"Senior Rocky, I've successfully broken through to the Martial Artist level!"
It was now midday on the second day after Rex's breakthrough. After waking up, the first thing he did was contact Rocky, who was still in Unova.
The previous night, after completing the breakthrough, Rex had felt a level of exhaustion he hadn't experienced in ages.
So after saying a few words to Yuli, he went straight to his room and passed out. He didn't wake up until nearly noon the next day.
After a good, deep sleep, Rex felt amazing—his body light and agile, like he could lift off the ground with a single leap.
Of course, that was just an illusion. Even now, the most he could manage with full force was a three-meter vertical jump, but that alone was already superhuman.
"Rex, I knew you wouldn't let me down! Master Layton wants you to come to the All Star Fitness Club as soon as you've completed your breakthrough."
Rocky sounded genuinely proud when he heard the news.
"Uh, sorry, Senior Rocky. I can't come just yet. Rex Farm's really short on staff right now—I can't leave until I've got things better organized. It might take a little while."
Rex spoke apologetically.
Right now, only he and Yuli were managing the farm. A quick trip might have been okay, but heading all the way to Unova wouldn't be a short journey—he couldn't leave things unattended.
"I see. Don't worry, I'll explain the situation to Master Layton. Just let me know once you're ready to come."
Rocky had stayed at Rex Farm before. He knew how much Rex cared about the place, so he didn't press further.
"Thanks so much, Rocky. Really appreciate it."
"Haha, don't mention it. Layton just wants to meet the rising genius face-to-face. I'll talk to him. But while you're stuck there, don't waste time—I'll send you some training material for the Martial Artist stage. Use it well."
"Got it. Thanks again, Rocky!"
Right after the call ended, Rex received a large set of files from Rocky, which included not only training techniques for Fighting-type skills, but also Rocky's own insights into the Martial Artist path.
Skimming through the material, Rex found that the most immediate priority was learning how to convert his dantian's stored energy into true Fighting-type energy.
Only after that transformation could he begin learning actual techniques.
Fortunately, the conversion itself wasn't too difficult—it would just take a few days. The hard part was applying that energy to form real, executable Fighting moves.
Even Rocky, who had already been a Martial Artist for some time, had only mastered two such moves: Brick Break and Low Sweep.
It wasn't that Rocky didn't want to learn more—it was simply that mastering even one skill took immense time and energy.
Unlike Pokémon like Machamp, who could learn new moves naturally through level growth or by honing their instincts, humans—even Martial Artists—had to engrain every movement into muscle memory through relentless repetition.
For a human, simply being able to cast a Fighting move wasn't enough. One had to internalize the energy flow, refine control, and repeat the process until it became as natural as breathing.
Over the following days, Rex split his time between helping out at the farm and reading Rocky's training notes. The rest he spent converting his dantian's energy into pure Fighting energy.
"Hoo… finally done."
One day, Rex emerged from meditation with a satisfied breath. After days of focused effort, he had finished converting all of his internal energy into Fighting-type energy.
Now, he was a true Martial Artist—and ready to begin learning skills.
His current plan was to focus entirely on learning Brick Break. Until he had mastered that skill to the level of instinct, he wouldn't try learning anything else.
He chose Brick Break not just for its practicality, but also because Rocky had given an extremely detailed breakdown of how to train it.
But that alone wasn't enough—Rex also planned to ask Machamp to mentor him.
Among his entire team of Pokémon, Machamp had by far the most mastery over Brick Break. It could unleash the move effortlessly in battle, adjusting power and angle as needed.
Machamp was thrilled by the request.
Ever since evolving, Machamp hadn't needed Rex's direct instruction as much. Now, the idea of mentoring his Trainer gave him a huge sense of pride.
So began a new phase of training. Rex started carefully observing how Machamp executed Brick Break while also referencing Rocky's material to study the correct energy flow.
Only now did Rex fully realize how hard learning a skill actually was.
Just drawing Fighting energy from his dantian into his arm was a struggle. It drove him half mad.
The energy couldn't just move freely—it had to follow a very precise path. If it traveled the wrong way and entered the wrong meridian, it could become unstable and damage him from within.
For most Martial Artists, making a mistake like that meant stopping to rest for days or weeks.
But Rex had a unique advantage: life energy.
Every time he made a mistake and damaged a meridian, he could use the life energy in his dantian to instantly repair the damage and try again.
After the expansion of his dantian, the amount of life energy he generated daily had nearly doubled. That discovery made him ecstatic.
Even better, he knew that as his dantian continued to grow, the mysterious branch inside would keep increasing the life energy it released every day.
(End of Chapter)