"Roar!"
Pangoro moved swiftly. Clenching its right fist, it swung its arm and slammed it forward.
The Hitmonchan reacted quickly, turning back to counter the attack—but Pangoro's punch came too fast. With a single blow, Hitmonchan was sent flying. Even getting back on its feet was a struggle.
Still, relying on its tenacious willpower, Hitmonchan slowly got up again, eyes still burning with fighting spirit.
"This Pokémon's fighting spirit is quite impressive," Nathan murmured. A Pokémon with that kind of determination usually had an unyielding nature and would achieve great things with the right training.
Unfortunately, he already had Pangoro and didn't need this Hitmonchan.
"Finish the fight. Use Shave to rush in, then Thunder Punch!"
…
Bang!
[Your Pokémon "Pangoro" has won the battle and gained '' experience points. Level up! Now Level 34!]
[Name: Pangoro]
[Ability: Iron Fist (Boosts punching moves)]
[Type: Fighting + Dark]
[Description: Pangoro, the Dauntless Pokémon. Evolution of Pancham. Hot-tempered and always looking for a fight. The bamboo leaf in its mouth acts as a sensory organ, detecting nearby movements.
[Level: 34 (Commander tier: 31–40)]
[Moves: Shave, Iron Body, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Crunch, Hammer Arm...]
Hearing the system prompt in his ear, Nathan smiled, then took out some high-grade potion and began treating the defeated Hitmonlee's wounds.
….
It had been a day since Nathan arrived in this secret realm. That first Hitmonchan had, unsurprisingly, been defeated by Pangoro. Since that battle, Nathan and Pangoro had moved deeper into the area, challenging Pokémon along the way and training through battles.
After treating the Hitmonlee, Nathan waved to Pangoro and said, "Come on, time for your bath."
Upon hearing the word bath, Pangoro's expression turned reluctant, but it still slowly walked over to Nathan.
They were currently living in a cave—one they had discovered by accident. Inside the cave was a large crater that Pangoro had accidentally smashed out, which now served as a makeshift bath. But instead of filling it with water, Nathan had filled it with sea salt.
Back before his transmigration, Nathan had lived in a rural area. His neighbor had been an old martial arts master who often used sea salt to wash his face during training. Curious, Nathan had once asked why, and the old man explained that it was an ancient training method.
Scrubbing the skin with sea salt was painful, but it made the skin tougher and more resistant to blows—greatly increasing physical defense.
That old man only dared to use sea salt on his face since the human body could suffer unpredictable side effects from a full-body scrub. But Pangoro was a Fighting-type Pokémon, far sturdier than any human. To help it through this training, Nathan had prepared a ton of healing items and special medicinal baths. Only after ensuring Pangoro wouldn't be left with hidden injuries did he start this intense training.
It was all to boost Pangoro's physical defense.
"Roar..." Pangoro growled, reluctantly sitting in the salt bath. Picking up a handful of coarse sea salt, it gritted its teeth and began scrubbing furiously, groaning from the pain.
For any Pokémon to grow stronger, bitter training and life-or-death trials were inevitable.
While Pangoro trained, Nathan pulled out some herbs from his bag, grinding them into powder for external use. These would help heal the superficial injuries caused by the salt.
This wasn't the only training method. Nathan was also teaching Pangoro more techniques from the Rokushiki—the Six Powers of the Navy.
So far, Pangoro had learned two of the six.
Some techniques didn't suit Pangoro well, like Moon Step (Geppo), which allowed one to move briefly through the air by rapidly kicking off it. Due to Pangoro's size, it would be difficult to master.
But Kami-e (Paper Arts) was different.
Nathan had previously trained his Volcarona in Kami-e, so he had experience. It's a defensive technique that, unlike Iron Body, works by completely relaxing the muscles, allowing the user to dodge attacks by sensing airflow and moving with paper-like flexibility.
Pangoro was already highly sensitive to airflow and could sense subtle changes in its surroundings with the bamboo it always chewed.
This technique was practically made for Pangoro.
Half an hour later, Pangoro finally stopped training, looking at Nathan in pain.
"Alright, alright, let me treat you now," Nathan said, quickly applying the herbal powder to Pangoro's skin.
Pangoro stared at him with tearful eyes.
With a twitching mouth, Nathan helplessly pulled a small jar of nectar from his bag and handed it to Pangoro. It dabbed some on its hand, licked it, and instantly relaxed, smiling contentedly.
This was Sweet Honey, a delicacy Nathan had bought from the system store. Pokémon loved it. It was made from nectar collected by Pokémon, and if dropped in the wild, it could attract a swarm of wild Pokémon.
"Phew…"
Seeing Pangoro finally satisfied, Nathan focused on applying the rest of the treatment. This kind of process would need to continue until they left the secret realm.
A single session wouldn't do much—it needed long-term effort to toughen the skin.
Though it was painful at first, Pangoro would eventually get used to it.
After another half-hour of applying medicine, Nathan began preparing another herbal bath, mixing ingredients from various jars and bottles.
By the time everything was finished, it was already late at night, and Pangoro had fallen into a deep sleep.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Nathan gulped down some water and then lay down next to Pangoro, using its soft, chubby paw as a pillow and drifting off to sleep.
…
The next morning, before 8 AM.
Bang bang bang!
Bang bang bang!
A burst of battle noise echoed from outside the cave, waking Nathan from his sleep.
Rubbing his eyes, he looked toward the entrance and murmured, "Pokémon battling this early in the morning? The Fighting-types in this secret realm sure love to fight."
…
When Nathan stepped outside and looked around, his eyes widened in shock.
On a clearing at the base of the mountain, a burly man was fighting a Pokémon—not commanding it, but actually fighting it hand-to-hand.
The Pokémon wasn't using moves, just pure martial arts. Even so, each strike was powerful beyond anything a normal person could handle. Yet the man was keeping up blow for blow.
"Is that Bruno reincarnated or something?" Nathan muttered.
Then he squinted and recognized the man.
"Oh—it's him. Logan Gray, the Fighting-type Elite Four!"
And that Pokémon… "Mienshao? Could it be the guardian Pokémon of this secret realm?"
Nathan identified the man: tall, muscular, bronze-skinned, with messy hair and a white martial arts uniform. He did resemble Bruno from the original series but had a more commanding presence—like a tiger ready to strike at any moment.
Logan Gray—the Fighting-type Elite Guardian.
Nathan had never met him personally, but as one of the six national Elites, he often appeared on TV and online. Nathan recognized him instantly.
The Pokémon was indeed Mienshao.
A pure Fighting-type with excellent base stats, Mienshao was a natural martial artist. It could use its arm fur like flexible whips, and its striking speed was lightning-fast. Once it started attacking, it was hard to stop.
Bang!
Mienshao delivered a powerful kick, sending Logan flying. They separated, catching their breath.
Mienshao looked in Nathan's direction, called out, and then leapt away swiftly.
Logan scratched his head and looked toward Nathan. "You there, come on out. No need to keep hiding. You scared off the master I finally managed to invite here."
"Let's go, Pangoro," Nathan called, walking out with a smile. He could tell the man wasn't hostile—probably military background.
As Nathan stepped into view, Logan's face lit up with surprise. "You're Nathan Vesper the Trainer?"
"Huh… you know me?" Nathan asked, puzzled.
"Of course I do!" Logan laughed and walked over, slapping Nathan on the shoulder. "One of the reasons I came to Poplar City was because of you!"
Cough cough. After a few heavy slaps, Nathan quietly shifted away and said, "Has anyone told you not to hit people like that? I've got a fragile body, you know."
"Haha, my bad. I got excited seeing you," Logan apologized, scratching his head.
Nathan sighed. "So, why were you looking for me?"
Logan's face turned serious. "I saw you in the Trial Tournament. Honestly, if I hadn't witnessed it myself, I wouldn't believe a rookie Trainer could develop two practical and highly beneficial techniques for Fighting-types."
"I came here hoping you'd share the training methods for those two techniques."
Seeing Nathan's hesitation, he added quickly, "Don't worry, I'm not demanding anything. I'm asking. And I won't take them for free—I'll offer any resources I can in exchange. Also, I promise on my reputation: unless you allow it, I won't teach these techniques to anyone else."
As a Fighting-type Elite, he understood just how valuable those two techniques were.
Nathan was surprised but had already guessed something like this. He nodded and said, "Let me think about it, alright?"
"Of course," Logan said without hesitation. "Even if you refuse, I won't mind. We old folks just hope the next generation can thrive."
Nathan then asked curiously, "Didn't you say you came here for two reasons? One was to see me. What's the other?"
"To capture a Pokémon," Logan Gray replied without hiding anything.
"You mean that Mienshao?" Nathan asked in surprise.
"No. That Mienshao is the guardian of this secret realm—it can't and shouldn't be captured," Logan Gray explained. "Each secret realm usually has a 'dominant' Pokémon that acts as a kind of ruler. They cooperate with humans to maintain peace between Trainers and the wild Pokémon inside."
"If a guardian is captured, others will fight to replace it, leading to full-scale conflict within the realm. It's happened before. Wild Pokémon with power and ambition aren't stupid. They'll do anything to get stronger."
Nathan nodded in understanding. "So… what Pokémon are you planning to catch?"
"One of that Mienshao's offspring. I've had my eye on it for a while, but the old guy won't hand it over—says I'm too reckless and might set a bad example for its kid," Logan Gray said with a helpless sigh.
"But I think I'm actually a pretty calm guy."