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About two days later.
Jiang Shangrou came up with a schedule.
Li Xiang's school ended at 2:30 PM, and he would arrive at the martial arts school by 3:00 PM, practicing for three hours until around 6:00 PM before heading home.
Now, he had to spend an extra hour practicing at Jiang Shangrou's house. Including travel time, he wouldn't leave until around 7:30 PM.
As for why they didn't practice at the martial arts school:
First, Master Duan Tianxing wasn't willing to provide dinner, and Coach Xiong was too lazy to cook for so many people.
Second, Jiang Shangrou and Qi Shenshen had to go home to prepare specialized nutritional meals for their Pokémon. Jiang Shangrou also had to supervise and assist with their nighttime training.
Like Li Xiang, martial arts was only a part of the two senior sisters' lives, not the entirety. They each had their own careers to pursue.
Master Duan Tianxing inevitably found out about this arrangement, but he didn't say anything. In fact, he was pleased.
The old master had long wanted to find a successor, especially Jiang Shangrou, whom he held in high regard. Even though Jiang Shangrou had become a trainer, Duan Tianxing hadn't given up on the idea of her inheriting the martial arts school.
Jiang Shangrou's willingness to help her less-talented junior brother was exactly what he had hoped for.
What surprised Li Xiang was that Jiang Shangrou, after reaching adulthood, had bought a large house with Qi Shenshen and their eldest senior sister, Bai Ji, and moved out of her parents' home.
Yup, that's right.
Three women, the oldest being 24 and the youngest 19, had jointly purchased a large villa in the city, located in a coastal area not far from the docks.
From the top floor, one could see the ocean.
Normally, since they were all studying in Mancheng, the house was mostly vacant, only used during winter and summer breaks.
For example, the eldest senior sister was currently in Mancheng and hadn't returned.
So, the villa was only occupied by two people and a group of Pokémon.
"Poor in literature, rich in martial arts"—indeed, this was the case.
When Li Xiang saw the large villa with his own eyes, he became even more curious about the family backgrounds of his second and third senior sisters.
A villa of this scale!
The single-floor area, not including the garden and training grounds, was over 300 square meters, and it was a two-and-a-half-story building.
The maintenance costs must be quite high—
Well, he was overthinking it.
When Li Xiang saw the male and female Indeedee in the villa, he realized that professional cleaners were nothing compared to these two.
Besides them, Li Xiang also saw Qi Shenshen's Pokémon and the rest of Jiang Shangrou's team.
Here, it's worth mentioning again that the second senior sister, Qi Shenshen, was a breeder, not a trainer. People in this profession cared more about the quality of their Pokémon than the quantity.
At the same time, since they needed to take care of other people's Pokémon, it was best not to have too many of their own.
—Three.
Like Mrs. Yin, Qi Shenshen only raised three Pokémon, specializing in Psychic-types.
They were:
An Espeon, with a forked tail, resembling a mix between a wolf and a fox, its body pink and purple, with a red gem on its forehead and deep, serene eyes.
A Gallade, resembling a Kamen Rider, with green hair and upper body, and arms that looked like Yu-Gi-Oh duel disks. It was a Psychic/Fighting-type.
And a Starmie, resembling two large blue-gray starfish stuck together, with a giant red gem in the center and golden, ornate edges. It was a Water/Psychic-type.
A good combination.
Gallade, also a user of hand weapons, was indeed suitable for Qi Shenshen.
The key point was that, as a breeder's Pokémon, these three looked glossy, healthy, and full of vitality.
Their mental state was also different from ordinary Pokémon.
Qi Shenshen was quite proud of her Pokémon's appearance and even showed Li Xiang the high-level ribbons they had won in state-level contests for the Cute, Cool, and Smart categories.
Quite impressive.
It seemed the second senior sister had the potential to become a coordinator.
After listening to Qi Shenshen boast about her Pokémon, Li Xiang finally got to see the rest of Jiang Shangrou's team.
In the backyard, after seeing them, he couldn't help but marvel.
Aside from the already familiar Scizor and Golisopod, there were also:
An Accelgor, a pure Bug-type Pokémon with a pink, snail-like head wrapped in silver-gray bandages, a triangle in the center of its head with two green lines, and black circles around its eyes.
A Ribombee, resembling a small bee with a scarf around its neck.
A Vikavolt, resembling a stag beetle, a fighter jet, and a railgun combined, with fierce yellow pincers and a dark green body. It was a Bug/Electric-type.
A Larvesta, with white fur on its head, blue eyes, a black face and claws, a chrysalis-like rear, and five flame tufts on its neck. It was a Bug/Fire-type.
A Milotic, a serpentine Pokémon with a delicate, egg-yolk-colored upper body, a single horn, long pink eyebrows, two pink ribbons near its ears, and a tail resembling a glass mural with fan-like tips. It was a pure Water-type.
And a Kingdra, mysteriously floating above the ground, resembling a seahorse with a sniper rifle-like mouth, its body blue with a yellow patch on its belly. It was a Water/Dragon-type.
In total, eight Pokémon.
Most were common Pokémon, with a few being slightly rare. But the Larvesta was truly extraordinary.
Its evolution, Volcarona, was considered the embodiment of the sun in ancient times. Some superstitious people even worshipped it as a god and established the Sun Cult.
Today, the Sun Cult no longer exists, and with its decline, the "god" Volcarona also faded into obscurity.
Large numbers of Volcarona's descendants disappeared, leaving only a few in the world, and even those were extremely rare.
The Alliance had tried to support this species, but Larvesta had a low desire to reproduce, and evolving into Volcarona required reaching nearly level 60.
Moreover, Volcarona's reproduction rate was extremely low, even lower than that of pseudo-legendaries.
This had led to the number of Larvesta and Volcarona remaining stagnant for a long time.
Even though these two Pokémon had incredibly long lifespans, surpassing most other Pokémon.
Things should improve in a couple of years, as breeding is a slow process.
Seeing one here with the third senior sister was truly rare.
Her Pokemon' move pools had switching, switching, and more switching—whether it's Baton Pass, U-Turn, Flip Turn, or ability-based switching, the third senior sister truly deserved the title of "Switching Queen!"
Battling someone like her required a strong mindset, or you'd definitely crack under the pressure.
Fortunately, her Pokémon weren't particularly tanky or annoyingly defensive, so a strong offense could break through, which was somewhat comforting.
But once she got into her rhythm, you were done for.
"Senior sister, you must have a lot of patience," Li Xiang said, looking at Jiang Shangrou with admiration. Only someone with immense patience could handle a switching team.
This kind of playstyle was also mentally taxing for the trainer, easily leading to burnout.
Jiang Shangrou didn't understand why Li Xiang said this. She glanced at her Pokémon and nodded, "I suppose so. Junior brother, once you master the art of `training your inner energy, your patience will improve too."
"Really? Then I'll be counting on you, senior sister!"
Li Xiang was delighted. "No time to waste, let's not delay any further. Let's get started."
While it was called "extra training," the content wasn't much different from what they did at the martial arts school.
It was still the basics—stance training and energy cultivation.
The only difference was that Li Xiang's three Pokémon also had to practice alongside him, surrounding him.
"Stance training might be too difficult for them, but energy cultivation is universal," Jiang Shangrou explained. "Remember the move Calm Mind? It boosts a Pokémon's Special Defense and Special Attack.
"Our energy training works on the same principle. A calm mind and focused will allow you to maintain yourself and enhance your combat power."
She pointed at the confused Torracat and the others, saying, "Try to synchronize your breathing with your Pokémon. Don't rely on sight, hearing, or smell. Use your spirit to sense them."
"Uh…"
Li Xiang looked at his three Pokémon. "Senior sister, isn't that a bit too difficult?"
Without sight, smell, or hearing, a person would be like a blind and deaf person.
Was it really that exaggerated?
"That's why you need to calm your mind," Jiang Shangrou said seriously. "The starting stance of the Crushing Fist requires you to sense your opponent, not be fooled by sight, hearing, or smell. No matter how they dodge, your punch will still hit them."
With that, Jiang Shangrou called over her Golisopod, put on a blindfold, earplugs, and a nose clip, and demonstrated the move to Li Xiang.
Yes, she was blocking her own senses and, while Golisopod moved, precisely striking it!
Jiang Shangrou took a step back, silently assuming the Explosive Fist stance, focusing her energy.
In an instant.
A fierce, menacing aura emanated from her. The gentle and soft demeanor of the third senior sister was completely gone!
In front of her, Golisopod raised its largest claw like a shield, its star-like eyes glowing as it began to move its heavy lower body.
But just as it moved about 50 centimeters to the left, Jiang Shangrou struck!
"Ha!"
She let out a sharp shout, her front foot stomping forward as her body twisted. Her seemingly frail fist shot out like a cannonball!
This punch was like a thunderclap, carrying an overwhelming force that shattered Golisopod's defenses, landing squarely on its lower jaw!
A deafening thud followed!
Boom!
Golisopod took the full force of the punch, its legs sliding back, leaving shallow grooves in the ground.
"Ma Baoguo would be speechless, and Lei from Tai Chi would shed tears," Li Xiang muttered, looking at Jiang Shangrou with admiration.
She was practically a human Pokémon!
No wonder she was the martial arts school's rising star!
This was too impressive! When would he ever be this awesome?
Jiang Shangrou retracted her stance, adjusted her breathing, and removed the blindfold, earplugs, and nose clip. "Did you understand? Use your spirit to sense others. This is one of the methods I've summarized for training your mind."
Li Xiang thought about it, somewhat understanding.
The punch the third senior sister had just executed contained elements of both Explosive and Bajiquan.
Adjusting her posture and center of gravity, stabilizing her lower body, exhaling sharply while delivering a powerful punch that concentrated her entire body's strength into her arm, delivering a thunderous blow.
"Thinking isn't enough. You'll understand by trying."
Jiang Shangrou placed the blindfold, earplugs, and nose clip on Li Xiang and then put similar ones on Torracat and the others.
Torracat and the others were confused but had no choice but to comply.