"With so much strength... is this little guy really human?" Morty watched the battle, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. Even he couldn't believe the scene in front of him. He felt like he was seeing things. Where in the world could a human's strength far exceed a Pokémon's? The Iron Valiant was not weak; it had a base attack stat of 130 and a total of 590. In every way, it should have been crushing Zhang Tian. "This little monster is really outrageous," he thought, surprised. He knew Zhang Tian was strong, but he had not expected him to be so ridiculously strong. And Zhang hadn't even used his psychic powers yet; he had suppressed the Iron Valiant with physical strength alone.
"Is Zhang Tian so bad?" Bea looked at Zhang, surprised. She knew he was a powerful martial artist, but she had not expected him to be so strong. Even her master, Mustard, one of the strongest martial artists in the world, had not been so strong when he was young.
"So strong. Worthy of being the man I like," Cynthia's eyes were obsessive, a satisfied smile on her face.
"Holy crap! Is this Zhang Tian really human? Not a Pokémon in disguise?" The trainers around the battlefield were stunned, their eyes wide, as if they were seeing something they couldn't believe.
BRUSH! Zhang raised his left hand and punched the Iron Valiant. As he shook his fist, a burst of air exploded around it; the air itself was crushed by the force of the punch. A terrifying cold aura appeared on his left hand. It was the symbol of Ice Punch.
Protect! The Iron Valiant, with no time to dodge, could only use a defensive move. Its weapon was still pinned under Zhang's greatsword.
BANG! Zhang's left fist was blocked by the translucent barrier.
But this scene shocked the audience, whose jaws had already dropped, once again.
"Holy crap! What is that! What is that! Ice Punch! What the hell, humans can also use Ice Punch?"
"You have a lot of strength, fine, I'll endure it. But you can even use Ice Punch? You still say you're not a Pokémon in disguise?"
"Outrageous! Outrageous! It's outrageous!"
"I lean! Ice Punch! This product is definitely a Ditto in disguise!"
"The first time I've ever seen a Pokémon use Protect to block a human's attack! Truly a world record! No one before, and no one after!"
"Ice Punch!" Even Morty, who was usually very serious, widened his eyes and opened his mouth, as if his jaw had dropped in shock. This was Ice Punch, a Pokémon skill. He had never heard of, and never seen, a human use an Ice-type Pokémon skill. The only Pokémon skill humans could use was probably Teleport.
"Ice Punch... it's outrageous. I didn't expect him to be so strong. No wonder he is so confident that he can have the strength of a first-level god within a year," Bea looked at Zhang, her face full of worship and admiration.
"Good experience," Cynthia smiled, very satisfied.
"Is this the true value of the 'First Day of the Great Xia'? A true pride of a country! Those domestic trainers think that Zhang Tian is not as good as Steven, and that Steven is only temporarily behind him. But looking at this situation, I'm afraid Steven will never be able to catch up with Zhang Tian. This is a monster, a real monster, growing much faster than anyone," Fantina thought, her eyes burning as she looked at Zhang's back.
The moment the Protect barrier disappeared, Zhang raised his greatsword and swung. It was a Rigid Air Blade Slash!
"Wu!" The Iron Valiant drew its own blade and parried, wanting to block Zhang's attack with its "four ounces to move a thousand pounds" technique.
WHILE!
But when the two blades collided, the Iron Valiant found a very familiar trajectory on Zhang's greatsword. It was "four ounces to move a thousand pounds."
BANG! When the technique was no longer being used, the long-handled greatsword in the Iron Valiant's hands shattered instantly. Zhang's power was too terrifying. Zhang turned his sword, and the back of the blade slashed heavily on the Iron Valiant.
BOOM! The Iron Valiant was sent flying like a golf ball, rolling out of the battlefield.
"What! Four ounces to move a thousand pounds!" Morty exclaimed. First the Seregios had learned it in seconds, and now Zhang had learned it in seconds. Did he want to let people live? "Since this little monster learned 'four ounces to move a thousand pounds' after colliding once, his talent is probably no worse than that Seregios's. A natural combat genius, a real genius born for battle. And his strength is too great, right? He directly shattered the Iron Valiant's long knife! This little monster is really a monster!" Morty's eyes widened to their limit, and he looked at Zhang with a shocked expression.
"The Iron Valiant lost?" the referee in the sky was stunned at first, then recalled the picture just now, and his eyes instantly widened. "Four ounces to move a thousand pounds! Zhang Tian learned it! How is that possible? Is this really a human talent?"
The trainers watching were also shocked.
"Is Zhang Tian so smart?" Bea was stunned, looking at him with some disbelief.
"What a disaster!" Cynthia looked at Zhang with adoration, as if she were his little fangirl.
And in the live broadcast room, the barrage exploded directly, the text so dense the picture was almost unclear.
"Holy crap! Four ounces to move a thousand pounds! Is Zhang Tian so awesome? Since the second he saw it, he learned it! It won't be the Seregios in disguise!"
"Awesome! Really awesome! From today onwards, I will be Zhang Tian's brain-dead fan, and whoever dares to spray him, I will spray them!"
"Gym Leader Morty, am I qualified?" Zhang asked with a smile, sheathing his sword.
"Qualified! Qualified! You have surpassed anyone's previous assessment record. Worthy of the 'First Day of the Great Xia.' I recognize you," Morty said with a sigh, his face full of admiration and expectation. "In fact, it is not so much the 'First Genius of the Great Xia' as the 'First Genius of the World.' Under the whole world, no one can compare with you. I believe it won't be long before you can defeat that kid in the galaxy and become the new champion of the Great Xia. The champion is the limit of mortals, but not your limit."
"Here! Your badge!" he said, throwing him the Ghost-type gym badge.
Syllable! Zhang caught it. Four. Half of them collected. Now there is still a gap in the badges of the Fire, Electric, Psychic, and Fighting gyms, he thought.
"Let's go, Rookie King. Come with me," Morty said, beckoning him towards the inside of the gym. "I have three stunts. 'Four ounces to move a thousand pounds' and 'borrowing strength' are known to the world, but the last one is rarely known. Because this trick has great side effects, it is impossible to use it in a match, unless it is a life-and-death battle. This trick is to open the pulse points. Everything in the world has meridians and acupuncture points, as long as it is a living life. The function of my move is to unlock the restrictions in the meridians and acupoints, so that a Pokémon or martial artist can exert more powerful power. For example, if my strength is 100 pounds, after unlocking the first layer, my strength can reach 150 pounds, but the meridians and acupoints will be injured, and it will take a month of rest to recover. Unlocking the second layer, my strength can reach 200 pounds, and it will take three months of rest. Unlock the third layer, the last layer, my strength can reach 400 pounds, but the meridians and acupoints will be broken, and it will take at least a year of cultivation. Come on, I'll give you this trick."
He began to explain, and Zhang instantly learned to open the pulse points.
"You've learned it already?" Morty looked at him, surprised. His beard was almost broken a few times. He knew Zhang's talent was very good, but to learn to open the pulse points just by listening... it was too far-fetched. This trick was more difficult than the other two combined. Morty was surprised and shocked, even though he knew Zhang's learning ability was buggy.
Zhang, for his part, was very satisfied with the technique. Although the side effects were great, in a moment of crisis, it could change fate, life and death, victory and defeat.
"Rookie King, no wonder Shilong that old guy called you a little monster. Then I'll teach you to use your strength to fight," Morty shook his head with a sigh and began to explain.
During the time Zhang was studying, the matter of his punching the Iron Valiant was spreading wildly on the internet. In various places in the Great Xia, classmates were showing it to classmates, friends to friends, family to family. Soon, most of the people in the nation knew of Zhang Tian's achievements today, and they were shocked and speechless.
"Damn it!" Leon looked at the live broadcast replay, his fists clenched, his teeth gritted, his face surprised and unwilling. He was surprised by Zhang's strength, and unwilling that he had been so weak, that he had not forced Zhang to use his full strength.
Countless netizens around the world were shocked. They were all stunned by Zhang's terrifying learning ability, powerful physical strength, shocked and speechless. Even the long-established champions were shocked. In their opinion, Zhang Tian was too unscientific. The unmatched strength, the use of Ice Punch, the ability to learn enemy skills in an instant... it was all so nonsensical.
On the other side, after Morty explained the power of borrowing, Zhang learned it as well.
"You're really a demon!" Morty looked at Zhang and sighed again.
"Gym Leader Morty, it's a prize," Zhang smiled gently.
"Okay, let your Acidic Glavenus, Seregios, and Terra Shogun Ceanataur come with me," Morty shook his head and walked outside.
After training in the Ghost Gym for a day and a half, the next morning, Zhang used Teleport to come to Flame Mountain. The Fire Gym was built on top of it. It was not as economical as the Dragon Gym in Kyoto, but for the gym's apprentices, it was better. Kyoto was not suitable for training Pokémon at all. Flame Mountain, on the other hand, was full of places very suitable for training Fire-type Pokémon.