Mu Zhishui didn't hesitate when Xia Huanao announced his intention to battle Feng, settling down under the corridor beside them. "I don't suppose you mind if I observe from the side."
Xia Huanao glanced at Feng, who shook his head. "Not at all, Miss Mu. Please feel free."
Xia Huanao and Feng stood in the main courtyard, and their planned battle couldn't be hidden from the other ninjas in the dojo. Soon, over a dozen of them gathered by the side of the arena to watch. Feng surveyed the ninjas present. "Quite a turnout. I heard there was a match, and everyone showed up."
Xia Huanao looked around at the dozen or so people. "Is this everyone in the dojo?"
"It can't be helped. As I mentioned, very few people in the village want to be ninjas anymore."
After Meiyuan's explanation, she began to officiate the match. Xia Huanao sent out his Froakie, and Feng, in a show of equal measure, brought out his Greninja to respond.
Xia Huanao looked at Feng's Shiny Greninja, its black skin indeed resembling a stealth suit. Xia Huanao smacked his lips. "A Shiny. It's quite cool."
Meiyuan announced the battle rules. "The Pokémon each side can use is limited to one. The battlefield is the entire courtyard. Is that acceptable?"
Although the limitation of the battlefield left Xia Huanao a bit confused, he decided to battle first and ask questions later. Xia Huanao indicated to Meiyuan that he had no objections, and Meiyuan nodded towards Feng, signaling that the battle could commence.
"Then I'm going in! Greninja, use Double Team!"
Greninja instantly split into over a dozen shadows that darted forward. Xia Huanao, meanwhile, directed Rotom. "Rotom, you don't need to translate the moves. I can understand Greninja's moves. Froakie, let's use Double Team too!"
The shadows from both sides rapidly converged. Greninja's clones collectively launched Water Shurikens at Froakie, and Froakie, under Xia Huanao's command, retaliated with Water Pulse. The two attacks collided, creating a burst of intense steam. When the steam dissipated, Froakie and Xia Huanao could no longer see Greninja's figure.
Xia Huanao scanned the courtyard. It wasn't large and could be taken in at a glance. There were no trees to hide behind. Where had Greninja gone?
"Froakie, watch out for sneak attacks."
Froakie stood on high alert, its senses focused. Suddenly, a Water Shuriken flew out from the left, heading towards Froakie at extreme speed.
"Froakie, retreat and dodge! Don't let your guard down, it might not be on the left."
Froakie retreated a few steps towards Xia Huanao. Then, Greninja suddenly darted out from the right and delivered an Iai Strike to Froakie's back.
Caught off guard, Froakie stumbled. Greninja didn't press its advantage, instead vanishing once more. Xia Huanao glanced in the direction Greninja had appeared. "So that's it. No wonder the entire courtyard was included in the battle zone."
"Rotom, tell Feng to call out Greninja. I'm not the type to stop at nothing to win. I might just tear down the house to force Greninja to reveal itself."
When Rotom relayed the message, the ninjas became somewhat flustered. After all, there wasn't much left in the dojo, and if the house were to be demolished, the dojo would truly be on the verge of ruin.
Feng understood the problem well and had no choice but to have Greninja emerge from the shadows of the house.
Xia Huanao smiled. "You do care about your dojo. But ninjas fighting in the sunlight are a different matter. Froakie, use Double Team to surround it!"
Froakie's shadows charged at Greninja from all directions. Greninja, facing the Froakie army, remained unfazed, using Double Team once more for close combat. However, Greninja's Double Team clones were more proficient than Froakie's, both in number and in the power of their close-quarters attacks.
Froakie's clones were quickly eliminated by Greninja's clones. Greninja's main body then gathered a large Water Shuriken and launched it towards Xia Huanao.
Xia Huanao looked at the shuriken, significantly larger than a normal one. "Froakie, block it with Water Pulse, then accelerate and throw it back!"
Froakie gathered water spheres with its hands, expanding them into a water shield in front of its chest. As Greninja's Water Shuriken flew closer, Froakie ducked down, and the shuriken was swallowed by Froakie's rotating water shield.
Everyone present had never witnessed such a fighting style and watched with great interest. Froakie continuously increased the rotation speed of its water shield, causing Greninja's Water Shuriken, which was flying towards Froakie, to spin faster and faster above Froakie's head, resembling a propeller.
"Froakie, throw it back!"
A powerful Water Shuriken rapidly flew towards Greninja. Greninja, unable to dodge in time, was directly hit by the Water Shuriken and sent flying backward.
"Well done, Froakie!"
"Impressive, but ninjas don't give up that easily! Greninja, Double Team, Water Shuriken!"
Seeing the torrent of Water Shurikens flying towards them, Xia Huanao thought for a moment and said, "Froakie, let's try to dodge them all with speed!"
Xia Huanao was truly daring. If Froakie were to be hit by that overwhelming barrage of Water Shurikens, it would undoubtedly be incapacitated. Yet, even in such a situation, Xia Huanao dared to have Froakie attempt this.
But, remarkably, Froakie, with its maximized speed EVs and agility, actually managed to dodge Greninja's Water Shurikens using pure speed.
"Froakie, let's climb the wall and get close, then use Water Pulse!"
Froakie rapidly sprinted towards the courtyard's wall and then, with a light touch of its feet, ascended it. The width of the wall top was not great, allowing Froakie to run, but significantly increasing the difficulty of dodging. However, Xia Huanao had his own plan. "What do you say, my Froakie is standing on the wall like this. Do you dare to attack?"
Xia Huanao intended to make Feng hesitate. Since Feng was reluctant to demolish the house, they would gamble on whether he dared to break down the wall.
However, something unexpected happened. Feng showed no regard for the wall and directly commanded Greninja to attack Froakie with Water Shuriken. Although Froakie dodged the Water Shurikens on the wall, Greninja was already closing in.
"Greninja, use Aerial Ace!"
"Froakie, use Ice Beam!"
Greninja rapidly closed the distance, and Froakie's Ice Beam, just as their distances narrowed, hit Greninja. However, Greninja's Aerial Ace, while forcing Froakie to dodge, successfully made Froakie lose its footing, pulling Greninja down from the wall along with it.
Xia Huanao looked at the two Pokémon falling together, entwined. "Feng, I truly didn't expect you to not care about that wall at all."
"It's not that I don't care. It's just that our dojo walls often collapse, so we're quite experienced at repairing them."
Hearing Feng's explanation, Xia Huanao didn't know what to say. However, the battle wasn't over yet. "Froakie, since he doesn't care, neither do we! Climb the wall and bombard him!"
Froakie jumped onto the wall, and Greninja pursued it. The two Pokémon moved rapidly on the wall. Froakie continuously threw spheres of Water Pulse and Dark Pulse behind it, while Greninja incessantly deflected the two pulses with Aerial Ace and Iai Strike.
"Froakie, try it! Use Double Team to attack behind you!"
"Greninja, counter with Double Team!"
Although both sides were using Double Team to attack each other, Froakie, running ahead, had a certain advantage. Because Froakie threw Double Team attacks backward, it didn't need to worry about the path ahead. Greninja, however, pursuing from behind, had to be wary of Froakie suddenly appearing in front of it, risking a fall from the wall. This would allow Froakie's counterattack to begin immediately.
Seeing Froakie nearing the house it had been in earlier as it ran, Xia Huanao asked, "Are you still chasing? If you chase further, you'll be on the house."
Feng hesitated. The other ninjas present, however, spoke in unison, "Chase it! You have to win!"
Hearing the shouts of the other ninjas, Feng made up his mind. "Greninja, chase it!"
And so, the two Pokémon battled from the wall all the way onto the roof. However, this compressed Xia Huanao's role. The battle between Froakie and Greninja was not clearly visible to Xia Huanao and Feng below, leaving them unable to do anything but let the two Pokémon fight on the roof.
"Froakie, if you can't handle it, come down from the roof!"
As soon as Xia Huanao finished speaking, he saw Froakie jump directly down from the roof. Greninja followed closely, leaping off the roof as well. But what no one anticipated was that Froakie shattered upon falling from the roof. Greninja, seeing this, paused for a moment before immediately turning around. But it was too late; Froakie's Double Pulse directly struck Greninja's head.
Xia Huanao chuckled. It was clear that Froakie had used Double Team on the roof earlier, and when Xia Huanao called out, it had directly sent a clone down to lure the enemy. Greninja had fallen for it, and was hit from behind by Froakie's Double Pulse.
Greninja, struck by Froakie, was slightly weakened but still able to fight. Feng, seeing Greninja's condition, praised Froakie. "Very impressive, and very smart. Mr. Hu, you've trained it very well."
Xia Huanao shook his head. "Not enough. It was hit from behind, and it didn't inflict any fatal damage on Greninja. I still need more practice."
Feng glanced at Greninja. "I must admit, you are a strong opponent. So, would you be interested in seeing my ultimate move?"
Xia Huanao blinked. An ultimate move? Greninja's ultimate move? That sounded incredibly interesting. The ninjas around them also became excited upon hearing Feng's words. "Go for it, leader!"