Gaino and Laiya arrived at Kami's Lookout, where the Guardian and Popo had already been waiting for them.
The Guardian said, "Welcome, visitors from afar, to my planet, Earth. I am Earth's Guardian. Is there anything I can help you with?"
Gaino glanced over and saw a green-skinned alien with two antenna-like appendages on his head, and a black-skinned man with a blank expression, a large nose, and thick lips standing before them.
Gaino immediately said, "We're very sorry to trouble you. We've come all this way to Earth to learn how to control ki. We hope the Guardian will kindly teach us."
"Not at all. We Earthlings are very hospitable, though of course that doesn't include those who wish us harm," the Guardian said.
"Don't worry, Guardian! We're here to learn, not to invade," Gaino said.
"I know that, of course. If you were hostile, Earth's warriors wouldn't stand idly by, even if we were no match for you."
"I know that, of course. Earth's warriors don't take kindly to invaders."
"Since that's settled, let's begin training!" Gaino said.
"Popo, I'll leave their training to you," the Guardian said to Mr. Popo beside him.
"Understood, Guardian. I'll teach them to the best of my ability," Popo replied.
"Good. I trust you, Popo."
Leaning on his cane, the Guardian walked into his temple.
Popo said to Gaino, "You two, follow me!"
They came to an open area. Popo said to Gaino and Laiya, "Master Roshi and Karin have already taught you how to train your ki, so I won't teach you that again."
"There's only one thing I'm going to teach you: how to fight perfectly."
At the mention of fighting, Gaino and Laiya's eyes lit up.
Laiya asked Popo, "Mr. Popo, does fighting have nothing to do with the amount of ki you have?"
Today, Laiya had surprisingly taken the initiative to ask someone for guidance.
Popo said, "The amount of ki inside your body does affect your fighting, but it has nothing to do with your technique. How about this? You two attack me together. Once you experience it for yourselves, you'll understand."
Laiya and Gaino exchanged a glance, then attacked Popo.
Laiya released her ki to its maximum, making the entire Lookout tremble. As soon as she had finished unleashing her energy, she charged straight at Popo.
Laiya threw a punch at Popo's face. Just as her fist was about to reach his cheek, Popo simply tilted his head to the side and dodged her attack.
Seeing Laiya's assault, Gaino thought, As expected, Saiyans still like to solve things with brute force.
Compared with Laiya, Gaino's approach was completely different. He lowered his ki to a minimum and attacked Popo as well. But instead of striking him from the front, just as he drew close, Gaino darted to Popo's side and threw a punch.
Gaino's punch had a very short range, but it packed tremendous force. As he struck, Popo tried to dodge, but realized he couldn't get out of the way in time and had to block Gaino's attack with his arm.
The instant Popo's arm met Gaino's fist, an enormous force surged from the punch and sent Popo flying backward.
Gaino pressed his advantage and quickly moved behind Popo, intending to land another punch. Popo slapped Gaino's fist with his palm and used the motion to land steadily on the ground. Then he launched an attack against Gaino.
Popo was astonishingly fast. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Gaino. Gaino couldn't react in time, and Popo's fist slammed into his stomach. Gaino's eyes bulged, and colorless liquid sprayed from his mouth. His body flew backward and crashed into the gate of the Lookout. With a loud crash, the gate fell over.
After knocking Gaino down, Popo flashed behind Laiya and kicked her, sending her flying as well.
Gaino emerged from the rubble and rubbed his stomach. "Tsk, that really hurt!"
"Mr. Popo, you really are amazing. I've never been hit like that since I started training!"
There really is always someone stronger.
Laiya also walked out of the rubble. "Ouch! Mr. Popo really is strong. He sure gave my big brother Gaino and me a hard time."
Popo asked, "Well? Want to keep going?"
Gaino and Laiya answered in unison, "Of course! We couldn't ask for a better opponent than you, Mr. Popo!"
"Mr. Popo, watch out. We're coming at you!"
Popo gave a slight nod.
Gaino and Laiya attacked Mr. Popo together, working in perfect sync. At first, Popo kept sending them flying.
But they were incredibly tenacious. Each time they were knocked away, they charged at Popo again.
As this kept happening, Gaino and Laiya were sent flying fewer and fewer times.
They continued learning and growing throughout the fight.
This training went on for more than an hour. In the end, Gaino and Laiya ran out of strength, and Popo knocked them to the ground.
During that hour of fighting, Gaino and Laiya quickly lost their stamina. By contrast, Mr. Popo wasn't even red in the face or out of breath. (Of course, since Mr. Popo was so dark-skinned, it was impossible to tell whether he was blushing.) Mr. Popo said, "All right, that's enough training for today!"
"Think back over our fight and see what you've learned. I have to make food for the Guardian, so if you'll excuse me."
After speaking, Popo walked straight into the temple.
Watching Mr. Popo disappear from sight, Laiya panted, "Big brother Gaino, I never expected a low-level planet like this to have someone so strong."
Gaino said, "So, it was worth coming here after all, wasn't it?"
"Worth it? We've hit the jackpot!" Laiya replied.
Gaino said, "Laiya, once we finish training with Mr. Popo, I'm sure our battle power will increase tremendously."
The next day, Gaino and Laiya continued fighting Popo.
As Popo blocked their attacks, he said to them,
"Fighting is about dealing the greatest damage with the smallest attack."
"Your movements should be as free as the wind and as swift as lightning."
At these words, Gaino quickly drew back.
Then he closed his eyes. Seeing what Gaino was doing, Laiya seemed to understand something and closed her eyes too.
Watching their expressions, Popo's impassive face actually broke into a smile. Fortunately, Gaino and Laiya had their eyes closed. If they'd opened them and seen Popo smiling, they probably would've been completely stunned.
Popo didn't disturb them. He stood quietly before them.