Pokémon Know Martial Arts

The setting sun dyed the horizon amber as Xinhai stood before the Trainer School gates and looked back.

In the fading light, the towering building felt like a massive mountain before him, weighing heavily on his heart.

But when he looked down at Torchic and Ralts in his arms, a confident smile curved across his lips. "Looks like we need to work even harder. We can't let Yingnan and the others surpass us."

Upon hearing this, Torchic's orange-red down fluttered like flames in the evening breeze. It flapped its wings with all its might, leaped onto Xinhai's shoulder, raised its head, and let out a bright, spirited cry filled with the will to press onward.

"Chamo~"

Ralts used Confusion to float lightly onto Xinhai's other shoulder. Clenching her tiny fists, she conveyed her firm conviction to her trainer through Telepathy. "Xinhai, let's do our best together!" Her childish voice rang in Xinhai's heart, carrying the unique gentleness and strength of a Psychic-type Pokémon.

Xinhai smiled and gently stroked the little heads of both Pokémon, his eyes full of affection, before heading toward the Pokémon Center.

As dusk deepened, the evening wind lifted the loose strands of hair before his forehead, but it could not disperse the hope for the future in his eyes.

Back in his room at the Pokémon Center, Xinhai opened the training journal he carried with him. Its pages were densely packed with training plans for Torchic and Ralts.

But when he recalled the vast number of Gym-level training manuals he had seen in the Trainer School library today, then looked down at his own notes, he suddenly realized how meager that knowledge seemed compared to those top-tier resources.

His goal was not merely to contend with those academy-trained Trainers. He wanted to surpass them, surpass those true prodigies of heaven. These alone were nowhere near enough.

Broadening my horizons is still a huge help to me.

Thinking this, Xinhai looked at Torchic and Ralts, who were training diligently, and pondered, "Looks like I need to quickly make development plans suited to these two little ones."

He took out his top-secret notebook from his backpack. It contained most of the martial arts and Calm Mind knowledge Xinhai had learned about, with the most comprehensive records concerning Chinese martial arts.

He had practiced martial arts in his previous life. Though he had only trained casually, he had also spent three years hanging around a martial arts club in college, so he knew quite a bit about renowned styles such as Baji Quan and Xingyiquan.

Taking the traits of both Pokémon into account, Xinhai mapped out suitable development paths for each of them.

First was Torchic. Its final evolution was Blaziken, whose Ability was Speed Boost. It was a Pokémon built for swift offense.

Its development would therefore focus on speed, supplemented by powerful offensive strength to tear through its opponent's defenses.

Since Torchic found it difficult to comprehend Fighting-type moves involving punches and kicks at this stage, Xinhai would mainly train its speed and reaction ability while laying a solid foundation in Fighting-type and Fire-type techniques.

When Torchic evolved into Combusken, it would transform into a true fighting rooster, and its powerful talent for punching and kicking would begin to emerge. That would be when its real training began. Combusken's legs, fists, and claws would all need training.

Xinhai laid out the training in detail: leg training would be rooted in the Rejecting Horse Stance. It would hold the stance for long periods every day to strengthen its lower body, improve stability and balance, and make Combusken as steady as a rock in battle.

Its kicking techniques would combine the strengths of Chuojiao and Tantui. Chuojiao's fierce speed and Tantui's simple practicality complemented each other, striving to subdue enemies efficiently.

Chuojiao emphasized long-range strikes, fierce speed, and linked techniques. It focused on the explosive power and penetrating force of kicks, often using the toes, heels, and soles to strike an opponent's vital areas, such as the eyes, throat, groin, and knees.

Tantui, meanwhile, was known for its open, graceful movements, powerful force, and crisp rhythm. Its kicks mainly consisted of straight kicks, side kicks, and thrust kicks. The movements were simple and practical, emphasizing leg strength and accuracy to attack an opponent's upper, middle, and lower body with rapid, forceful kicks.

Fist training naturally built upon leg training. Stance work such as horse stances could strengthen leg power and bodily stability, providing a firm foundation for delivering force through the fists.

Its fist techniques would focus on Baji Quan and Xingyiquan. Baji Quan was known for its fierce, powerful force and overwhelming Presence, emphasizing the defeat of enemies through tremendous explosive power and offense. Its movements were broad and forceful, with crisp bursts of strength expressed through crashing, shaking, charging, and striking attacks.

Xingyiquan, on the other hand, had simple, ancient movements with few large motions or complex techniques. It mainly relied on direct advances and retreats, fierce and swift attacks, and placed greater emphasis on practical combat effectiveness.

Once the two styles were fully combined, every punch Blaziken threw would contain thunderous force.

Its claw training would follow the methods of the Eagle Claw Technique, mainly gripping jars. Its claws would clasp the mouth of a jar, increasing the duration from short to long and the weight from light to heavy, alternating between left and right claws, switching hands in midair, with the left claw tossing and the right claw catching.

Through repeated, long-term practice like this, its finger strength and wrist strength would improve dramatically.

The Eagle Claw Technique had originally been created by imitating an eagle's form and hunting movements. Combusken was likewise an avian Pokémon, making the Eagle Claw Technique highly suitable for it.

Once mastered, Blaziken's hands would become walking steel hooks. In Close Combat against other Pokémon, it would be able to tear through an opponent's defenses with ease.

As Xinhai wrote this, he seemed to see the future scene of Blaziken rampaging across the battlefield. After considering the various situations it might face, he added Tai Chi as well. Once he had written out the development path for special attack moves, he looked at the completed training plan and fell into thought.

"It's still missing one central philosophy... Hmm... I've got it!" Xinhai's eyes lit up as he thought of something. He wrote the final central philosophy—or perhaps a mantra—into his notebook: Swift as the wind, slow as the forest, fierce as fire, inscrutable as darkness; immovable as a mountain, moving like thunder; strike after others move, yet arrive before them; plan long, strike short, and win every battle.

After writing it, Xinhai felt something was still missing. After thinking for a moment, he added three words after the central philosophy: "Jeet Kune Do."

He then added the contents of Jeet Kune Do as well. Blaziken's future development would focus on speed. After all, as long as you were fast enough, you would naturally stand undefeated.

It was somewhat one-sided, but martial arts had always pursued rapid bursts of power. Besides, speed was power.

Thinking this, Xinhai wrote the final sentence: Of all martial arts under heaven, nothing is unbreakable; only speed is unbreakable.

Xinhai stared at the writing in his notebook and smiled. "Perfect! It's practically tailor-made for Torchic! Next comes Ralts's training plan."

Xinhai gazed at the information on Ralts recorded in his notes and thought for a moment. "I'll write the training plan first. I can take the Calm Mind method slowly!"

Unlike Torchic's fierce style, Ralts's final evolution focused on special attacks. He quickly flipped to a fresh page, his pen scratching across the paper: Ralts's core lies in Inner Focus. Early training should focus on improving perception and control.

He paused, thinking of a few things, then wrote in the notebook: Practice Calm Mind daily. Strengthen awareness of the surrounding environment by catching subtle sounds such as the wind and insect calls. At the same time, use Mind Bead levitation exercises to develop the stability and precision of Confusion.

Of course, those were merely the basics. Xinhai's idea was to strengthen Ralts's five senses and use Calm Mind training to enhance her sixth sense.

Psychic power already had the effect of strengthening one's sixth sense. Many powerful psychics could foresee certain dangers, or even glimpse scenes of the future. Without question, that was one effect of an enhanced sixth sense.

Then, if Eevee's Anticipation Ability were transferred onto Ralts through Skill Swap and used for sixth-sense training, Ralts's evasive ability could be raised to the limit. That would allow her to naturally stand undefeated in battle.

Ralts's final evolution, Gardevoir, could also master the two godlike moves Teleport and Ally Switch. With all three combined, she would be outright invincible.

Thinking of this, Xinhai began to grin foolishly, drawing the attention of Torchic and Ralts, who were in the middle of training.

"Ralts?" Xinhai, what's wrong?

Hearing the voice in his heart, Xinhai immediately composed himself. Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, he said, "Nothing. You two should get some rest! It's getting late, and we still have a match tomorrow!"

Ralts looked at Xinhai and called out, "Ralts, Ralts!" (Xinhai, let's rest together! You've been busy all day too!)

Torchic also looked at him from the side and nodded in agreement.

Xinhai rubbed Ralts's soft hair and coaxed gently, "I'll study a little longer before sleeping. You two get plenty of rest first. I'll need you to show off your skills in tomorrow's match."

Ralts pouted. "Ralts!" (All right!)

Torchic chirped "Chamo~" twice, fluttered its wings, and carried over a thin blanket in its beak. It covered Xinhai's legs, then lay down on the bed with Ralts to rest.

His pen touched the paper once more, its scratching sound resuming as Xinhai began expanding on ways for Ralts to deal with close combat when she could not use Teleport.

As for that, some martial arts did have footwork techniques. He did not know many, only the three more famous kinds, but they should be enough.

They were Bagua Palm Footwork, Tai Chi Footwork, and Xingyiquan Footwork. Bagua Palm Footwork mainly emphasized circling and turning, with flexible and varied steps such as swinging-hook steps and mud-wading steps.

It generally allowed practitioners to search for openings in an opponent's defenses while maneuvering around them, use clever force to neutralize attacks, and counterattack swiftly.

Tai Chi Footwork emphasized clearly distinguishing between solid and empty stances. When moving, one walked like a cat—light, slow, and gentle. When stepping, the foot had to lightly touch the ground first before settling firmly.

In battle, it helped maintain bodily balance and coordinate the entire body. In pushing hands or actual combat, changes in footwork could redirect an opponent's force and use softness to overcome hardness.

Finally came Xingyiquan Footwork. It mainly involved direct advances and retreats, with plain, unadorned movements and few complicated changes. It emphasized direct practical application, allowing the body to rapidly reach the position needed for either attack or defense.

In actual combat, rapid advancing steps could be used to close in on an opponent and launch attacks. Retreating steps could also create distance, evade attacks, or seek a better opportunity to strike.