When Mustard heard that John was struggling with Kubfu's evolution choice, he released both of his Urshifu to give the little bear something to look up to.
John thoughtfully placed the two scrolls in front of the Single Strike Style and Rapid Strike Style Urshifu. Whatever Kubfu liked, it could choose to read right there and evolve immediately.
But Kubfu looked up at its seniors, crossed its arms, and sat in front of the two scrolls without making any decision.
"Little guy, are you not satisfied with either the Single Strike Style or the Rapid Strike Style?" Mustard asked.
"Kubfu..." Kubfu shook its head quietly.
John felt a bit troubled because his student was really ambitious.
The Single Strike Style Urshifu had been completely destroyed by its teacher Blaziken, and the Rapid Strike Style Urshifu had been defeated by one of John's strongest Pokemon, Zeraora. This made Kubfu feel that both evolution forms were kind of... boring.
Seeing how both Kubfu and John were struggling with the decision, Mustard smiled.
"In that case, why don't you go ahead and create your own style?"
"You can create your own style?" Both John and Kubfu looked at Mustard at the same time.
John only knew that Urshifu had Single Strike Style and Rapid Strike Style, but he'd never heard of any other forms.
"Of course! Whether it's Rapid Strike Style or Single Strike Style, they're just fighting styles created by former Kubfu based on their own martial arts experience," Mustard said with a grin.
"The Dark Scroll and Water Scroll are the experiences they left behind."
"Kubfu can evolve into either form based on the martial arts knowledge passed down by their predecessors."
"Since your Kubfu doesn't like the Single Strike Style or Rapid Strike Style, it might as well create its own path. Sure, it'll be tough, but you and your Pokemon are still young. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of legacy you can leave on this island in the future."
"When that happens, we can rename the Towers of Two Fists to the Towers of Three Fists."
Mustard's words hit John and Kubfu like a lightning bolt of inspiration.
If Ash's Rockruff could evolve into the never-before-seen Lycanroc Dusk Form in the anime, then why couldn't his Kubfu develop a completely new style different from Single Strike and Rapid Strike?
Kubfu's eyes lit up with excitement.
Creating your own fighting style? Now that sounded awesome.
"I can't give you much advice on creating a new style, Kubfu will have to figure that out on its own," Mustard shrugged. After all, his Urshifu were perfectly suited for the existing Single Strike and Rapid Strike styles. He'd only remembered this possibility after getting older and wanting to try something new himself, but he was too set in his ways to make it work.
"However, the Dark Scroll and Water Scroll contain the martial arts experiences of those who came before. You should read them both, maybe you'll learn something useful," Mustard suggested to Kubfu.
John couldn't help but ask, "Master, won't Kubfu just evolve directly after reading them?"
Mustard waved his hands quickly and explained, "No way! The Dark Scroll and Water Scroll aren't evolution items, they're just martial arts manuals. What actually allows Kubfu to evolve into Urshifu is achieving a certain level of martial arts mastery."
"When its fighting skills reach that level, it will naturally evolve. The result of evolution is really just a summary and refinement of its own martial arts."
John nodded thoughtfully. No wonder the item descriptions didn't call them evolution stones.
While John was processing this information, Kubfu had already sprung into action.
It opened both the Dark Scroll and Water Scroll. First it looked at the Dark Scroll, then the Water Scroll, then studied both together.
Soon, Kubfu began practicing various moves as if no one else was around.
Seeing that Kubfu didn't evolve after reading the scrolls, John felt relieved. It seemed like his little fighter really might be able to create something entirely new.
"Your Kubfu has been trained incredibly well. It has a rock-solid foundation, knows a huge variety of moves, and has quite impressive natural talent," Mustard praised after watching Kubfu practice.
John nodded in agreement.
Kubfu's Fighting-type talent was probably the strongest among all his Pokemon.
After all, it was a legendary Fighting-type Pokemon, so its abilities were naturally maxed out.
It had been trained by Blaziken since it was young and regularly spent time with Pokemon like Greninja and Slakoth.
Force Palm, Mach Punch, Slash, Rock Smash, and other basic and advanced power techniques came naturally to it. Combined with constant Bulk Up training and all the resources John had invested in it...
Even as a Kubfu, it could defeat opponents twenty levels higher just through raw physical ability and technique.
John honestly couldn't imagine how to make it any stronger. What he'd been looking forward to was seeing how much its combat power would skyrocket when it received the evolutionary boost of becoming an Urshifu.
He'd estimated it would probably land somewhere in the middle tier of his main team.
But now it seemed like if Kubfu could create its own style, it might outshine all his other Pokemon and shoot straight to the top as his ace in the hole.
John was dying to know what Kubfu would look like after evolving.
"KUUUU!"
Suddenly, a brilliant light flooded the entire dojo.
It burst out from Kubfu, it was evolving!
"Wait, weren't you going to create your own style? How are you evolving already?" John was shocked.
Mustard looked surprised too. "So did it choose one of the existing styles? Or did it actually create something completely new?"
Both of them stared intently at the evolving Kubfu.
The light finally faded.
An Urshifu appeared before them.
It still had the same black, white, and gray color scheme, but its fur seemed somehow different from both Single Strike and Rapid Strike Urshifu.
The Single Strike Style Urshifu's fur stood straight up, especially during battle, giving off an overwhelming sense of explosive power and raw aggression.
The Rapid Strike Style Urshifu had thicker, flowing fur that hung down slightly, making it look like a wise old fisherman in a raincoat who'd mastered the cold rivers.
But the Urshifu standing before John and Mustard had fur that was neither long nor short, neither standing up nor hanging down. Its face looked younger, giving off an impression of brightness, energy, and endless vitality.
If Single Strike Style Urshifu looked like a hot-blooded middle-aged warrior, and Rapid Strike Style Urshifu looked like a mysterious old master, then John's Urshifu looked like a young fighter bursting with unlimited potential.
"I think it really has created its own new martial arts style, but I have no idea what to call it," Mustard mused.
John quickly opened Urshifu's status screen. He couldn't wait to see what kind of martial arts master his determined student had evolved into.