The sheer intensity of Ash's aura left Shingo momentarily stunned.
The boy opened his mouth to deliver a cutting, arrogant refusal, but the words died in his throat. He swallowed hard, falling back on a stubborn sneer. "If you're so intent on humiliating yourself, I have no reason to deny you."
The "Young Master" had actually agreed to a duel. The dojo disciples were even more excited than Muramasa himself, quickly clearing the center of the floor to create a makeshift battlefield.
Ash stood alongside Heracross, his gaze sweeping over the gathered students. "Once I'm finished with this match, I'd like to face the rest of you as well."
The statement was heavy with casual confidence. It was as if Ash had already decided the outcome—he wasn't even looking at Shingo, who sat across from him with his laptop open and a furious expression on his face.
"You're dead meat! I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget!" Shingo snapped.
He threw his Poké Ball, and another Scizor appeared in a crimson flash.
"This is Blade! He is my strongest partner. His speed, power, and stamina far exceed my father's Masamune. He is the most perfect Scizor in the entire world!"
Ash stared at the Scizor, Blade, and felt a wave of genuine disbelief. "Shingo, just how big do you think the world is?"
To call this Scizor the "most perfect in the world" was a joke. Had this kid never seen the Scizor used by the Elite Four? Even the professional circuit was full of monsters that would make this Blade look like a Scyther hatchling.
Shingo blinked, not immediately catching the insult.
"Young Master, he's calling you a frog at the bottom of a well!" one of the disciples shouted from the sidelines.
Realization dawned on Shingo, and his face flushed a deep, angry purple. His temper finally snapped. Muramasa, watching from the edge of the mat, nodded to himself. Before the first move had even been made, Ash had already dismantled Shingo's calm. In a battle of data, emotion was the ultimate virus.
"Shut up! Blade, use Quick Attack!" Shingo roared, losing his cool.
The Scizor was well-trained; there was no denying that. He moved with impressive burst speed, turning into a red blur that slammed into Heracross before the bug could seemingly react. Heracross was knocked back, his feet skidding across the polished floor.
"Ha! You can't even react to Blade's speed, and you thought you could win?" Shingo laughed, his eyes gleaming with contempt.
"Is that all?" Ash replied with a faint, chilling smile. "Heracross, Aerial Ace!"
The skidding Heracross snapped his eyes open. He didn't fight the momentum; instead, he unfurled his hidden inner wings and banked into a sharp, impossible curve. He swung back around with predatory speed, slamming into Blade's flank with a heavy, unavoidable blow.
The Scizor was sent tumbling across the floor.
"Blade!" Shingo gasped. He frantically checked his screen. The data showed that Heracross's reaction time to commands was 0.18 seconds—shattering the average values for his species.
"Your Scizor has decent speed, but can he maintain it under pressure?" Ash's voice was calm, carrying the weight of a victor. "Do you really have time to be looking at a screen?"
Ash's smile vanished instantly. " Brick Break!"
Before the command had even fully left Ash's lips, Heracross was already on top of the recovering Scizor. He raised a powerful forearm and brought it down like a guillotine onto Blade's head.
CRACK!
Shingo's laptop began blaring warnings. New records were being set. Heracross's reaction speed was actually increasing as the battle intensified.
"How is he so fast?!" Shingo cried out. He tried to update his data mid-fight, but every time he looked down, his Scizor took another punishing hit.
"Blade, reset! Use Flash Cannon!"
The Scizor scrambled to his feet, bracing himself. His massive pincers began to glow with a brilliant, silver metallic luster as he gathered energy.
" Focus Blast!" Ash countered.
A sphere of spiraling blue fighting energy collided with the beam of silver light. The resulting explosion sent a shockwave of heat and smoke throughout the dojo, throwing both Pokémon backward.
"Blade, get up! Now!"
"Heracross, Arm Thrust!"
The smoke hadn't even cleared, yet Ash's command had already landed. Heracross burst through the soot, his eyes glowing with a feral intensity. He ignored the lingering heat of the explosion and drove his palm straight into Blade's midsection.
"Blade, evasive maneuvers! Agility, go!"
The Scizor vanished. Under the influence of Agility, Blade transformed into a series of afterimages, circling Heracross in a red whirlwind.
"Hera!" A cry of pain escaped Heracross as he took several rapid-fire hits from the shadows.
"Heracross, use Megahorn—on the ground!"
The command was strange, catching everyone off guard. But Heracross didn't hesitate. He tucked his head and drove his massive, glowing horn directly into the floorboards.
BOOM!
The sheer physical power of the bug-type ultimate move transformed into a localized earthquake. The entire dojo shuddered. Disciples stumbled, grabbing onto walls to keep from falling.
Blade, caught in the middle of a high-speed sprint, lost his footing as the floor buckled beneath him. He tripped, crashing hard onto his side.
"He used Megahorn to simulate Earthquake?!"
"That's insane! Who is this guy?"
"Terrifying... he's a monster!"
Shingo stared at his screen, but the algorithm had crashed. Only three words flashed in his mind: Logic Error. Logic Error.
"Finish it," Ash commanded. " Brick Break!"
Heracross took to the air, his wings buzzing with power. He descended like a falling star, his glowing palm smashing into Blade's head for the final time.
"Blade is unable to battle! The winner is Ash!" Muramasa announced.
The veteran looked at his son, who stood frozen like a statue, his eyes vacant. He looked down at the laptop, which was now just a screen full of question marks. Muramasa sighed. He hoped the boy wasn't permanently broken.
He had wanted a peer to show Shingo that data wasn't everything, but he hadn't expected Ash to be this overwhelming.
Muramasa signaled for some students to take Shingo back to his room. He needed to be alone with his son later to talk him through this. He believed Shingo could rise from the ashes of this defeat, but it would take time to rebuild his world.
As for Ash, he turned back to the rest of the dojo. He wasn't tired. In fact, he looked like he was just getting started.
Heracross Sync: 115/251