Riding Big Red to the entrance of Li's Training Hall, Zhou Yuan saw Li Feiyong standing at the doorway and greeted him.
"Oh? So early today? What are you doing standing here?"
Li Feiyong looked over when he heard the voice, saw it was Zhou Yuan, and was overjoyed.
"You're finally here! I'm standing here waiting for you, aren't I? My dad dragged me out early this morning to stand at the door, saying he wanted me to pick you up. It's ridiculous."
Zhou Yuan didn't know what to say for a moment, only that Uncle Li was indeed quite amusing.
As Li Feiyong entered the Training Hall with Zhou Yuan, the apprentices training inside turned their gaze towards them, and faint whispers could be heard.
"Why is he here again?"
"He just fought yesterday, and he's here to fight again today?"
"Wow, he's still as handsome as yesterday, hehe."
Hearing the last sentence, Li Feiyong's expression became a bit awkward. These girls in the Gym only knew how to praise handsome men from outside the Gym every day. Were there no handsome people inside the Gym?
Unwilling to hear such disheartening words anymore, Li Feiyong quickly led Zhou Yuan through the training Ground and towards the small training Ground behind the reception room.
When Zhou Yuan arrived at the small training Ground, he found Li Tao sparring with his Conkeldurr.
Li Tao's upper body was bare, revealing a set of solid muscles, while his Conkeldurr had also put down the pillars in its hands, clenching its fists to spar with its Trainer.
The clash of four fists produced banging sounds, and Zhou Yuan did not speak, standing with Li Feiyong outside the arena, watching them battle.
After another ten minutes of Fighting, Li Tao stopped, pulled a towel from his lower back to wipe his sweat, and turned to look at Zhou Yuan outside the arena.
"Xiao Yuan is here. Have you eaten yet?"
"Uncle Li, I have."
"Good, then let's get ready for training," Li Tao said to Zhou Yuan, then turned his gaze to Li Feiyong.
"You brat, don't even think about running. Train with us."
"Ah… I think it's better if I train outside." Li Feiyong saw the situation was not good and prepared to sneak away, but as soon as he turned his head, he saw his father's Machamp guarding the entrance.
Seeing that he couldn't escape today's training, Li Feiyong's face fell.
Face crumpled.JPG
The two took off their shoes and walked into the training Ground, which was covered with a layer of soft flooring.
While Li Tao drank an energy drink to rehydrate, Zhou Yuan scanned the Conkeldurr opposite him.
Conkeldurr
Level: Gym Leader Mid-Stage
Ability: Guts
Skills: Pound, Glare, Gathering Power, Endure, Low Kick, Rock Throw, Wake-Up Slap, Chip Away, Bulk Up, Rock Slide, Dynamic Punch, Scary Face, Hammer Arm, Stone Edge, Focus Punch, Superpower, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Drain Punch, Comet Punch, Counter, Endure, Force Palm, Sonic Punch, Reversal, Refresh, Block, Protect, Substitute, Toxic
The string of Skills made Zhou Yuan a bit speechless, especially when he saw the last three Skills, Zhou Yuan was even more dumbfounded.
I didn't expect you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, to be a quality player too!
After resting for a while, Li Tao stood in front of Li Feiyong and Zhou Yuan.
Today's Li Tao was different from yesterday's. Yesterday, Li Tao looked somewhat ordinary, even kind, but today, Li Tao on the training Ground was much sharper, his eyes sparkling, and his well-built muscles gleamed under the sweat.
With that physique, even if Li Tao stopped being a Trainer, he would have more than enough to win a bodybuilding Champion title.
Looking at the two fine young men standing before him, Li Tao said:
"Release all your Pokémon. Later, let them learn from Conkeldurr." He then looked at the Growlithe that Zhou Yuan had released from its Poké Ball and said.
"Xiao Yuan, because your Growlithe's compatibility with humanoid Pokémon is indeed not very high, Conkeldurr might not be able to teach it many things. It's just a few more general Skills and helping Growlithe solidify the Fighting-type Skills it has already learned. Please don't say that I'm holding back and unwilling to teach you."
Hearing this, Zhou Yuan also smiled.
"Uncle Li, don't say that. It's already great to be able to learn anything."
Hearing Zhou Yuan say this, Li Tao smiled even more brightly.
"Very good. Yesterday, I called Yongming, and he told me that your Fighting techniques are already very sufficient, and your actual combat power is not inferior to a Machoke that doesn't use special energy."
Hearing this, Li Feiyong, who was beside them, also looked sideways. After all, even after so many years of training, he himself wouldn't dare to claim to have the combat power of a Machoke, but his father actually said that the person next to him was even more powerful than himself. Li Feiyong just found it a bit unbelievable.
Li Tao continued:
"But just hearing Yongming say it, it's hard for me to have a clear understanding of your specific strength."
"How about this, you two first let your Pokémon go learn from Conkeldurr, and then you two lads get ready and have a match. That way, I'll have a general understanding of Xiao Yuan's strength."
Zhou Yuan, of course, had no objections. Li Feiyong also found it very interesting. After all, his own father said he was very powerful, but he still found it a bit hard to believe, so he might as well see the truth firsthand.
After putting the Exp. Share on Growlithe and letting it learn from Conkeldurr, Zhou Yuan himself stepped onto the battleground, standing five meters apart from Li Feiyong.
Li Feiyong's legs were spread front and back, his body turned sideways, his left hand extended forward, his right hand extended backward, only his index finger remained upright, while the other four fingers were slightly bent.
Seeing this, Zhou Yuan knew that Li Feiyong was displaying the stance of Hong Quan.
Hong Quan is a powerful and fierce boxing style, characterized by its long bridges and wide stances. It is said to have twelve bridge yin-yang hands and the saying 'one finger points to the Central Plains.'
Hong Quan is further divided into styles such as Gung Gee Fook Fu Kuen (Taming the Tiger in I-shaped Stance), Tit Sin Kuen (Iron Wire Fist), Ng Ying Kuen (Five Animal Fist), Fu Hok Seung Ying Kuen (Tiger Crane Double Form Fist), etc. Based on Li Feiyong's stance, he should be practicing Gung Gee Fook Fu Kuen.
To counter the fierce Hong Quan, using Tai Chi is more advantageous, provided that the actual combat power of both sides is not too different. Otherwise, if the opponent throws a punch, one wouldn't even be able to block it, let alone neutralize and counter it.
While thinking, Zhou Yuan also assumed the Tai Chi stance.
Li Tao watched as the two youngsters prepared, then shouted, "Begin!"
Li Feiyong heard the start of the battle, took the initiative, stepped forward with an arrow-like stride, and threw a right-hand punch towards Zhou Yuan's face.
Zhou Yuan saw the punch coming, unhurriedly, narrowed his inner circle of hands, took a step to the right, used his left hand to guide Li Feiyong's punch backward, and delivered a single whip strike with his right hand towards Li Feiyong.
Li Feiyong raised his left hand to block the single whip, then his right hand naturally swept left towards Zhou Yuan's throat. Zhou Yuan used his left hand to parry Li's left hand, stepped forward with his right foot, and delivered a right punch directly to Li's throat. Li leaned back to dodge. Zhou Yuan quickly bent his right elbow, delivering a heart-piercing elbow strike to Li Feiyong's solar plexus.
Li Feiyong was unable to dodge and took the full force of the elbow, being knocked back several steps, accompanied by coughing as his breath was disrupted.
After steadying his breath, Li Feiyong threw another punch at Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan raised his left hand to block Li's left hand, while simultaneously stepping forward with his right foot, pulling his left and right hands from front to bottom, then backward in an arc, and pressing his right hand on Li Feiyong's left shoulder, forcefully pulling him from front to bottom, then backward in an arc, directly using the force of Li Feiyong's punch to send him flying to the left-rear.
Li Feiyong was not flustered by being thrown. He turned around and struck Zhou Yuan's back ribs with both fists. Zhou Yuan heard the wind behind him, dodged to the right, and simultaneously struck Li's left jaw with his left elbow. Then, he turned around and delivered a powerful right elbow strike to Li Feiyong's chest and abdomen. Li Feiyong took this elbow and was pushed back several steps.
However, Li Feiyong could be said to be quite sturdy and resilient. He took two elbow strikes and could still continue Fighting, but having suffered from two elbows, he no longer dared to risk being aggressive, and the two began to face off.
After a standoff, Zhou Yuan deliberately exposed a weakness to Li Feiyong. Li Feiyong quickly stepped forward and attacked Zhou Yuan's chest with a right punch. Zhou Yuan used his left hand to pull Li's right fist downward and outward, while simultaneously thrusting his right palm through the obstruction of Li's left hand towards Li Feiyong's throat, stopping just before impact.
At this point, Li Feiyong knew he was no match for Zhou Yuan and retracted his hand.
Li Tao, who was standing by, watched the two finish Fighting, clapped his hands, and walked over, saying as he approached:
"Peng Arm and Elbow Advance, Lu Style, Back-Turning Punch, White Snake Spits Tongue. Xiao Yuan, your Tai Chi is very good, better than my rebellious son. My rebellious son didn't even touch your clothes."
Li Feiyong, having been scolded, dared not speak. After all, what Li Tao said was true. If Zhou Yuan's pulling wasn't counted, he really hadn't even touched his clothes. Thinking this, Li Feiyong rubbed his chest again, taking several sharp breaths. Damn, Zhou Yuan's moves were quite ruthless. If he hadn't been physically sturdy, two elbow strikes would have knocked him out.
After a period of mutual flattery, Li Tao began to teach Zhou Yuan Hong Quan.
Zhou Yuan did not harbor any arrogant thoughts, for one lives and learns. Although he had some understanding of Hong Quan through Fighting Mastery, it was still excellent to receive guidance from a master in this field.
After a day of learning, Zhou Yuan had a deeper understanding of Hong Quan. Li Tao was also very satisfied with this temporary disciple, who understood everything with just one lesson, far better than when he first taught Li Feiyong.
Watching Zhou Yuan leave, Li Tao turned back to look at his son beside him. The more he looked, the more he looked like a rebellious son. He snorted coldly and turned back to the back room.
Li Feiyong: ??? Why did he feel like he hadn't done anything, yet a blood-red 'Danger' character appeared above his head?
The sun gradually set, and Zhou Yuan rode on Big Red's back directly to the lake. After all, it had been nearly twelve hours since the last feeding, and the process of gaining affection couldn't stop. Now that he had time, he would go and feed it again.
Standing by the lake once more, Zhou Yuan looked at the lake surface reflecting the orange-red sunset, and his mood relaxed accordingly.
This time, he wasn't feeding razz berry energy cubes anymore. After all, everything needs to be done in moderation. Excessive care will only make the cared-for afraid. The same applies to razz berries; too many razz berries would be counterproductive.
Zhou Yuan crushed the Wepear Berry energy cube and threw it into the center of the lake.
After a few bubbles emerged from the lake surface, that familiar golden crown reappeared.
"Karoo…"
Magikarp looked at the person on the shore, a bit puzzled. Hadn't this person been here earlier? Why was he here again?
But why would Magikarp think so much?
Magikarp only knew it was hungry, and this person had brought it delicious food again. This person was a good person.
After eating the energy cube crumbs on the lake surface, Magikarp did not sink to the bottom but looked at Zhou Yuan.
Zhou Yuan watched Magikarp finish eating the energy cube and was about to leave, but then he saw that the fish didn't swim away and was staring at him. He also felt a bit puzzled. What was going on today?
Neither the person nor the fish communicated, they just looked at each other across the lake.
It wasn't until the sun was about to set that Zhou Yuan saw Magikarp had no intention of moving forward. If he threw a Poké Ball like this, he definitely wouldn't catch it and would only alert it. So, he simply waved at Magikarp and turned to go back to the ranch.
Magikarp saw the human on the shore wave at it and turn to leave. It didn't know what it was thinking, just watched Zhou Yuan walk away. Only after Zhou Yuan had completely disappeared from its sight did Magikarp slowly swim into the bottom of the lake, leaving only a few small bubbles on the surface.
"Bloop…"
Zhou Yuan returned to the ranch and handed Big Red's Poké Ball back to Liu Yongming. Liu Yongming happily said to Zhou Yuan:
"I heard you beat up that Li boy today? Good job. I've wanted to beat up his old man for a long time, but it was never quite convenient. Today you beat up his son, which counts as fulfilling my small wish."
Hearing Uncle Liu say this, Zhou Yuan couldn't help but smile wryly. It was clearly a normal sparring match, but coming from Uncle Liu's mouth, it sounded like he had gone to challenge a martial arts school.
After dinner and a shower, Zhou Yuan returned to his room and opened A-station to check the data.
The two videos uploaded last night each surpassed one million views, and his followers also increased by twenty thousand. However, as the number of followers grew, the rate of increase gradually slowed down.
That night, the moon sank like water, and there was no conversation throughout the night.