The Bond

Chapter Nine: Training with a Ninja

The group sat down and ate the delicious meal Clemont and Serena had prepared. Upon finishing, Sanpei and Ash raced over to a clearing with Froakie and Frogadier to start their training. Sanpei began with, "In order to increase your speed, you must first be swift of foot. Follow me!" He started swiftly jumping back and forth with Frogadier as the two of them showed Ash and Froakie what to do. The duo, wanting to impress Frogadier and Sanpei, began jumping back and forth. Initially quite slow, the two of them managed to eventually speed up enough to match the ninja pair. Sanpei widened his eyes as he had never seen someone master this technique so quickly. He then said, "Alright, now we begin training while moving. Let's climb that tree there, try to use your speed."

Sanpei and Frogadier demonstrated, running towards the tree. While Frogadier was able to just run up the side from moving so quickly, Sanpei turned his forwards momentum into upwards force to help him climb swiftly. The ninjas landed on a branch and waited for their pupils to give it a try.

"Alright Froakie, let's show them what we can do!" Ash ran forwards while moving his feet swiftly from the training he and Sanpei had just done. He copied Sanpei's movements, finding handholds and swiftly pulling himself up with the momentum from running. Meanwhile, Froakie ran full blast towards the tree and managed to run up the side of the tree just as Frogadier did.

Sanpei saw them quickly climb the tree and said, "Good job, now we start this portion of training. Leap from branch to branch quickly with your Froakie. To do this you must both see what lays ahead and plan what will happen. Do you feel ready to try this task?" Sanpei had a feeling that Ash wouldn't back down, and wasn't disappointed.

Frogadier said, "Frog, Froga. Frogadier!" Then Sanpei and Frogadier took off, flying across from branch to branch together. Ash looked on in awe, only to be snapped out of his thoughts by Froakie saying, "Fro fro." "Right! Let's do this, Froakie! And remember, we gotta look ahead." The duo took off, running from branch to branch with speed, but not as much as Frogadier and Sanpei. The ninja pair looped around their pupils, shouting encouragement as Froakie and Ash leaped in sync. After running for a while, Sanpei said, "Now to really test your abilities. We will have a battle in the trees while moving. Are you prepared, Ash?"

Ash got completely stoked to have a battle with Frogadier and, after getting confirmation from Froakie, said, "We're ready!"

Sanpei stood on a branch with Frogadier as Ash and Froakie stood on one across from them. Sanpei said, "Alright... go!" And took off with Frogadier. They purposely slowed down a little so Ash and Froakie would be able to keep up. Speaking of, the Kantonian and his Pokémon were racing from branch to branch, watching Frogadier and Sanpei while also paying attention to their surroundings. "Alright, use water pulse Froakie!" Ash called out the first attack while still running. Froakie leaped from the branch he was on and fired the Water Pulse at Frogadier who dodged with Sanpei. The ninja teachers were not going to make this easy for Ash and Froakie.

"Frogadier, use cut!" Sanpei called out, used to battling in this kind of style. He was surprised that Ash had taken the first move and managed to stay light-footed. Sanpei felt a little proud of his pupil and training methods, while fully recognizing that Ash was a natural ninja. He just needed a little training to bring it out.

"Froakie, block cut with pound!" Ash called out while continuing to chase after Sanpei. Froakie raced towards Frogadier as Frogadier slammed its hands together, dragging them apart to reveal a white blade that he held onto. Froakie's hands turned white as he slammed into Frogadier's cut, the two of them racing side by side as they traded blows. However, Frogadier was faster and managed to get a hit on Froakie, sending him off to the side. Ash caught Froakie and said, "Get readjusted to the movement and go when you feel ready. Alright?"