After lunch and a nap, Zhou Yuan followed Liu Yongming to the lawn again.
“What I taught you this morning was theoretical knowledge; now it’s time to teach you practical combat. Don’t think that as a Trainer, you can just stand safely and comfortably behind your Pokémon during battle. That’s for standard battles with rules. But when you encounter an enemy in the wild and need to engage in a wild fight, the enemy won’t talk about rules with you. They will only attack you directly in various ways, injuring or even killing you. After all, the Trainer is the core of the Pokémon. Once the core is shattered, the Pokémon, without command, is no longer a threat.”
As he spoke, Liu Yongming even began to show Zhou Yuan physical evidence.
“See this scar on my face? This scar was left from that battle six years ago.”
“So, when you’re in the wild, never let your guard down. Even if the other party says they’ll engage in a battle with rules, you still need to be careful not to be ambushed.”
“Especially Pokémon hunters. They capture Pokémon for money and will do anything for money. They are vicious and cruel. There’s one female hunter in particular, named J, who I fell to back then.”
“Hunter J…” Zhou Yuan felt this name was somewhat familiar. He vaguely remembered that in the anime plot of his previous life, she targeted the Lake Guardians and was eventually drowned in a pond with her Salamence by the Lake Guardians.
Liu Yongming continued,
“Remember, Xiao Yuan, when you encounter an enemy, if you can’t win, run. Running away isn’t shameful. If your life is gone, everything is gone.”
“Uncle Liu, I remember.”
Zhou Yuan was a little moved. This was the most important advice an elder, who had experienced life and death, could give to a junior.
“Alright, enough with the small talk. As long as you understand, that’s fine. Next is practical combat training, Xiao Yuan. Don’t blame Uncle for being ruthless. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful and won’t let you hurt for too long.”
“Come, stand up. Let’s practice, you and I.”
After speaking, Liu Yongming stood up from the lawn and beckoned to Zhou Yuan.
Although Zhou Yuan had obtained the Fighting Mastery Lv4 Skill from the ten consecutive draws, he had never truly practiced it. No one knew how much of this Skill could be unleashed by a body that had never undergone practical combat training. Zhou Yuan himself felt a little nervous.
But since Uncle Liu has already offered to teach me Fighting techniques, I can’t avoid it. This is a good opportunity to truly master the Skill.
Thinking this, Zhou Yuan also stood up.
The two stood five meters apart, assuming their stances. Big Red also stopped training with the Growlithe and Little Ka, and came over to watch his Trainer beat up his son’s Trainer.
“Come on, kid, I’ll let you attack first. I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it if I attack.”
Liu Yongming beckoned to Zhou Yuan again.
“Uncle Liu, then I won’t hold back.”
Zhou Yuan rubbed his hands and lunged straight for Liu Yongming’s face. When Zhou Yuan started moving, he realized that the Skill had brought about changes from the inside out, not just simply pouring martial arts manuals into his brain. It also strengthened his body to some extent, allowing him to smoothly execute the movements that appeared in his mind. The entire set of movements flowed like water, demonstrating a seamlessness.
Liu Yongming watched Zhou Yuan charging towards him and couldn't find a weakness for a moment. It was as if Zhou Yuan had protected his own vulnerabilities while charging. No matter where he attacked, Zhou Yuan could react and defend in time.
So, he adopted a classic Fighting stance, with his feet shoulder-width apart, one in front of the other, his right hand guarding his face, his body slightly bent to Protect his waist and ribs. His left fist threw a probing straight punch, attempting to disrupt Zhou Yuan’s rhythm and force him to expose a weakness.
After approaching Liu Yongming, Zhou Yuan also adopted the same stance as Liu Yongming. Facing Liu Yongming’s straight punch, he slightly bent his legs, his body sinking slightly and leaning to the left, dodging Liu Yongming’s fist while simultaneously throwing a rear straight punch towards Liu Yongming’s exposed left waist and abdomen due to his punch.
Liu Yongming was surprised to see Zhou Yuan dodge and launch an effective counterattack so quickly. He immediately changed his fist to an open palm and, using his elbow as the center, struck downwards and from the inside out at Zhou Yuan’s right elbow pit.
Zhou Yuan was struck in the soft flesh by Liu Yongming’s large, fan-like hand. While his attack was interrupted, he made the next reaction in time, but the pain still made him gasp.
“That really hurts.”
Zhou Yuan’s right elbow pit was struck, interrupting his attack, but he also took advantage of the moment Liu Yongming’s left hand hadn’t retracted to change his move. As his palm turned upwards, he protruded the second knuckles of his index and middle fingers from his clenched fist, delivering an uppercut to the nerve of Liu Yongming’s left hand.
“This kid is interesting.”
Liu Yongming’s left hand went numb, and he quickly retracted it to Protect his face and chest. At the same time, he pushed off the Ground with his right leg, using his left leg as the core and support point, twisting his knee and hips to swing out his right leg like a whip, a low whip kick sweeping directly at Zhou Yuan’s thigh.
Liu Yongming dared not use high whip kicks or middle whip kicks to strike Zhou Yuan’s head or waist, fearing that Zhou Yuan might not block it or that he might lose control of his strength and injure him.
Zhou Yuan was startled by Liu Yongming’s whip kick, which cut through the air. If this kick landed solidly, it might swell up. For his own safety, Zhou Yuan retreated his right leg slightly to stabilize himself, lifted his left leg, and met Liu Yongming’s incoming whip kick with his left knee.
Leg and knee collided, making a muffled “thud” sound. The airflow caused by the collision made the grass around them bend low. Although Zhou Yuan blocked the whip kick, the immense force from the leg still made him sway. However, Liu Yongming did not launch another attack at such an obvious opening. Based on their previous exchange, Liu Yongming felt he had thoroughly understood Zhou Yuan’s capabilities.
Liu Yongming had been a police officer for more than ten years and had seen everything, but this scene he had truly never seen. This young kid, who hadn’t even graduated from high school, could actually fight him back and forth. Although he hadn’t used his full strength, even with the strength he displayed, it was enough to fight a Machoke back and forth. He recalled that back then, he could even fight a Machamp without falling behind.
“Alright, alright, alright, no need to keep Fighting. I have a rough idea of your strength.”
Seeing Liu Yongming put away his stance, Zhou Yuan also relaxed, gently rubbing his right elbow pit and left knee.
Looking at Zhou Yuan’s movements, Liu Yongming shook his head and said:
“Your biggest problem right now is this: your battle awareness and on-the-spot reactions are very good; you can timely judge what you need to do next. But similarly, your ability to withstand blows and the power and speed of your moves are a bit lacking. Logically speaking, such battle awareness is formed after many years of combat, but you, kid, are truly a rare anomaly.”
“Although your movements look quite smooth, your power, speed, and ability to withstand blows are as if you haven’t trained at all.”
“And I’m not afraid you’ll get arrogant, but your current battle awareness and reaction speed are already almost on par with mine. When I was your age, I was still a kid who knew nothing.”
“I now have a rough idea of how to proceed with the next training. We’ll do practical combat training every day to help you maintain your feel and awareness, and it will also help you train your ability to withstand blows. Additionally, we’ll prepare tools to train your speed and power.”
“Daily morning runs also cannot be skipped in the future. They can effectively train your sustained combat ability. Even if you don’t fight, if you run faster, your chances of survival when facing danger will also be higher.”
“In addition to these trainings, you also need to undergo practical Pokémon battle training. Although your theoretical knowledge is very rich, you haven’t experienced a real Pokémon battle for so many years, so you always need to try it. From now on, I will also take out a little time every day to command Little Ka to battle you, helping you train your practical combat ability.”
Zhou Yuan listened to Liu Yongming’s words without speaking, because he knew that Uncle Liu’s experience was always richer than his own, and he also didn’t know how to train, so he simply followed Uncle Liu’s arrangements.
Time flew by, and seven days later, during these seven days, Zhou Yuan followed Liu Yongming for morning runs every day, received instruction on various Trainer knowledge in the morning, and conducted strength and speed training in the afternoon, supplemented by Fighting practical combat and Pokémon battle practical combat.
During these seven days, Zhou Father and Zhou Mu also came to see their son. When they saw their son learning under Liu Yongming’s guidance, both of them smiled so broadly their mouths couldn’t close. They pulled Liu Yongming aside, and Zhou Yuan vaguely heard phrases like “don’t feel bad” and “train him hard,” making him somewhat doubt if he was their biological child.
The training effect of these seven days was very significant. Zhou Yuan’s power and speed in his moves significantly increased, and his stamina also improved. By the seventh day of practical combat, Zhou Yuan could even fight Liu Yongming, who was using eighty percent of his strength, back and forth. The relationship between Zhou Yuan and Growlithe also became closer. Zhou Yuan became more familiar with Growlithe, and Growlithe became more dependent on his Trainer, able to react very promptly to his Trainer’s commands.
On the third day of these seven days, to earn living expenses for the Growlithe, Zhou Yuan released his third video: Art is Substitute! 【Pokémon Tactics 03】. On the fifth day, its viewership exceeded two million, completing two tasks at once: a single video’s viewership exceeding two million and cumulative video viewership exceeding five million. He obtained the Exp. Share, a purple item, and also received 1500 Energy Points, greatly alleviating the pressure on Zhou Yuan’s small treasury.
During these days, with Zhou Yuan’s feeding of berries and energy cubes, and especially under Big Red’s careful guidance, and even more so after wearing the Exp. Share for the last three days, the Growlithe learned several new Skills from Big Red. The Growlithe’s strength advanced by leaps and bounds. At least now, Little Ka can no longer defeat the Growlithe, even with Liu Yongming’s command.
“System, scan the Growlithe, and also display my current resource panel.”
【Growlithe】
【Level: Normal Grade】
【Ability: Intimidate】
【Moves: Ember, Howl, Bite, Flame Wheel, Helping Hand, Agility, Flare Blitz, Morning Sun, Double Kick, Close Combat, Crunch, Play Rough, Psychic Fangs, Thunder Fang, Protect】
【Host’s Current Energy Points: 960 points】
【Host’s Current Skill: Fighting Mastery Lv4】
【Host’s Current Items: Fire Stone, Fire Gem, Exp. Share, Cherish Ball, Poké Ball, peach fruit】
Other berries and the energy cubes bought in bulk were all fed to the Growlithe. The energy cubes were the main reason the Growlithe reached Normal Grade so quickly, and among the berries, the shaling fruit increased the Growlithe’s speed, while the lum berry increased the Growlithe’s Ground resistance.
Judging purely by its panel attributes, the current Growlithe has the potential of a great emperor.