The reactions to the match ups differed within the group, everyone talking to their respective opponent. Vegeta looked slightly annoyed that he would have to wait for his match, but was ultimately satisfied with the result. After all, depending on the win, he would either get a rematch against 18 or he would get to fight his son, both ideas pleasing him. While he didn't really give a shit about 18 having broken his arm, it was a fight after all, the thought of some small payback never hurt.
"You are so going down!" Trunks grinned at the older woman who smirked back.
"I wouldn't be excited if I were you, little man. Goten won't be there to help you this time…" She jabbed lightly.
"I've gotten stronger since then!" Trunks retorted, annoyed. He gave her a thumbs down in defiance. "I can do this!"
Tien and Krillin meanwhile looked at each other, both fighters smiling. "I've honestly always wanted to have a serious match with you Krillin."
"Yeah, we've never actually had the chance have we…" Krillin nodded in acknowledgement. "I guess now we'll see who the strongest human is, huh? Shame Yamcha couldn't join…"
"Are you gonna fight daddy, mister?" Marron looked at Tien curiously, captivated by his third eye.
"Yes." Tien said, peering back. "You're daddy is really strong, so I'm going to work extra hard to defeat him."
While both knew that Krillin wasn't as physically strong as Tien or as skilled, their energy manipulation abilities were actually quite comparable. No doubt that Krillin would try to keep him at a distance.
"Looks like we've got ourselves a girl fight." Videl commented, kneeling down at Alluka. "Let's both do our best, okay kiddo?"
"Yeah." Alluka grinned, giving a fist bump to Videl.
The two Son brothers stared at each other, both of them playfully grinning. "You better get ready to lose, little brother."
"I'm not gonna let you win that easy Gohan!"
Killua looked over at Piccolo and approached him, the Namekian glancing at him from the side. "Gon told me you could use a lot of cool techniques." He noted. "Can't wait to see them, old man!"
"Hmph." Piccolo smiled, closing his eyes. "You better put up a good fight. I'm not taking it easy on you."
Lastly, Gon and Roshi eyed each other, the younger excitedly approaching the old master.
"I really get to fight Goku's teacher!" Gon stared in awe. "Let's make it as fun as we can, Master Roshi!"
"Ah, such fighting spirit… How nostalgic. Well I'm sure we'll both have our fun won't we?" Roshi nodded, giving Gon a peace sign.
As everyone headed home, their thoughts were filled on the upcoming fights, but most importantly, on training.
They all hoped that it would be a tournament to remember.
Early in the morning, within Gohan and Videl's house, Gohan layed snoring on his bead, able to ignore the light of sun in his face. This blissful state did not last long as his wife barged into the room, already dressed in her white Gi.
"Up and at em!" Videl cried out, pulling the covers from above Gohan. The latter groaned and covered his eyes with his pillows.
"It's too early…" He muttered, patting the spot next to him. "Go back to sleep…"
"Gohan, it's 9:00 Am." She scoffed. "If you don't get up now you're not gonna have time for breakfast before Piccolo drags you out."
"Already..?" He said, groggily getting up.
The two went downstairs and sat across from each other, scarfing down a quick breakfast.
"Are you excited to fight Goten?" She asked, looking up from her meal. "Been a while since you two fought, right?"
"Yeah!" Gohan responded, drinking some water before continuing. "Really looking forward to seeing what he learned during his trip."
He looked back at his wife while grabbing a fork and jamming it into a pancake. "Are you excited for your fight?"
"Oh yeah." Videl nodded confidently. "Especially since I only ever got to spar with Gon. Plus Killua would just beat me quickly. I think I might be closer in power to her. What do you think?"
"She's definitely the one you're closest to in terms of physical strength." Gohan noted. "Still stronger than you, but I feel like, with how much more skilled and experienced you are, you should be able to make up for it."
"During our match, I'm gonna instruct her a little bit." Videl decided, finishing her toast. "She seems like a nice kid. Whether I win or lose, I at least want her to get something more from the fight than just victory."
"I'm sure Gon and Killua will appreciate that." Gohan smiled at his wife's kindness.
The two finished their breakfast, Gohan staying back to wash the dishes while Videl quickly left for the bathroom, coming out shortly after to help her husband. As soon as they both finished, Vuidel grabbed a large bag and flipped it over her shoulder. They then headed out the door and began flying to where they and Piccolo had agreed to meet up.
Half an hour of flying later and they arrived at the top of an assortment of rocky pillars overlooking the ocean, just outside of Satan City.
"You made it on time." A voice from behind them remarked. They both turned to see Piccolo, his arms crossed and his cape flowing ever dramatically in the light breeze.
"Hello Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan waved good naturedly.
"We're ready for boot camp, sir!" Videl playfully saluted, winking.
"A good attitude." Piccolo nodded, "We'll start with some Ki control exercises before moving on to some sparring. Understood?"
"Yes sir." Husband and wife both said.
The three of them then positioned themselves side by side After a short meditation session, Ki activated as Piccolo began instructing them.
"We'll be shifting ki to different parts of our body." Piccolo stated. "The goal of the exercise is to be able to switch how much ki you put into your limbs as fast as you can, while maintaining a moderate amount around the rest of your body. Especially the head."
This exercise was one of the most basic techniques a ki user could learn, as well as one of the most useful in combat situations, especially if the fighter in question could do so quickly. However, being able to make the output of ki shift throughout different limbs at the speed it took to throw a punch required an immense amount of mastery and training.
A true master of ki would be able to do so with so much thinking about it, letting it be as subconscious an action as breathing or blinking. Such an action took years worth of discipline and training.
Very few fighters throughout the history of the world had managed to master this technique fully.
"Right arm, block!"
Gohan and Videl followed suit, shifting their ki toward their right appendage, gesturing a block.
"Left fist!"
They threw out a punch, again, shifting their ki.
"Right fist!"
"Left fist!"
"Left arm!"
Piccolo only had them manipulate the Ki within their arms, which was a nice way to warm up before they moved on to different body parts and positions.
"Alright, now do the right leg!"
Out of the three, the fastest in being able to relocate their aura so far was either Piccolo or Gohan who seemed to be in a tie of some sort. Videl meanwhile was a bit slower, causing the other two to have to wait for her a little while longer.
"Right fist!"
"Left arm!"
"Left leg!"
As the training continued on, Videl began to pick up the pace by a little, needing less time to be able to perform Piccolo's commands. Even still, she was overall still slower than the other two.
Half an hour later, the trio finished, Piccolo deciding it was time for some sparring.
"Here's what we'll do. Gohan and I are going to go first." He said, gesturing to the two of them. "Videl, while you wait, I want you to keep practising."
"Right." Videl nodded. "Do you want me to use the timer I brought?"
Piccolo nodded at her, looking at the backpack on the floor. "Set it for 30 minutes. As soon as it rings you and Gohan will switch."
Videl input the number of minutes on the timer, waiting for Gohan and Piccolo to get into position.
"You guys ready?"
"Yeah." Gohan confirmed, Piccolo nodding along.
"Alright…" She pressed the button. "Start!"
The two proceeded into a flurry of punches and kicks, their aura rapidly switching from helping block to enhancing their punches and kicks.
Before she started doing the exercise again, she took note that they were going slow enough for her to be able to keep up with their movements. They probably did it for minimal area damage as well as to conserve energy.
It made sense why they were so much better than her at it, Piccolo having been bred for combat by his father and Gohan beginning his training at the ripe age of four.
She went back to doing the exercise, closing her eyes and focusing intently on the feeling of her energy.
Time flew by and, before anyone knew it, the timer rang. Prompting all of them to stop.
"I'll do the warm up by myself now." He said, grabbing the timer. "Stay focused."
Videl stretched a little, Gohan and Piccolo both waiting patiently for her to get into a fighting position.
"Alright." She cracked her neck, guardian herself. "Ready when you guys are."
"Ok…" Piccolo's finger hovered over the button, before pressing down on it. "Start."
Gohan went noticeably slower with Videl than with Piccolo for obvious reasons. Even more than he needed to. Probably as a way to help her warm up.
He shifted his aura into his right foot and aimed straight for Videl's head, only for Videl to block it. She responded by coating her right fist and going for Gohan's nose, the latter blocking with his left arm.
Minutes tacked on as they continued trading attacks, slowly increasing speed until Gohan felt like Videl was at her limit.
With each attack he threw, Videl could just barely form enough energy to counter or attack, her posture tensing as sweat began to slowly trickle down her forehead.
Eventually the timer rang once again, Piccolo eyeing the couple who stood in attention.
"Now me and Gohan will switch. We will continue this exercise for nine turns total."
"So that means seven turns left right?" Gohan inquired, making Piccolo nod in confirmation.
"Correct."
Piccolo positioned himself in front of Videl, Gohan heading off to the side to start the timer.
"Ok, time starts…Now."
Piccolo was much less gentle in his methods then Gohan was, but even still he made sure to start out a bit slower for her. He wasn't too mean after all.
His attacks were a little heavier. A little less forgiving and was quicker to speed up his attacks, expecting her, believing in her enough to be able to keep up.
She appreciated it, honestly. Part of it was of course because she had already warmed up with Gohan but she knew that it wouldn't have been much different if she had started with him.
While most would consider it impatience, she could tell that it just wasn't the case. It was because Piccolo was incredibly analytical and perspective. He knew she would be able to handle this.
And she didn't plan to disappoint.
Blow after blow the minutes continued to tack on. His speed increased as Videl could only barely manage to block in time and not always with the right amount of aura. Her teacher wanted to push her beyond her limit.
Between Piccolo and Gohan's approach, she honestly preferred the former than the latter's. No offence to her husband but he was often a little too gentle out of fear of hurting her.
It didn't come from a bad place. She knew he was just a very gentle person in nature, and she loved him for that. While his confidence in his strength and control over his power had dramatically improved over the past few years, he simply didn't want to risk anything.
The bell rang and the group rotated once more, Videl going back to solo training while Gohan and Picolo began dueling once again.
Before she began, she briefly wondered how the children were doing. Goten had said that he was going to train with Gon, Killua and Alluka…
Killua, Alluka and Goten stood waiting outside the door of the Son family home, the two younger children on the ground playing tic tac toe in the dirt while Killua leaned against the side of the entrance.
"How long do you think it'll take Goku to learn Gon's attack?" Alluka asked, clearing the board and starting over.
"Probably not too long, assuming he can overcome the condition issue." Killua shrugged. "He'll probably be trying to figure out my lightning abilities before long though."
"From what he said about Master Roshi and his attack, he'll probably want to visit him since it'll help him learn it." Goten input, his tone adopting a hint of pride in his voice for his following sentence. "Once he gets a feel for it, it usually doesn't take him too long to figure out."
The three waited for a couple more minutes before a certain spikey haired boy landed next to Killua.
"Hey guys, we finished!" Gon announced, crouching down to look at the game, Alluka and Goten were just about to start. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Yo. How many times did he have you use it on him?" Killua greeted Gon back.
"Just two." Gon said, his eyes on the game. "Bad move Goten."
"Wha- Oh darn it!"
"Sorry Goten! That's one to two~." Alluka teased.
Erasing the game off the dirt, the four children began racing across the forest, rapidly jumping tree branch to branch in order to reach a flat field to train in.
"Hey Goten, why didn't Trunks come to train with us?" Alluka asked the boy next to her as they were both followed by Killua and Gon.
"He said he was gonna be training at his house with Vegeta." Goten briefly looked at her. "That way he can also keep up with his studying from Bulma and the other tutors."
"He's gonna be the next head of the company, right?" Killua asked, remembering Trunks tell him about it at the get together.
"Yeah." Goten nodded. "He says that most of it is pretty boring, but he at least liked engineering. He told me he was gonna make a bunch of new toys when he got better." He puffed his cheeks. "Lucky…"
"Well at least you don't have to worry about the paperwork." Gon pointed out, making Goten shiver in fear of the mountain of paper he often saw on Bulma's desk. Or the amount of homework Trunks had to go through.
He'd rather buy his toys like a normal person would than have to go through that much just to be able to make one. He felt lucky that his mother didn't raise him the way Gohan did…
The three reached a large cliff overlooking some more mountains and a river below. This would be a good spot, Killua thought as he began removing the contents from his backpack.
From it, he took out the training weights, a couple of blindfolds and left in the water bottles for later.
Prior to coming here, the group had asked Goku for advice on how to improve their senses. The older man had then explained that a good exercise would be to spar while blindfolded, making sure to state that they should start slow.
The exercise would basically involve them sparring with one another while blind folded. They would do so by pairing up so that the other two who weren't sparring could keep an eye out in case they got too close to the cliffs edge.
Not that that was much of a problem, seeing as all of them sans Alluka could fly, but it would just be annoying if the lost their footing.
The reason for them training beside a cliff was because Gon wanted to, saying it would feel and look cooler if they did it that way.
They had watched a martial arts movie the other day and he was really inspired by a scene where the protagonist was training near the edge of a cliff.
"Who wants to spar first?" Killua asked, holding out the two blindfolds.
"I'll go!" Gon said, raising his hand.
"Same here!" Goten said, copying Gon.
The two boys took the blindfolds and wrapped them tightly around their eyes, but not before standing apart from each other.
"Alright. Both of you get ready…" Alluka announced, raising her hand. Killua stood besides her with his arms crossed as he carefully observed.
Both boys got into fighting positions, their chi and nen covering their figures respectively.
"Go!"
A blur of movements Emirates from the two opponents, their keen senses not allowing either of them to get hit.
They both held back a moderate amount enough to at least be on the same level of physical strength, as it helped with their control.
Gon threw a left hook that Goten ducked under. From his position, Goten attempted an uppercut which Gon dodged by stepping back and rearing his head.
Sparks emanated from the clashing of aura when the two of them blocked or managed to hit each other.
"Guys! Get back a little." Alluka cried out, seeing them both approaching the edge.
The two did as told, not stopping their attacks as they danced around each other's blows. A sharp sense to Gon's right cheek made him duck underneath Goten's fist, having jumped to close the gap in size.
Gon then proceeded with a kick to Goten's exposed stomach. Goten flipped in the air and landed on the ground, dashing into Gon and pushing him while covering his face by tilting his head into his arms.
Gon skidded back before dashing behind Goten, attempting to punch his back only for the young boy to jump forward and then turn back to continue their exchange.
Killua and Alluka followed each of their movements, the older much more asker than the latter who strained a little in doing so.
Time passed and eventually the match ended.
"Okay, now it's my turn!" Alluka announced, watching as the two boys came to a halt and removed the cloth from their eyes. They both bowed to each other before turning toward the two siblings.
"Good luck!" Goten grinned, handing over the blindfold to Alluka.
"Thanks!"
"Don't get your butt kicked too hard." Gon winked at Killua, making him snort and roll his eyes.
The two stood at opposite ends of one another, Gon and Goten sitting on the ground with Gon having his arms crossed over the back of his head.
Wrapping the headband around her head, Alluka breathed in, making sure to face her brother before doing so.
"You guys ready?" Gon cried out, prompting both of them to take a fighting position and activate their nen.
"I'm ready!" Alluka responded.
"Same here." Killua nodded.
"Okay start!"
Alluka did her best to sense the heat emanating from whichever one of Killua's limbs was coming at her. Her brother made sure to start slowly, moving his fists and kicks in slow motion to help his sister adjust.
'Focus on the images that appear in your head while sensing.' Nanika advised.
Whenever one sensed the energy of another person while their eyes were closed, provided that the person was at least decently skilled in sensing energy, they would be able to see a sort of mental image of where the person was or, in this case, what the attack would be.
Basically just seeing with your eyes closed.
She blocked a right kick slowly approaching her head. She gently pushed it away before throwing a punch at the same speedthat he went at.
The energy extending from her hand was able to feel the facial structure of her brother, slowly growing closer to his nose before sensing his hand coming up beside her fist, deflecting the attack.
The exchange continued for what seemed like hours, Alluka honestly getting a little impatient. Killua gradually increased the speed of the attacks throughout the 'fight' but not by much…
"Ok. Time to switch out." Gon announced, making the two siblings stop and bow to each other. Just as Alluka was about to remove her blindfold, Gon stopped her.
"Hang on Alluka! You're up against me this time." He said. She could hear him jogging up to where Killua stood. "You can take a break after we're done, ok?"
"Oh! Ok." Alluka nodded, removing her hands from her blindfold. She had assumed that GOn would want to spar with Killua first.
Taking the cloth from Killua he turned to face her, wrapping it around his face and taking a battle stance.
"If you're both ready, you can start!" Killua said from the side. "You better take it easy on her Gon!"
"You worry too much!" Gon retorted, Alluka silently agreeing a bit. "We'll be fine. Right Alluka?"
"Yeah bro. Don't worry."
The two began their duel, Gon starting at the same speed Killua had left off at. He threw a kick which Alluka ducked under. He than turned it into an axe kick and slowly had it descend downward to her left elbow, which then bounced harmlessly.
She let out an irritated groan at having been caught before continuing. She waited for Gon to remove his leg before attempting her own sidekick, which Gon then jumped to the side avoiding.
She took a note from their fight with Goku and holding her leg midair, she shifted it into a hook kick.
Gon ducked underneath the kick and countered with a punch, which was pushed aside.
From the side, Killua smiled proudly. His little sister was becoming truly strong in her own right. They haven't been in this world for more than a year and she's already come so far with training.
The fight continued until it too eventually ended. Killua then tagged Alluka as they switched place.
Sitting next to Goten, the boy offered her a bottle of water which she took, a grateful smile in our lips before she took a big sip.
As they watched Gon and Killua's lightning fast exchange, they made idle chat.
"How strong do you think we'll all be when we're older?" Goten asked.
"I dunno…" Alluka shrugged. "Killua and Goten are probably gonna be much stronger than me, but I'd like to at least be able to keep up with them. Even if it means just lasting a few minutes against them in a fight."
She turned to see that Goten had taken a small sip of his own water bottle. "How strong do you wanna be?"
"I wanna get stronger than Trunks and Gohan!" He said enthusiastically. "Maybe one day I'll surpass dad and Vegeta too!"
"I think you can do it!"
"Aw thanks…" He rubbed his head bashfully, turning to the two fighters. "What about them?"
"Hmmm…" Alluka wondered for a bit.
'They should be able to become stronger than the humans in this world, if only by a little…'
Alluka decided to go with that, seeing as Nanika did make a good point. She repeated what she said to her friend, him nodding.
"Yeah that makes sense." He said before pointing. "I still don't see you guys surpassing Saiyans though, but maybe you could come close with nen techniques?"
"Could be…" Alluka shrugged, fascinated by the possibility. "It depends on how you apply it."
They sat in silence, continuing to watch before the match finally ended, Goten switching places with Gon who sat next to Alluka's other side.
"Are you thirsty Gon?" She asked, offering him a water bottle.
"Nah, I'm fine. Thanks though." Gon grinned at her gratefully. "What were you two talking about?"
"How strong we'll be when we grow up."
"Oh yeah?"
"It's really… something, you know?" She turned to face him. "Can you believe that people here are strong enough to blow up planets?"
"Yeah…" Gon said, looking up in amazement. "It sure is cool isn't it?"
"I think it's more scary than cool…" Alluka said, rubbing her arms. "Since the three of us come from a planet with higher gravity, do you think one day we'll be able to do that someday?"
"Who knows…" Gon shrugged. "If an enemy that can do that comes along then yeah, I hope so. It would kinda be fun to see how a fight like that would turn out."
Alluka didn't share Gon's enthusiasm. Having that kind of power was really mind boggling to think about. She couldn't imagine being able to have that much destructive capacity, even on a weaker planet.
'If we succeed in our plan, we will be able to do far more than just that.'
Alluka's eyes widened in wonder and fear.
Somewhere else on the mountain, Goku stood in the middle of a vast forest, his eyes closed in concentration. White hot energy surrounded every inch of his being, staying perfectly close to his skin through his perfect control.
He inhaled deeply while raising his hand, before exhaling as his Ki began moving toward his open palm.
He opened his eyes to gaze at his target in front of him. It was a regular tree, like so many others that could be found on Mt. Paozu.
Emanating from his palm was a small light formed through his energy. The energy orb grew in size, producing a light yellow color.
The amount of energy stored into this wasn't particularly much. With this, he could probably only lightly chip some of the weaker bark off. Exactly what Goku was going for. He shot it at the tree, not particularly fast in speed. It was almost like the speed of a baseball thrown by a father to his son. The energy ball hit the tree, but did not dissipate.
Goku walked over to the tree and examined his work. The little ball of Ku did very little damage, only causing a small bit of burn damage which was barely even noticeable. However, the ball was still too dense. Shaking his head, he dissolved it and used his energy to heal the tree.
He went back to where he stood previously and repeated his previous actions. He closed his eyes, making sure to sense the energy from the tree before launching another chi ball at it, this one being almost pure white in color.
The ball hit the tree, Goku once again going to see the results. Unlike the previous one, it did not burn the tree and only caused the burned part to fall off, however, it had achieved its primary goal. The energy was weak and light enough to be able to connect with the energy of the tree.
"Alright. That should do it." He smiled, nodding proudly. "Now, time for part two."
Positioning himself just in front of the tree, he extended his hand and his face morphed in an expression of intense focus.
The energy ball slowly began to expand and infect the energy it had bonded to…
A/N
Next time we'll cover the other fighters' training sessions. As always I hope you guys enjoyed it.
See you all in the next chapter of Dragon Hunter ZX!