The best way to test whether Alex’s work was truly passable as a Scroll of Steel was to see if it could get a Kubfu to evolve into an Urshifu. That much Alex understood, but he didn’t know the specifics.

“Kubfu are curious little Pokémon, you know? Not the sort to simply grow stronger. They’ve got to find their strength,” Mustard said as he began explaining to Alex. “You see, evolving into an Urshifu isn’t just about power. Oh no, no… it’s about spirit. Years and years of hard battles, scrapping and surviving, learning what works and what doesn’t, and growing their minds as much as their techniques. That’s the first piece of the puzzle for their evolution.”

“But that alone won’t do. At some point, Kubfu reaches a wall. A proper bottleneck that stops them from progressing any further. No matter how much they train, they won’t be able to push past their limits. That feeling, that frustration, is terribly important.”

“And then comes the spark that will drive them to evolution. Inspiration. It might be from a scroll, or it might be from something else entirely. A battle, a moment, even a realization deep in their heart. Kubfu needs to see what they want to become and believe in it.”

“The little one I gave you has been with quite a few trainers, climbed up the towers, and stared at all of my scrolls. He’s learned all sorts of techniques from different trainers, but none of them quite fit. The poor dear just couldn’t find a style that truly felt like his own.”

“So if things don’t go as planned, don’t be too quick to blame the scroll. It may simply be that Kubfu hasn’t found the path he wishes to walk just yet.”

“I understand,” Alex said with a nod.

Alex called Kubfu over through Gardevoir, and they made their way to the dojo’s battle hall, where onlookers gathered as Alex took out a large scroll. Unmistakably, it was a scroll used to evolve Kubfu into Urshifu.

“Are you ready to finally evolve, Kubfu?” Alex asked. “If you still think you need to train with Raticate, we can hold off until you’re ready.”

Kubfu immediately took on a sour look, dissatisfaction clear on his face. He hated training with Raticate with every fiber of his being since the little shit would always evade him. It was frustrating beyond reason that he was simply too slow to act all the time, always a step too late, an inch away from just scratching his opponent.

With this evolution, however, he would finally gain the body he needed to fight back. He hoped with every fiber of his being to finally evolve, consolidate everything he had learned from multiple trainers and fighters, and push past his limit. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Kubfu!” he declared as much to Alex.

“All right, then,” Alex said as he unfurled the scroll onto the ground. “Have a look.”

All the trainers and Pokémon immediately recoiled in instinctive fear as they felt themselves in death’s grip, a sharp blade pressed to their necks. They were overwhelmed by the intent and emotion behind the scroll to the point that they took up defensive postures, ready to strike at anyone who came too close.

It was exactly the kind of reaction Alex had been hoping for. That primal fear that placed his opponents in a fight-or-flight state, as if they had been seen through and exposed beyond their ability to cope.

Kubfu, however, didn’t recoil. If anything, he took a step closer.

He could see the culmination of his entire being written perfectly on the scroll, with the way forward laid out clearly. It was a fighting style that drew from everything that came before, using that knowledge to his advantage and leveraging experience to land the most devastating attacks beyond his opponent’s ability to answer. It was cold, calculating, opportunistic, and pragmatic. It was everything he had been hoping for and more.

The shock and awe in the battle hall was interrupted as the blinding light of evolution blocked their view of the scroll. It seemed to have worked on Kubfu, finally allowing him to evolve.

He grew taller and larger, with a more impressive physique that represented the peak physical form for martial arts. His presence alone carried a pressure that demanded caution, like a fighter who could see through his opponent with a single glance.

As for his appearance, he looked exactly the same as any other Urshifu running around the Isle of Armor. What set him apart, however, was his neutral fighting stance, a balanced posture with feet shoulder-width apart, one foot slightly forward and the other back, weight on the balls of the feet, and knees slightly bent. The torso was angled to reduce exposure, chin tucked, and shoulders raised for protection. The lead hand was extended slightly for range control and probing, while the rear hand stayed closer to the face for defense and power strikes. Elbows were kept tight to protect the body, and the stance remained loose and mobile to allow quick movement, strikes, slips, and level changes.

He looked almost exactly like how Alex would stand when he was ready for a fight.

“How do you feel?” Alex asked with a smile.

“Urshifu!” he said in a deeper voice.

“Care to test your newfound power?” Alex asked as he put away the scroll and squared up, taking a similar fighting stance.

“Ur,” he replied, shaking his head before turning to the side where Raticate was lazily lying.

“Urshifu!” he declared, pointing a finger as he issued his challenge to Raticate.

Raticate sat up, folded his forelegs, and placed a paw under his chin, stroking his nonexistent goatee as he nodded thoughtfully.

“Raticate?” he asked, as if checking whether the young one was truly ready.

“Ur!” Urshifu answered with a powerful nod and rising battle intent.

“Rati!” Raticate replied with a nod of his own as he stepped closer on two legs, his back bent like an old man with his paws behind his back.

Alex shook his head, mild disappointment on his face, before stepping forward to act as the referee. He wanted a fight too, given that Urshifu was at the perfect height for an opponent and didn’t have control issues like Azuking.

He understood, however, that Raticate would take priority, given that Kubfu had been bullied for over half a year. Whatever revenge Kubfu could take from this fight, he fully deserved.

“Ready? Fight!” Alex declared.

Raticate immediately fired off a Thunder Wave, applying paralysis to Urshifu. It was clear his speed was still superior, given that he was at Champion rank and Urshifu was in the lower half of Elite. As far as the rest of their stats were concerned, however, it was relatively the same. Urshifu was simply far more powerful a species than Raticate, so the difference in rank allowed them to be even.

Urshifu took the attack without much fuss, his face locked in cold concentration as the bluish silver glow of Steel type energy enveloped him. Then, with a sudden burst of speed, he blitzed forward, barely allowing Alex to keep up. Raticate, however, was leagues faster as he used Quick Attack on instinct, bolting to the side to maintain distance.

Suddenly, as if reading exactly what Raticate had planned, Urshifu intercepted his escape path and landed a lightning-fast low kick. It halted Raticate’s momentum while they traded damage on impact, with Raticate taking the worst of it as the strike appeared to knock the wind out of him. Now directly in front of Raticate, Urshifu immediately followed up with Low Sweep, dealing massive Fighting type damage and reducing Raticate’s Speed by one stack.

“Oho! What a clever attack,” Mustard commented. “Lowered priority to read his opponent, guaranteeing a hit and dealing critical damage that bypasses defenses. It also seems to deal as much damage as Wicked Blow. How interesting.”

Alex agreed with Mustard’s observation. It was an interesting attack that guaranteed a critical hit so long as the opponent was within reach and couldn’t defend against it. It was a devastating attack, with the only drawback being the initial preparation needed to read the opponent.

Urshifu quelled the ramping excitement of finally being able to catch the slippery rat, while Raticate shook off the impact and changed his strategy. Since he couldn’t run, he would deal maximum damage at point-blank range, where Urshifu couldn’t reasonably avoid it.

Lightning exploded from Raticate’s body as he unleashed Thunder, striking Urshifu at point-blank range just as Urshifu drove forward with a knee cloaked in Fighting type energy, using Brick Break. Suddenly, Urshifu froze mid-motion as paralysis seized him at the worst possible moment. Raticate capitalized instantly, firing off another Thunder that brought Urshifu dangerously close to being knocked out.

When the paralysis finally wore off, Urshifu completed the knee strike, only to miss as Raticate slipped to the side. Urshifu immediately spun into a follow-up, launching a spinning hook kick for another Brick Break, but Raticate was faster, landing a Quick Attack squarely onto his back. The impact, enough to knock Urshifu out.

“Winner! Raticate!” Alex declared before administering a Revive to Urshifu.

Urshifu slowly came to, realizing he had lost despite his evolution. Still, that did little to dampen his spirit, as he had finally managed to land multiple devastating hits on Raticate. All he had to do now was continue training, and he would eventually be able to win.

“You lost, buddy,” Alex said, patting Urshifu on the shoulder. “Don’t feel bad about it though, you have plenty of training ahead of you now that you’ve reached your final evolution.”

“Raticate,” Raticate said as he shook his head, pitying Urshifu’s fate with the accursed machine.

“By the way, that attack you opened with, what’s it called?” Alex asked.

“Urshifu!”

“Adamant Strike, huh. Not bad. Train it up so you can use it properly in the future.”

Urshifu nodded, planning to do just that, and walked over to Raticate to ask what he meant by his fate with the accursed machine, completely unaware of Alex’s style when it came to using Technical Machines.