength and honor."

He turned and looked at the huge rock next to him, which was completely different from the surrounding gray and white stones, his eyes burning with desire.

"I, Ah Si, will accept it!"

He clattered his fists together, producing a dull thud, and called out to his two fighting-type partners beside him, "Flying Kick! Quick Punch! Use your kicking and punching skills to work together with me and shatter this rock—"

"Wait a moment--

—

A youthful shout, full of energy and urgency, came from the other side of the stone forest, interrupting his words.

Ah Si paused, looking in the direction of the sound.

A figure slammed through several ordinary stone pillars blocking his path without flinching, and in a few strides, covered in flying pebbles, he reached him!

After the boy steadied himself, he nonchalantly brushed off the stone dust that had settled on his body, and then reached out to touch the Pikachu that was perched steadily on his shoulder.

He grinned, revealing a bright and sunny smile.

"Senior Ah Si! Long time no see!"

"Ash?!"

Ah Si looked at the newcomer with some surprise, then a hearty smile spread across his face as he patted the man's shoulder forcefully.

"Hahaha! I never expected you to participate in a competition that's purely about strength and guts! Well done! This is where real men should be!"

"but!"

Ah Si suddenly changed the subject, pointed to the only special stone next to him, and assumed a fighting stance.

"There's only one stone here now! If you want to obtain it and inherit this power, you must first defeat me! Prove your mettle with your fists!"

"Yes, Senior Ah Si!"

Ash's passion was instantly ignited, and his upper body muscles bulged instantly.

The already tight T-shirt ripped open with a "rip".

While not as exaggerated as Ah Si's, his exposed muscles are full of explosive power!

"Master once said that when you encounter difficulties and strong opponents, you must face them head-on! Senior Ah Si! Bring it on!"

"Good! That's spirited! Watch out!"

Ah Si gave a big thumbs up and stopped being polite.

He knew that in such a contest of strength, yielding was disrespectful to the opponent.

With a sudden stomp of his foot, he unleashed a simple yet powerful punch straight at Xiaozhi's center!

He had the intention of testing and probing, and this punch used about seven-tenths of his strength, enough to make an ordinary adult trainer lose his balance.

However, facing this swift punch, Ash didn't dodge or evade. He simply straightened his chest, seemingly intending to take the blow head-on!

Upon seeing this, Ah Si frowned deeply!

That kid! He's way too arrogant!

Not wanting to truly hurt this impetuous yet energetic young man, he quickly reduced the force of his punch by two-tenths.

boom!

A muffled thud.

The fist landed squarely on Ash's chest.

The expected scene of the boy flying backwards did not occur.

Ash's body swayed slightly, but his feet were firmly planted on the ground, and then—he remained completely still.

He even showed a puzzled expression on his face.

Ah Si was stunned, a look of disbelief flashing in his eyes.

How...how is this possible?!

Even if he held back his strength, his punch was enough to make his old apprentice, who had been training with him for many years, stagger back several steps and struggle to breathe!

The boy in front of me, who didn't look particularly strong, actually took the hit with his chest and was completely unharmed?

This physical strength—something's not right!

Just as Ah Si was filled with doubt and uncertainty.

Xiao Zhi grinned, revealing a set of white teeth. His smile was so bright it was almost—"foolish"?

The Pikachu on his shoulder seemed a little embarrassed and covered its face with its little hands.

Ah Si, a martial arts expert, had his sixth senses kicking in like crazy!

Danger!

A strong sense of crisis instantly enveloped my entire body!

The next second, a fist rapidly enlarged in his eyes!

Simple! Direct! Swift!

It carries a sense of pure, unstoppable power!

A huge "danger" character was imprinted directly on his retina!

Ah Si then suddenly woke up.

He knew to hold back just now, afraid of hurting Ash.

But Ash Ketchum—he has absolutely no idea what it means to go easy on someone!

All he knew was that he used the same force and speed when he practiced sparring with his master, Bai Zhou!

If his master could handle it so easily and even praised his rapid progress, then Senior Ah Si must also be able to do so—

A straightforward, unadorned punch, only halfway through its trajectory!

The force of the punch made the hairs on Ah Si's face stand on end!

"Stop!!! Stop it!!! Stop it now!! I give up!!!"

Ah Si's urgent exclamation instantly resounded throughout the area!

"?senior?"

Xiao Zhi's fist stopped abruptly less than an inch from A Si's nose.

The force of the punch sent Ah Si's hair flying backward.

He withdrew his hand somewhat blankly, scratched his head, and looked puzzled.

Ah Si took a half step back, still shaken, and patted his still wildly beating chest.

While being punched like that wouldn't necessarily kill someone on the spot (probably), it's highly likely that they would suffer a broken nose, concussion, or faint on the spot!

Once he passes out, the game will be over for him!

He dares not gamble!

I never expected that Ash's strength and technique would be so terrifying!

That's not a punch a human could throw!

He glanced again at Ash's clear yet foolish eyes and sighed deeply.

This glimpse reveals the true skill behind this punch; without years of rigorous training and expert guidance, it's impossible to achieve such proficiency!

How come he never noticed how freakish Ash's skills were before?

Was he just playing dumb all along? No, this kid doesn't seem like he has that kind of cunning.

Speaking of which, who exactly is the "master" he just mentioned?!

Ah Si was full of questions, but a loss is a loss. A real man can take it and let it go.

He waved his hand helplessly.

"The stone is yours, kid. You're pretty good."

Although Ash had no idea what had happened, he immediately cheered when he heard that the stone was now his, and turned to walk towards the special stone.

Pikachu nimbly jumped onto his head, grabbed his spiky, angular hair, and secured itself.

"Aaaaaaah!"

Ash got into position and suddenly let out a loud, powerful roar!

Twist your waist, rotate your hips, and thrust your shoulder forward—a standard, full-force straight punch is unleashed towards the center of the rock!

"Wait! Ash!"

Seeing this, Ah Si hurriedly spoke up to stop him.

"This special stone is too hard; it's difficult to break with ordinary attacks. If you try to punch it with your bare fists, your hand might get injured."

boom! ! !

A deep, muffled bang suddenly exploded!

Ash's fist pierced solidly into the center of the rock!

Centered on his fist, spiderweb-like cracks instantly covered the entire boulder!

Then—click!

The entire massive boulder suddenly burst open, breaking into four or five smaller pieces that scattered across the ground!

Ah Si's words of dissuasion came out a beat late in the morning.

"—You'll get hurt—"

He looked at the rubble scattered on the ground, then at Xiao Zhi swinging his wrist, and fell into a deeper silence and self-doubt.

What kind of monsters are participating in today's competition?!

"Is this the speed and efficiency of Master Shiba? He located the nearest quarry in less than five minutes! No wonder he's the double king of Kanto and Johto!"

"It seems the first place is already secured. Master Shiba just needs to carry the stones back step by step, and he'll win for sure!"

"Ha! You really don't take me, Dr. Bai Zhou, seriously, do you? Wait till Zygard comes out and gives you a good whack, then let's see if you'll still behave!"

The live stream chat was flooded with comments.

In the scene, Shiba, with his bare, bronze-colored, muscular upper body, stops in front of a giant rock whose color and texture are clearly unusual.

He didn't act immediately, but first carefully examined the stone, tapping it with his knuckles and listening to the echo, as if he was assessing something.

"That's interesting."

Shiba whispered something, as if he had made a decision.

With a wave of his hand, a flash of light appeared, and a monstrous force with bulging muscles appeared beside him.

One person and one Pokémon stand on either side of the rock, their six hands firmly gripping the bottom of the rock.

"Hey""

"just"

A deep shout and a Pokémon's roar rang out at the same time. They exerted their strength simultaneously, their muscles bulging and veins bulging!

However, the heavy stone fell back down with a thud less than an inch off the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

No matter how hard they tried, the stone wouldn't budge.

"What's going on? Why are Master Shiba and the Mighty One stuck in that pose? Is there some special restriction in the competition?"

"That damn idiot in front! It's not moving! It's not even movable! Didn't you see Master Shiba and the monstrous strength's faces turning red?!"

"What is this rock made of? Its density is outrageous! Even Master Shiba and Mighty are struggling with it, how are the other competitors supposed to compete?!"

This stalemate did not last long.

Shiba frowned, then a glint of light flashed in his eyes, as if he had thought of a solution.

He gestured for the monstrous strength to step back, then stepped forward himself and carefully stroked the texture of the stone once more.

A moment later, he pointed to a faint natural pattern on the side of the stone and gave the strange force command.

"Super strength! Aim here! Chop!"

"just"

With a deep, powerful voice, the monster swung its four arms backward simultaneously to gather strength!

It suddenly leaped high into the air, and using the acceleration of gravity as it fell, it brought its four hands together like knives and slashed down fiercely along the lines indicated by Shiba!

laugh-

A tearing sound!

That incredibly solid rock was actually split in two by the force of this attack, which combined the power of the monstrous strength with the momentum of its fall!

The cut is as smooth as a mirror!

Now, the weight of the half-stone was finally within a manageable range.

Shiba and Guai Li exchanged a smile and exerted their strength once more.

This time it was much easier. They steadily lifted half of the boulder, carried it on their shoulders, and began to steadily return to the starting point.

The screen then switched to show the status of the other trainers who had arrived at the various quarries.

Without exception, everyone was trapped by the terrifying weight of the stones, unable to move an inch.

Some people tried to get Pokémon to use various attacks, but they had almost no effect except leaving a few white marks on the surface of the rocks.

Dividing and transporting them? That makes it even more difficult.

"I'm saying, is this reasonable? This is really stone," and not some alien superalloy?!

"So far, including Master Shiba who cleverly divided the stones, it seems only five competitors have successfully broken the blocks and started moving them—that's an incredibly high elimination rate!"

"Where's Dr. Shirafusa?! Director, give us the shot! I want to see the legendary Pokémon Zygarde! I want to see it blast that damn rock to smithereens with a single beam of light!"

Seemingly hearing the overwhelming calls from the live stream chat, the director finally switched the camera to the area where Bai Zhou was starting.

However—the scene was empty, with only traces of wind blowing across the grass.

The director seemed bewildered as well, the camera frantically swaying left and right, zooming in and out, searching around, and finally only capturing one thing—

A furtive figure.

It's Gengar!

Its face was comically covered by a small piece of tattered cloth that it had picked up from somewhere, and it was hovering furtively between two large, leafy trees.

With wide eyes, he stared intently at the narrow path leading to the quarry below, displaying an arrogant attitude of "this mountain is mine".

Soon, a competitor, panting heavily, passed by while struggling to drag a small piece of special stone with his wrist.

It happened in the blink of an eye!

"Genga!"

Gengar suddenly dangled upside down from the tree, opened its blood-red maw, and let out what it considered its most terrifying roar.

At the same time, its chubby body instantly swelled up, radiating a ghostly aura!

The competitor and his arm strength were so startled that they almost threw the stone in their hands!

Immediately following, a one-sided "friendly exchange" began.

Gengar danced wildly, gesturing and scaring, occasionally spitting out small sparks or creating eerie shadows.

A few minutes later————

The competitor, pale-faced, bowed and scraped before Gengar, and then—

He actually placed the small piece of rock that he had painstakingly moved there in the spot that Gengar had designated.

Then he slipped away without looking back, his wrist moving incredibly fast.

And around Gengar, a small pile of such "offerings" had already formed.

Not only did several participants "voluntarily" leave behind the small stones they had painstakingly moved, but there were also various tree fruits,

snack.

How delightful!

"Where's Dr. Shiraishu?! Where did my amazing doctor go?!"

"There's only one Gengar?! Who's going to provide me with the necessary takeoff materials?! Damn it! Refund!"

"Holy crap! This Gengar is invincible! It's practically ruling the battlefield, robbing everyone in its path! Every competitor who passes by is practically forced to shed a layer of skin!"

"Um—if I remember correctly, this incredibly powerful and wicked Gengar, it seems, probably, maybe, is the one from Professor Shirafusa's house, right? (whispering)"

"Case solved! Like master, like mistress! Dr. Bai Zhou, come out and take your punishment!"