The Ninetales has left, and the house has become dilapidated once again because of the lack of illusions.
But this thing still had some uses left for them , this could at least protect them from the ongoing harsh the wind and rain. Ash and his party decided to stay here for the night because of this. They waited until the fog cleared the next day before setting off again on the mountain road.
This time, they plan to take a shortcut through Mt. Mortar through a cave discovered by Phanpy. The terrain of this mountain is indeed very complex, just like what Brock read from the Travel Brochure. If Ash was alone,
Maybe he would be willing to have a good adventure and go through the inner most areas, and maybe he would also encounter some strange Pokémon.
But now he has a companion and especially Molly to look after, so going through the shorter cave is a very good idea.
This cave was obviously dug by some other Trainers to pass through Mt. Mortar faster than normal time. There were even lights inside, showing how safe it was. Ash and his party quickly passed through the cave and came to the exit.
They did successfully pass Mt. Mortar, and now they could go down the mountain as long as they walked a short distance. After that, it will only be a short walk to Mahogany Town.
But at the exit, they encountered a very interesting Pokémon, Tyrouge, which was the pre-evolution form of the three Pokémon, Hitmolee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop.
This Pokémon is small in stature, but the body is full of energy. This Pokémon has a different emphasis on fighting skills after evolving into one of its three forms. Tyrogue fighting skills are very balanced, but it is not that outstanding exactly because of that.
"Big Brother, it looks so listless!" Molly looked at the Tyrouge and wondered what happened to it.
Indeed, he looks quite melancholy, sitting under a tree and thinking about life.
Brock gave it some Pokémon food, but it had no interest in it.
Just when Brock was about to try another kind of Pokémon food, Tyrouge suddenly got ready and ran away with several cans of feed!
"Do you really think that you can run away from me?" Ash gave Tyrouge on of his smile, activated his Psychic and caught the kid.
Unexpectedly, at that very moment, a large number of pebbles and fruit seeds suddenly fell from the tree towards Ash and his gang.
Ash quickly used his Psychic to protect Molly and the others but it was still enough for the Tyrouge to run away.
Suddenly a Mankey and a Primeape jumped down from the tree and followed behind the running Tyrouge. They took the rest of the Pokémon food in their arms and jumped up the cliff together.
"Stop chasing, it's just a few cans of Pokémon feed. We won't die without them." Ash grabbed Brock before he could chase after them. The mountain wall was too dangerous and their weight couldn't be supported if they went all out.
"Fine." Brock stopped as he was told, "I didn't expect that Tyrouge would block here specifically to grab Trainer's food, and he also had accomplices with him!"
"That Tyrouge's skills are very good for being being a wild Pokémon and all that!" Ash praised that Tyrouge quite well. As a Pokémon Trainer, his focus is of course to train the strongest Pokémon's he can.
"Hey, you guys!" A burly young man appeared behind the group out of nowhere, accompanied by a Hitmonchan and and a Hitmonlee.
"I just heard what you guys were talking about just now, a Tyrouge with a Mankey and a Primeape as its parters, right?"
Ash turned around to face him, "Yes, that was a skilled Tyrouge from what I saw!"
Seeing Ash, the young man seemed to suddenly become very excited, "You, you are Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, right? I heard Master Chuck talking about you!"
"Master Chuck?"
The young man calmed down and introduced himself, "I am Chuck's number one student. My name is Kiyo, but everyone just calls me the 'The Karate King'!"
"Ash, Master Chuck was always full of praise for you whenever we talked, saying that you have a powerful strength that surpasses even him. I can't wait to experience the power he was talking about so much. Please have a Pokémon Battle with me! Please, I want to make sure before I'm ready for the P1 Grand Prix. I want you to be my coach for now!"
"P1 Grand Prix?" This name kind of seemed familiar to Ash.
So he took out the belt that Primeape gave him from inside of his bag, "Are you talking about this one?"
Kiyo's eyes widened as he took the belt, "Yes, that's it. I really didn't expect you to be the Trainer of that Primeape that won the last P1 Grand Prix. Now you have to have a Pokémon Battle with me with your Primeape!"
He could if he had it with him, it's just that his Primeape is currently busy teaching Heracross the fighting techniques he learned at Professor Oak Laboratory.
There was also the fact that something was always happening to Primeape at night and he has been keep punching something with his rage during those times.
However this was not a problem as it was still the day time. So Kiyo quickly took Ash to a Pokémon Center at the foot of the mountain and he asked Professor Oak to temporarily exchange Primeape to him.
"Stand by for battle, Primeape!"
Kiyo knew at a glance that this Primeape was unimaginably powerful, so he did not dare to underestimate the opponent and sent Hitmonchan to challenge!
"Don't be afraid, Hitmonchan, use Mach Punch!"
Hitmonchan's boxing skills are very good. It has been studied that its punch speed can cut the air and cause burns even if it passes by. With its hands, it can punch and can break concrete without feeling anything.
Mach Punch is also a fast attack that normal Pokémon may not even have the time to react to it!
However, Primeape only needed half a step back to avoid the punch.
"Punch continuously!"
Hitmonchan punched him one after another, but Primeape easily avoided them all like it was second nature to him.
Primeape has already experienced many battles against the Hitmonlee species, so such an attack can easily be avoided by his current self awareness. And Ash didn't even think of giving an order, he wanted to see how far Primeape has come.
"MUDA, MUDA, MUDA, MUDA!" Seeing Kiyo on the other side constantly telling his Hitmonchan to not give up, Ash finally believed that this was indeed one of Chuck's disciple.
"Hitmonchan, use Mach Punch again!"
At this time, Primeape had already retreated several meters. It jumped up and easily avoided the punch, and behind it was a huge boulder!
Hitmonchan's punch hit the boulder hard, and it was very powerful one at that. The boulder was shattered, but Primeape didn't even make a move, meaning he was tons of energy left over. Hitmonchan had exhausted himself to a very difficult position.
"Now, Brick Break!"
The hand knife with a hard black ring suddenly appeared behind Hitmonchan, and the moment it turned around, it was struck hard on the head!
"Come back, Hitmonchan, you did your best!" Kiyo took back his Hitmonchan that fought very hard for him, "Okay, now it's your turn, Hitmonlee!"
With the experience of Hitmonchan just now, Ash wants to know how Kiyo will respond with his Hitmonlee.
"Hitmonlee, show them the destructive power of your Rolling Kick!"
It was still a straight attack without any plannings behind it, and both Ash and Primeape were about to fall asleep just from being there. And as a monkey, Primeape was already agile enough and under Ash's and Anthony's trainings, he was easily able to avoid this fast kick.
Then before it could retract its legs, he suddenly attacked it and punched it in the face with a Rage Fist.
It was an instant defeat!
Kiyo took back his Hitmonlee and said, "Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, you performed very well, I'm really proud of you two!"
Ash patted his Primeape on the head and said, "Thank you for your hard work. I have to trouble you again. I found a good apprentice for you!"
Primeape nodded, jumped and grabbed Ash's hat and put it on his head.
"Mr. Ash, thank you for helping me see our weakness!" Kiyo suddenly bowed to Ash very deeply.
"I have one more request for you. Please fight me, man to man!" Kiyo said aloud.
"Mr. Kiyo, a real fight would be too much, don't you think so?" Misty tried to persuade him, not because she was worried that Ash would be injured, but because she was afraid that Kiyo would be hit too hard.
"No, I came here to practice hard in the foothills and meditate under the waterfall just to prove myself. Please give me this opportunity, Mr. Ash!"
Since the other party was so hell bent to fight, Ash had no choice but to agree to his return.
Kiyo made a karate start and tried to hit Ash with a straight punch. The punch was powerful and heavy, obviously full of Kiyo's raw strength.
This punch hit Ash's palm and Kiyo could no longer make any moves because of teh strong grip Ash had on him.
Kiyo felt as if he had hit a five-meter-thick wall. The wall was also covered with a layer of cotton to protect his own fist from suffering from an injury.
With his single punch being blocked so easily, he knew he had lost the battle.