Pokénin 015 (Pokemon/Naruto)

"There, good as new!" Tekai gave old man Jin a thumbs up with one hand, and munched on a palm sized tamagoyaki, which was basically an omelette that's eaten on the go.  

“Good as new! Master Tatsushiro, I can't feel my leg, and can barely form a fist!” Old Jin exclaimed. 

“Right, but the excruciating pain is gone, right?” Tekai said in between bites of his meal. 

“So this is my fate…very well, where to next, young master?” Jin nodded his head, and climbed into the carriage's driver's seat with some difficulty. 

“To the southern gate.” Tekai ordered. 

At the same time, Tekai winced at the constant title of ‘young master.’ Based on the conversations he had with his shadow clones, he realized he was maybe just a bit of an asshole. That didn't mean he needed some title common in Xianxia stories to reaffirm what he already knew. 

Sighing to himself, Tekai noticed a pained expression on the old man's face as he clambered up to take his seat. His fate was a harsh reminder as to the realities of the world. Even on Earth, gangsters would do this, and much worse if you owed them money. However, the old man took this crazy set of circumstances in stride, as if what had occurred was normal. Based on the reaction of the crowd, it seemed this was the case. 

Shaking his head, Tekai reaffirmed his decision to stay in his own lane, and help with what he could. For example, if he had blindly attacked Paul earlier, he might have faced censorship from the family, or possibly death at the hands of the older teen. 

Shaking his head, Tekai put such thoughts behind him. 

As the journey continued, Tekai drummed his fingers on the outer edges of the cart whilst he thought about the minor success he had achieved regarding the Mystic Palm. 

It was a minor success, because he had fused the old man's bones together, and promoted healing. However, it was a minor failure because he had fused the bones together in an imperfect angle. 

If he had healed Jin properly, Tekai would have put the broken pieces together like snapping Lego pieces together, then used the Mystic Palm as the ‘glue’ permanently binding them together. 

However, he had neither the time, nor the inclination to slowly parse through Jin's arm/leg, and fit every piece exactly where it went. This was something Tekai desperately needed to practice, and he wasn't willing to break Jin's bones so he could do it all over again. 

At the very least, Tekai knew that in a pinch, he could heal someone. Whilst the bones were a bit of a botched job, he had stopped internal bleeding, and healed the old man's muscle tears while he was at it. 

Overall, he'd give his healing treatment a 60%. Pretty awful, but not so bad considering it was his first attempt. 

Drumming his fingers even more, Tekai turned to the old man. 

“Say, Jin, what can you tell me about First Grade Cynthia? Someone so young, and capable must have quite a few rumors, right?” Tekai asked nonchalantly. 

“The Dragon of Demise?” Jin glanced over his shoulder to look at Tekai, and shivered. 

Tekai scratched the back of his head. 

‘What kind of reputation does she have?!’ Tekai thought to himself in a slight panic. 

“Yeah, her. You know anything about her age, or what she's famous for?” Tekai kept up his curious kid persona. 

Old Jin gave him a look that said ‘I ain't buying it kid’ but kept such thoughts to himself. 

“Age? Hmm, about 17 to 19 I'd say. As for fame? I heard she's competing with Lance for a seat on the upper dias. Last I heard, there was an opening in the Elite Four after the war ended. To advance from First Grade, one of the conditions is to have instructed a group from the younger generation. It is a highly unprecedented rumor. Apparently, no one as young as those two have been put in the running for the Elite Four in over a hundred years!” Jin flapped his lips, and said in excitement. 

Tekai rubbed his chin. So Cynthia was in a competition with Lance? 

Tekai was going to ask more, but the cart came to a screeching halt. 

“Tah! Pony-tah!” The fire horse Pokémon neighed in fear. 

“I-it's her!” Jin gulped in fear. 

There, waiting near the south gate, was Cynthia. 

Reclining on a beach chair, she had a book in hand, and her garchomp standing guard behind her, holding up a parasol to block the sun. 

Waiting off to the side, Zinnia, and Clair were silently staring at one another. Zinnia grinning with the thirst for battle, and Clair disdaining from a perceived position of superiority. 

Yep, that was his team alright. Rolling his eyes, Tekai disembarked the carriage. 

“Thanks for the ride. I'll see you around Jin, don't think I'm done with you.” Tekai flashed a grin at the scammer-in-chief, then ran up to the pair of feuding girls. 

“Shiny! Perfect, you're here! Settle a debate we are having! What is mightier, my punch, or her breath?” Zinnia asked with an infectious grin. 

“It's too early for this nonsense, Zinnia, you are making us look bad in front of Sensei.” Clair crossed her arms, then turned her glare to Tekai. “Besides, Tekai saw my spar with the ancestor, he knows the real answer, hmph.” 

With both girls demanding he support their claims, Tekai did what any man in that situation would do. 

“Want some tamagoyaki?” Tekai opened a container, and hot steam escaped, revealing a dozen palm-sized omelettes to go. 

“Don't think you can distract us with food, Tekai. Answer the questio-” 

“Woah, I never ate anything like this in the castle before!” Zinnia exclaimed, interrupting Clair. The tanned tomboy reached into the container, and grabbed one in each hand. 

She nommed on one, then tossed the other one to her bagon. 

“Gon! Gon!” Bagon cheered as he ate it all up. 

“Wow, woah, what’s in this?!” Zinnia clung to Tekai, and wriggled her hands towards the box. 

Tekai barely held it out of arm's reach, lest the glutton get her hands on it. 

“It's chansey egg with shredded bellossom leaves as garnish.” Tekai explained.  

Whilst he was distracted explaining the ingredients, he felt the weight of the box lessen. 

“Sea, sea!” A tiny horsea chirped in happiness. 

Turning to the side, Tekai saw that Clair's horsea had stuffed her mouth, and was eating with a pleased expression. 

Not only that, but Clair had turned her back to them, and suspiciously had her shoulders shaking. 

Turning her around, Tekai saw that she had half a tamagayoki in her mouth, and tears were streaming down her face. 

“Clair?” Tekai questioned, taken aback by her uncharacteristic break from the ‘prim princess’ persona. 

“Shoah good.” Clair muttered in between bites. 

“Uhh?” Tekai covered his mouth, and suppressed a laugh. 

“You saw nothing.” Clair narrowed her eyes, and hissed. 

“Right, right. But you might want to wipe that pretty face of yours, wouldn't want to talk to Sensei with some egg on your cheek, eh?” Tekai teased. 

Clair glared at Tekai, then whipped out a hand mirror, and fussed over her skin. 

“That was pretty good! Makes me want to fight even more!” Zinnia slammed her fist into an open palm, and glanced at both him and Clair. 

Tekai was going to say something, but he heard a book snap shut, and turned to see Cynthia rising from her seat. 

“Tekai, Clair, Zinnia. Congratulations on passing the Dragons Den Challenge. I heard you each went to consult the ancestors during your test. Well done.” Cynthia praised, and paused in her speech to eye each and every one of them. 

Clair preened at the praise, Zinnia high fived her bagon, and Tekai lost himself in Cynthia's sharp, silver-grey eyes. 

“Commendable, but do not allow success to cloud your judgement. Follow me to the Lake of Rage. Let the test of endurance begin.” Cynthia clapped her hands, then hopped on top of her garchomp's shoulders. 

“Come.” Cynthia commanded. 

Garchomp whipped her tail, knocking Tekai over, and then began to run forward at a speed comparable to that of an Olympian sprinter. 

Egg flew into the air, and Zinnia was quick to snatch half the pieces up, while Clair subtly snatched a few before they hit the ground. 

“Let's go, let's go!” Zinnia cheered and took the lead, a piece of tamagoyaki was stuffed in her mouth as she ran. 

“If you don't have enough energy, you won't be able to keep up. I won’t be held back by my teammates, you understand?” Clair said, and roughly shoved the box into Tekai's chest, and placed three of the remaining egg-based meals back inside. 

“Thanks?” Tekai said, and rubbed his rib as he saw his teammates leave him behind. 

‘Win. Mate. Conquer!’ Gil sent over in a frenzy. 

The little magikarp was practically ranting at Tekai at this point. 

“Don't worry my golden friend, we'll teach these bratty women the meaning of stamina.” Tekai grinned, and patted his pokeball.  

Standing up in a stretch, Tekai wiped some dust off his backside, and yawned. 

Although he was confident in his ability to outlast Zinnia and Clair, this was going to be a major drag. Blowing all that chakra to defend the old scammer earlier had really drained him of his energy. 

Thankfully, Cynthia had said it was a test of endurance. There was no need for him to go full force this very second. 

Warming himself up, Tekai stepped out of the gate to Blackthorn for the first time in his life, and welcomed yet another new beginning. 

Feeling his token flare as if it were being probed, Tekai channeled his chakra into it, and the probing sensation stopped. 

As soon as he passed through the gates, he saw a few dozen caravans lined up outside, waiting to gain entry. 

Furthermore, there was a well paved road, and a large swath of muddy farmland where workers were planting rice. Companion Pokémon such as oddish, and bellsprout helped these farmers with their hard labor, happily chirping alongside humans, living life. 

About 10 miles out, past these rice paddies, a thick forest blocked his view, but if he looked up, he could see a large, snow capped mountain. It was Mt. Coronet, a natural mountain range that divided the north western section of the Land of Dragons from the most eastern tip of Land of Earth.  

Somewhere in between this forest and the mountain was his destination, the Lake of Rage. 

In the distance, he saw that Team Cynthia had already moved about 2 miles deep. If he didn't want to lose sight of them, he had to keep up. 

Beginning to move towards them, Tekai started using the Dragon Dance. 

Like an old friend, the technique he was most familiar with increased all his stats, and was an excellent method to slowly regenerate his chakra. Taking his time, Tekai didn't run nearly as fast as the girls, and focused more on conserving his energy. 

Ideally, he would gain more chakra then he spent, and would be well off for whatever Cynthia planned for them next.

Eventually, he entered the forest, and came across a fork in the road. 

He couldn't tell which direction the team had gone in. However, he didn't feel any panic, and instead flared his nostrils and took a deep whiff of air. 

Uncle Borah had never taught him any jutsu, but he had instructed him on many other things. Learning how to communicate long distances/activate jutsu via ‘dragon’ roars was just one of many skills he had learned from the middle aged drunk. 

Learning to use his nose for tracking and detection was another one. 

Fortunately, however, he had become somewhat accustomed to Zinnia and Clair's scents during the fights they went through in the Dragons Den, and figured he could use this ability to determine which way they went. 

Taking several deep breaths, Tekai closed his eyes as he interpreted the various scents that were coloring the atmosphere. 

Many travelers had passed by this way on their journey to Blackthorn, and muddied the air. 

After spending a minute parsing through the various odors, Tekai found what he was looking for. 

Zinnia's scent reminded him of the outdoors, and had a surprisingly feminine lilac base with a hint of vanilla. It was homey, and dare he say tender. A shocking revelation for someone so adamant about fighting all the time. 

Clair's scent, on the other hand, was inky, and somewhat plain like paper. The light-blue haired girl was almost clinical, like a surgeon's theatre. Tekai inferred that she must spend even more time reading than he did. Perhaps she was a fellow book nerd in hiding? 

Based on these two unique combinations, Tekai determined they had gone on the path to the right. 

Opening his eyes, Tekai felt the corner of his cheek twitch as a big sign saying ‘Lake of Rage’ was pointing to the right, and the path on the left said ‘Route 101 to Azalea Town.’ 

So maybe he prided himself on his listening comprehension, but his reading comprehension, and overall awareness could use some improvement… 

Tekai gave himself a pity laugh, shook his head, then resumed his jog. 

He had a test to accomplish, and didn’t want to fall too far behind, otherwise his sensei might think less of him! 

“Let's go, Gil!” 

‘Karp!’