After the appearance of the light pillar, the momentum of the battle shifted, allowing the Pokemon forces to push back the disheveled human forces. In their retreat, human forces were careful to avoid the area where the pillar had appeared, as they had already lost so much there. When Pokemon forces came to investigate the scene, all they found were the charred remains of a few Knights and an unconscious Meowth sitting in the middle of the rubble.

"Doctor, he seems to be regaining consciousness!"

"What happened? Why do I feel like I was hit with a dump truck?" Shoteneko said groggily. Looking around the room revealed the presence of both Bruiser and Flamerunner. Both of his squad mates had been worn out after the battle but had not been among the severely injured.

"They found ya on the battlefield buddy, right where that pillar of light appeared. Was that you?" Bruiser asked.

"I think it was. All I remember is being captured and a great sense of fear coming over me. I guess it must have been released as a Thunderbolt attack."

"You were weakened and tired at that point though. How did you create an attack that powerful on such little power? It shouldn't be possible." Flamerunner stated.

"I believe I can explain that." said Doctor Audino as he stepped into the room. "Shoten was in the hospital shortly before the last battle and comparing his condition then to now he has had a significant amount of muscle loss over that time."

"How is that possible?!" Shoten said. I've been training nearly nonstop since my last hospital visit in order to prevent a return."

"Exactly as I thought." The doctor replied. "I believe that you created that pillar of light on the battlefield by cannibalizing your own body. You used what little power you had to destroy some of your muscle mass, releasing more energy for your attack. This effect snowballed until the end result of the light pillar was produced."

"Dude that is awesome, ya gotta teach me how to do that!" Bruiser stated amazed at what Shoten had done.

"I would advise against that." said Audino. "Shoten got off lucky this time in that his attack stopped. If he had continued to push more into the attack, he very well could have turned his entire body mass into energy and been wiped out completely."

"Have there been any previous cases of this occurring?" Flamerunner asked.

"Not that I know of." Audino replied. "If you check the library, perhaps you might be able to find some older cases there."

"I'll do that. Recover quickly Shoten, you never know when the next battle might occur." With that Flamerunner left to do more research into what Shoten had unconsciously done.

"You're most likely very physically weak right now so I would advise against strenuous activity but other than that, you're free to leave anytime you wish Shoteneko."

"Thanks Doc. I won't overdo it but I need to start training to regain the strength I lost in the last battle." Shoten replied. If I'm able to use a Thunderbolt that powerful; that will open the door to using another one of the Slash's unique moves: Magnet Lift.

Flamerunner's POV

Something just doesn't add up. Flamerunner thought to himself. First Shoten learns these new moves and ways to use them, like that Shadow Ball Shield, which looked very familiar for some reason, and then he learns of a way to unleash huge amounts of power that he didn't know before. Shoten is hiding something I have to find out what it is.

While in the library, Flamerunner combed various medical journals trying to find other occurrences of body-canalization. After a solid day of searching Flamerunner decided on a change in approach to his search.

I'm going about this in the wrong way. Rather than searching for other instances of this occurring, I should be focusing on Shoten and how he learned of it.

The following day after Shoteneko and Bruiser went out to train, Flamerunner stayed back to search Shoten's room. Nothing was found. The closest thing to incriminating evidence found in Shoten's belongings was a couple of mangas stashed away with his weights.

"Great other than learning he's been cheating a little in his training, I'm getting nowhere in my investigation of Shoteneko." Flamerunner said to himself. "If he is hiding something he'll slip up eventually and when he does, I'll be there to find out exactly what has been happening."

Shoteneko POV

My God! I did more damage to myself than I thought.

The day following his release from the hospital, the first thing Shoten did was make an assessment of how much damage had been done to his body. All of his abilities had decreased with the largest hits coming in Defense, Special Defense and his endurance.

"On the bright side at least learning these new techniques has come in handy." Shoten said to himself. He then proceeded to pull out a piece of paper from his uniform. On it were notes on how to perform some of the greatest techniques of the ancient hero Slash.

Rather than taking the book with him from Mt. Coronet, Shoten had simply made notes on some of the most useful techniques, such as the Shadow Ball Shield, and returned the book to the library stating he used it for insight into the mind of the enemy. If Shoten had brought the book to base camp and someone recognized the techniques he was using, he would be thrown out in a heartbeat. While that risk was still present even without the book, it was greatly reduced.

"Looks like I'm going to have to work to regain my strength before I can make any more progress on these techniques." Shoten said. "Maybe I'll start with a traditional kata to regain some physical attack strength and then begin working on my special moves."

While working through his exercises, Shoteneko's mind began to drift to his squad mates, specifically Flamerunner. Ever since I woke up, Flamerunner has been acting quite strangely. Is he suspicious of how I was able to make that pillar of light? Because I don't know myself. Or could it be that he has caught on to my use of the Slash's techniques? He did see me use the Shadow Ball Shield before stepping in to fight the AK pilot but did he recognize it?

"Shoten!" a voice interrupted

"GAH" Shoten exclaimed and quickly lost balance, falling face first onto the floor. "What is it Flamerunner?"

"Commander Reuniclus has called all troops to arms. We are starting a counterattack and going to be going after their base on Mt. Chimney. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I can be. Lets go."

AN: Sorry, slightly shorter chapter and some filler/setup for our next battle on Mt. Chimney. Will Shoteneko's secret be revealed? How will he fare in battle with some of his stats impaired? Find out next time on Dragon Ball..I mean Pokemon New Age!