aircannonsinc Chapter 297 Uncle Liu in Winter
Chapter 297 Uncle Liu in Winter
Chapter 297 Uncle Liu in Winter
"Xiaoxia, I can smell the aura of a master in this area!" Xiaozhi immediately perked up and started searching around.
"Ah, here?"
Misty, somewhat bewildered by Ash's sudden words, looked around.
"But there's nobody around here except us."
"No, there must be one," Ash said confidently, his waveguide sensing rapidly spreading outwards.
What a coincidence! Suitable candidates for extreme training are extremely rare.
After all, becoming a legendary figure requires not only great strength but also excellent teaching skills. That's why Ash has only ever seen three people capable of conducting extreme training.
Ash absolutely cannot miss the chance to meet someone in a place like this.
But after looking around, he couldn't find anyone who seemed like a powerful or legendary figure.
"Could there be a system error?"
Ash retracted his waveguide sensor and prepared to continue the training with Dragonite, but then he suddenly noticed something and instinctively looked up.
Standing at the outlet of this great waterfall was a thin, shirtless old man.
Ash was mainly focused on the people on the ground and didn't look at the waterfall.
The old man had a cold, icy expression on his face, and a white sea lion with an equally serious face was beside him.
They only glanced at it briefly before leaping off the cliff.
Then it landed steadily in the lake below the waterfall, with an absolutely perfect landing posture. Little Smart gives it a perfect score.
The old man and the white sea lion nimbly swam to a rock directly below the waterfall and closed their eyes to meditate.
They let the powerful force of the waterfall wash over their bodies.
"What an imposing old man! Ash, you said you wanted to find a powerful person to help train your Pokémon, could it be him?"
.
He had the air of a hermit sage.
"That's him!"
Xiao Zhi was overjoyed to find that someone else was cultivating in the same hardcore way as him. It seemed that they were kindred spirits.
"But this old man seems cold and unapproachable. Is he really alright?"
He seems like the kind of old man with a bad temper, Xia is a little worried.
But Xiao Zhi didn't hesitate and immediately walked over casually.
His current alliance favorability is very high; he can be considered an alliance succubus. It's easy for any upright person to get along with him.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have discovered a new legendary figure: "Lymphog, Gym Leader of Kaji City!"]
Ash was even more relieved to find out that Psy was the Gym Leader of Kaji City. He was certain that Psy wouldn't be a bad person.
Confidently step forward with a polite greeting, then immediately suffer a crushing defeat.
"How could that be!"
After exchanging a few words, the other person's eyes immediately flashed with a terrifying light when they glanced at the Dragonite next to Ash and the Pikachu on his shoulder.
"What's with your soft-spoken attitude? Why did you leave your Pokémon outside?"
"That's because I have a great relationship with Pikachu, we're best friends—"
"Hmph, naive!"
Upon hearing Ash say that he was good friends with Pokémon, Uncle Liu immediately jumped up from under the waterfall and onto the shore as if he had been stressed.
"To think you have such a ridiculous idea, you're hopeless." His words were cold and stubborn.
There must be a clear boundary between humans and Pokémon. No matter what kind of friendship or bond it is, it cannot allow Pokémon to unleash their full potential.
"I won't help someone as weak as you, and I also won't accept the dojo match scheduled for tomorrow."
Unexpectedly, there were gym leaders with such thoughts in the Pokémon world. After saying this, Liu Bo recalled Dewl into its Poké Ball and turned to leave.
"Wait a moment!"
If you can't challenge the Kaji Gym, and instead try to challenge other gyms on another route, it usually takes a lot more time.
Especially for Ash, who is notorious for getting lost, the amount of time he might waste is unimaginable.
How did things turn out like this, you old geezer!
The orator's charm and high popularity had no effect on him; he was completely unwilling to communicate with anyone when it came to Pokémon.
Ash's conversation with him broke down after only a few rounds, a first for the language master Ash.
Ash learned a lesson, albeit a small one, for being too superstitious about the qualities of a good orator.
However, Ash, whose muscles are so strong they could shatter diamonds, is being called a coward one day. Ash can't accept that!
"What's wrong with becoming good friends with your Pokémon? In the Pokémon world, the power of bonds is the strongest!"
"Sigh, it still doesn't work. Koyanagi is still so stubborn."
"But he has a high status in the league, and nobody can control him."
Just as Xiao Zhi was about to chase after Uncle Liu, an old lady with a headscarf and messy hair suddenly jumped out from the bushes.
"Yes, you're the auntie who told me about a good place to cultivate here," Xiaoxia exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh, is this the auntie who told you about the sacred cultivation ground in Kaji Town?"
So, it was this aunt who led Xiaozhi and the others to see Uncle Liu.
The auntie who had been taking a walk on the path in Xiaozhi's perception just now turned out to be someone who knew Uncle Liu.
When Xiao Zhi and the others asked her a question, the older woman immediately smiled broadly, jumped up on the spot, landed on one foot, and introduced herself.
"That's right, I'm Sima, the outgoing girl next door who cares about Uncle Liu!"
There are so many flaws in this sentence. Why did he have to jump on the spot?
And what's with this "unrestrained young girl" nonsense? Is it really appropriate for someone your age to say such things? Are all the old people in Kaji Town kung fu masters like Uncle Liu and Sima?
But Ash managed to suppress his urge to complain.
"Um, Sima—Auntie, do you know about Uncle Liu?"
Judging from Plum's Delicious, he takes good care of his Pokémon; he couldn't possibly be the kind of person who has no feelings for his partners.
But he appeared so cold and stubborn that even a fool could guess there must be a story behind it, so he quickly asked Sima, who seemed to know a lot about the inside story.
Aunt Sima didn't hold back and immediately began reminiscing about Uncle Liu's youth.
"Well, actually, Xiaoliu used to be just like you, someone who firmly believed in the bond of friendship with Pokémon."
"Really? I never would have guessed. He was talking about Ash just now."
"There's a reason for that," Sima said regretfully, shaking her head.
"This passionate young man, when he was young, traveled and challenged the Johto League with his best partner, the long-haired pig."
"They were almost invincible until one day, Xiaoliu encountered a master Pokémon user using a Magmar at a major tournament."
Suddenly, Ash felt that this person sounded like Blaine.
"That was Xiaoliu's first crushing defeat. During the match, he shielded the long-haired boar from a fire attack, but this resulted in Xiaoliu suffering burns all over his body."
"After that injury, he didn't recover for a long time and was no longer able to continue his trainer's journey."
"And on one of the most distressing nights of his life, the long-haired pig disappeared without a trace."
"Xiao Liu believes that the long-haired pig abandoned him when he became a cripple, which is why he has become the cold and indifferent person he is now."
He was also known as Uncle Willow of Winter.
"There must be some hidden story here. After all, how could the long-haired pig, who was so close before, abandon Uncle Liu?"
.
Ash simply doesn't believe that a Pokémon would abandon its trainer under such circumstances.
"At first, Xiaoliu didn't want to believe it either, but he had been searching here for a long time and waiting for many years —"
"Even the long-haired pig didn't come back, and in the end he had to accept the fact that the long-haired pig had abandoned him."
"Wait a minute, Aunt Sima, are you saying the long-haired pig went missing around here?"
Suddenly, Ash discovered the key point.
"Yes, Kaji Town is Xiaoliu's hometown. The long-haired pig was recuperating in his hometown with Xiaoliu."
"I never expected something like this to happen—"
After listening to Aunt Sima's story, Xiaozhi knew that he had finally found a way to break through the stubborn old man's defenses.
Ash is extremely good at finding people or Pokémon.
Even places that are inaccessible to ordinary people can be easily found using waveguide power.
"Heh heh, Uncle Liu, I'll make you come to me in person and apologize!"
Even in normal times, Ash would lend a hand in such situations, and this time he would do so even more, as he even wanted Uncle Liu to help him with extreme training.
And Ash held a grudge after being called a coward by Liu Bo.
Following the area given by Aunt Sima, Ash immediately rode on Dragonite's back and began searching the surrounding area.
Unfortunately, he searched from morning till night but found nothing.
Back in town, Aunt Sima comforted him.
"It's alright, young man. Xiao Liu searched this place countless times back then; you could say she practically turned the ground upside down."
"In the end, we still couldn't find the long-haired pig; it's basically impossible for you to find it."
But Ash still didn't want to give up. He carefully sensed the sky, the ground, and every valley near Kaji Town, but he still couldn't find it.
Suddenly, he remembered the image of Uncle Liu standing on the waterfall that morning.
"Is there something I've overlooked?"
"Yeah, besides the ground and the sky, there's also the underground!" Ash hasn't explored the depths of the underground yet.
He quickly asked Sima if there were any places nearby that resembled rift valleys or cliffs, and to his surprise, there really were.
In the forest where Uncle Liu usually trained, there was a bottomless rift valley. Ash immediately took Pikachu and flew there.
Reaching the edge of the cliff, they leaped off, plummeting violently to the bottom of the valley like cannonballs.
A huge crater was blasted at the bottom of the valley, and then he and Pikachu climbed out as if nothing had happened.
This level of difficulty is too easy for them.
Then Ash spread out the waveguide sensor again, and unexpectedly made a discovery.
"The rock fault here seems a bit out of place with the surroundings—there must have been a landslide here; there used to be an entrance here."
Ash quickly found a rock wall and immediately ordered Pikachu to use Iron Tail and his own fists to quickly carve out a passage leading deep into the rock wall.
A moment later, Ash and Pikachu somehow managed to break through the bottom of a mountain and arrive at a cave.
"Oh, this is—"
At the Kaji Gym on the morning of the second day after Absolute Zero.
Uncle Liu got up regularly as usual, preparing for his training for the day, while Aunt Xima tried to persuade him to get up.
"Koyanagi, are you really not going to let that young man challenge you to the dojo match he's agreed to?"
"As a gym leader, this isn't quite right."
Unfortunately, Uncle Liu has now completely frozen out his inner childishness and is unmoved by any attempts to persuade him.
"The Gym Leader's duty is to guide and test Trainers. Since I believe he is not qualified, there is no need for him to participate in the Gym Challenge."
Uncle Liu is a veteran among veterans of the City Alliance. Even if the current president and champion came, he would dare to slam the door and refuse to see them.
What does refusing a trainer's challenge mean to him? He doesn't care.
But to everyone's surprise, Ash and Misty were already waiting at the door when Uncle Liu opened the gym door.
After a slight surprise, Uncle Liu immediately reverted to his usual cold expression.
"You still came. I told you I wouldn't accept your gym challenge—"
But before Uncle Liu could finish speaking, Xiao Zhi waved his hand and interrupted him.
"Then let me show it to you."
"What?"
Just then, Ash snapped his fingers, and Pikachu came over carrying a huge block of ice and gently placed it in front of Pikachu.
When he saw what was inside the ice, Uncle Liu's eyes widened instantly, and his mouth opened uncontrollably, unable to close.
Tears welled up involuntarily from the corners of his eyes.
Frozen inside this huge block of ice is an astonishingly large, long-haired pig, with an unknown herb dangling from its mouth.
"This—this is my hairy pig! Where did you find it?!"
"At the bottom of the Great Rift Valley in the Kaji Forest, inside a cave that was covered by a collapse."
"It took me a lot of effort to find it."
In order to protect the long-haired pigs inside, Xiaozhi was only able to safely remove the large block of ice and move it here this morning.
At this moment, Uncle Liu was already hugging the large ice block and sobbing uncontrollably. Ash quickly released Typhlosion and had it control its power to use Flamethrower to melt the ice block.
The long-haired pig inside slowly came into view.
This long-haired pig is also incredibly powerful. Even after being frozen for decades, the waveguide energy emanating from its body continues to flow continuously.
After the ice melted, the long-haired pig resumed breathing at Uncle Liu's call.
The long-haired pig immediately spotted Uncle Liu as soon as it opened its eyes.
Even though it had been decades since they last met, Uncle Liu had transformed from a spirited young man into an elderly man.
But the long-haired pig immediately recognized him and happily placed the herbs it was carrying in its mouth into his hand.
"This is medicine for treating burns!" Sima exclaimed in surprise.
"It turns out that the long-haired pig left to find medicine to treat Uncle Liu's burns, but unexpectedly, it was frozen in the cave for decades after an accident —"
"Long-haired pig, I'm sorry. It was all my fault for thinking you would abandon me. — Let's use sleep."
Sleep is a move that allows Pokémon to recover their stamina by falling asleep. Liubo had his Mamoswine use Sleep.
This long-haired pig also has amazing vitality. After being frozen for decades, it woke up instantly after just one nap.
His physical strength had completely recovered, and there was no sign of injury whatsoever.
The man and the pig hugged each other and cried for a long time.
After a long while, Uncle Liu finally regained his composure, stood up, and came to Xiao Zhi.
[Ding! Uncle Liu: Favorability +50]
"I'm so sorry, Xiaozhi, for saying those hurtful things to you yesterday."
"I really don't know how to repay such a great kindness."