The moment this thought emerged, Lance's alarm bells rang. He quickly dove forward.
But it was too late. A figure suddenly burst out behind him.
Meanwhile, the camera shifted from the two Pokémon to the ground.
The host commentator exclaimed: "My god! Rei has abandoned fighting alongside his Pokémon, instead sneaking alone behind Cloud Emperor! Is—is he not afraid of dying?"
The expert commentator added, "This decapitation tactic is effective, but extremely dangerous. He's too far from his Pokémon. Snorlax can return faster. If he can't... can't..."
He couldn't finish. In the footage, after closing in, Rei very cleanly spun, and Lance flew out like a soccer ball, collapsing motionless. The camera hadn't even captured his kicking motion.
It looked like Lance had flopped on his own.
With Lance down, Snorlax was instantly recalled to his Battle Mark. The referee immediately announced Rei's victory.
"What the hell!" Even the professionally trained commentator cursed, roaring, "What was that! What just happened!? Someone tell me!!!"
Commentators and the audience were collectively stunned, but Kaito saw some clues.
Not because he was stronger than others, but because he had seen and learned this move as a child.
"This is... North Leg?"
The Kuroda family had inherited martial arts, core techniques being one fist and one leg: South Fist and North Leg. No flashy chuunibyou names. Actually, not very impressive martial arts.
As a child, Kaito had trained with them. Rei practiced legs, Kenji practiced fists, and Kaito went wherever seemed fun—felt no different from radio calisthenics. He stopped after starting elementary school.
On Earth, after years of training, Kenji at most had slightly thicker arms than others—completely different from martial arts masters in novels.
No palm winds, no energy waves, no "bright force" or "dark force" nonsense. Even street performances were impossible due to poor visual appeal.
He hadn't expected that in this world, not only did Pokémon appear, but originally, ordinary martial arts became fantastical. Rei's kick just now was so fast the camera couldn't capture it—practically the legendary Shadowless Kick.
Just when Kaito thought he had sufficiently overestimated Rei's kick, the replay appeared.
At 16x slow motion, everyone finally clearly saw what Rei had done.
He rushed in with a high kick to Lance's head, then spun around for another kick to Lance's neck, then spun again, kicking his ribs under the arm.
Three kicks!
In that instant, without even afterimages, he had unleashed three legs.
"My god! Is this guy a Pokémon in disguise? You could tell me he's a Ditto right now and I'd believe it!" The commentators exclaimed repeatedly. The live audience boiled over.
In Pokémon battles, even with enhanced physiques, Battle Trainers mostly participated as commanders. Scenes of direct hand-to-hand combat deciding victory were extremely rare, yet blood-boiling.
"Rei! Rei!"
The arena erupted in cheers. This battle would become Rei's deification. His Corviknight actually couldn't defeat Gigantamax Snorlax, yet he had won against the odds, securing the championship trophy for his team.
Such classic footage would surely be remembered by many. Like the Zed vs. Zed matchup in League of Legends.
Wait, if so, wouldn't Lance end up like that guy? Kaito inexplicably felt sympathy for Cloud Emperor.
"He really executed Shadowless Kick," Kaito remembered on Earth when he was very young. Rei took him and Kenji to watch a Wong Fei-hung movie. Back then, Rei said their family's leg technique, when mastered, wouldn't lose to Shadowless Kick.
He had always thought Rei was just being chuunibyou. He hadn't expected that in this world, hewould actually achieve it.
Three legs in an instant, shadowless and traceless!
If North Leg was this strong, then South Fist...
Kaito looked at Kenji. He was an outsider who trained for fun. Kenji had been forced by his father to practice through summer heat and winter cold.
"Don't look at me," Kenji felt his gaze and roughly understood his thoughts. "He contracted a Pokémon and borrowed its power through his Battle Mark; that's why he could execute martial arts to that degree. I'm not a Battle Trainer."
One Battle Mark meant 1/6 of a Pokémon's physical stats. If fully inscribed with 6, that was a human-shaped Pokémon.
What were Pokémon? Favorites of heaven and earth. Among the powerful, tearing heaven and splitting earth was effortless.
Like Rei's Corviknight—that massive tornado it whipped up could destroy a small city with a few casual flaps.
Compared to that, three legs in an instant became acceptable.
But according to online sources, very few could inscribe all 6 Battle Marks. Among 9 billion people worldwide, probably fewer than 3,000.
Those were absolute peak experts, rarer than billionaires.
Rei might not have many Pokémon yet. When he fills his Battle Marks, his leg technique might become even more terrifying.
When the announcer said, "Let's congratulate Battle King on lifting the trophy," Kenji in front of the TV also pumped his fist fiercely. His brother's victory clearly excited him.
Kaito also felt much after watching: "Rei's so strong. When does he come back? Can I ask him about Battle Trainer stuff?"
But these words made Kenji's excited expression vanish. He frowned at Kaito: "Does he dare come back? Wouldn't our parents beat him to death?"
"Uh..." Kaito hadn't expected this, feeling like he stepped on a landmine.
He quickly shut up. Less talk, fewer mistakes. No talk, no mistake.
Kenji didn't blame him, continuing to himself: "It doesn't matter if he doesn't come back. When I become a Battle Trainer, I'll personally break his legs and bring him back!"
Kaito: "..."
This brutal? What did Rei do?
Seems like he had a falling out with the family.
Why did this inexplicably give Sasuke and Itachi vibes?
Kenji spoke so fiercely, but don't end up getting choked against a wall by the neck.
"Then you'd better work hard. He's already a champion, and you don't even have a Battle Mark."
"I..." Kenji said unwillingly, "My parents won't let me get inscribed. With my talent, becoming a Battle Trainer would be a piece of cake."
"Your talent is high?" Kaito quickly asked.
"No, just 5%," Kenji shook his head, "But if Rei can do it, I definitely can too."
This is based on no evidence whatsoever. Kaito was convinced. Well, this guy had always been like this.