Chapter 17 -  Yunzabit Heights

…

After setting off, Yamcha felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

'And to think I used to laugh at protagonists who were suffering under cute stalker girls.'

"Yamcha, are you sure you have everything you need?" Puar asked, pulling him away from his thoughts.

"Yeah, of course. I have been planning this trip for a while." No, he hadn't had the time to get everything he would need. But due to his inventory, he had almost everything he needed on this journey. That was all thanks to his paranoid past self, afraid of getting sealed or stranded in space or something like that.

He had food, clothes, vehicles, and some money in his inventory. The bigger objects were in capsules and were then put in his inventory.

"Like good old days, just the two of us, pal," Yamcha patted the talking cat-like creature on the head and smiled as he felt the soft fur run through his fingers.

Puar smiled. "Where are we going?"

"To the Yunzabit Heights," Yamcha answered without thinking much about it. This place had the harshest environment on the planet, so he was going to visit it eventually.

"I- Isn't that the super dangerous place where no one dares to go?" Puar looked at him, frightened.

"Don't worry, little buddy, as long as you're by my side, nothing will dare to touch you," though Yamcha didn't have the feelings the original Yamcha had. He still considered Puar his best friend. "I am like superman, without the weakness to kryptonite."

"Who's Superman?"

Yamcha sighed. Well, he needs at least someone to understand his references. "Okay, so there is this planet known as krypton…"

…

About six hours later, Yamcha and Puar were flying along the sea. The talking cat had a frown on his face. "So Mary Jane doesn't stay with spiderman despite promising him to do so? Knowing his difficulties."

"Well, Harry Osborn is rich as hell. What did you expect?"

Puar was about to answer when suddenly the plane shook, it rattled their bones. Suddenly the shaking grew stronger, and Yamcha saw one of the engines get hit by something and explode.

"What's happening?!"

"We're close to our destination," Yamcha noted cautiously. "Or at least we should be."

As soon as he said that, a strong wind hit the plane and tumbled it over. The glass broke as a stone flew straight through the window, causing Yamcha to jump off the plane with Puar in tow. They jumped onto the cold sea.

As the freezing water hit him. The water was so cold that it burned. While dropping down, he had put Puar on top of his head so the little creature wouldn't be submerged in this.

"Yamcha… what's that?!" Puar's little hand shook as he pointed in front of them. A giant wave, a tsunami that could engulf the biggest skyscrapers, was approaching them.

"The strong wind likely carried debris from the ground, and one stone smashed into our plane. But after the strong wind, big waves come too." Yamcha analyzed calmly.

"This is not the time to be so nonchalant!" Puar pulled on his head in fear.

"Well, panicking about this won't help anyone. Nobody ever said: Oh yeah, I wish I panicked more during a dangerous situation. That would have been a perfect response to this clearly dangerous predicament where I need to think clearly-"

"Okay, okay! I get the point! Just get us out of here!"

Dangerous situations were the best time to tell someone 'I told you so' even if they had an excuse. Nobody is too worried about refuting you when their life is on the line. Just point a gun at someone's head, and they're bound to agree with everything you say.

"Well, I have an idea, though I am not sure if it will work," Yamcha frowned as the tsunami wave got closer. He already had his plan in action.

"What idea?! C'mon spit it out; that thing is getting closer!" Puar panicked even more.

"Well, my plan is to… pray…" Yamcha clasped his hands. "Kami, please come to our rescue."

"NOOO! We're gonna die here!" Puar had tears coming out of his eyes, mixing with snot running down his face.

Yamcha felt a little bad, so he got to work. He gathered energy with one hand while using the other to stabilize himself in the water. Essentially he was charging a one-handed Kamehameha wave.

As the tsunami wave was about a block away, he shot the beam, and it separated the wave in two. Creating a good passage for both of them not to be hit by it. Yamcha felt tiredness hit him like a truck. He had previously used all of his Ki as he wasn't sure how strong a one-handed Kamehameha was.

Being low on Ki and tired was dangerous, so he took a senzu bean and munched down on it. Just like that, he was back in top shape.

Since he no longer had a plane to fly… He had another plane. But he didn't want to break that one too. Instead, this was the perfect situation to figure out how to fly without planes or wings.

Yamcha closed his eyes, and the cold water surrounding him made concentrating hard. Some Ki to alleviate the head by surrounding the body with it made things much easier. Yamcha recited the words Gohan told his girlfriend when teaching her how to fly.

Feel the Ki in your stomach, and just push. It was a strange sensation, but Yamcha's body slowly rose from the sea.

[You have gained skill: Flying]

"Yamcha! We're flying! This is amazing!" Puar said in amazement before his tail slapped Yamcha on top of his head. "Also, if you could break the wave like that from the beginning, why didn't you tell me?! I almost had a heart attack!"

"Even I didn't know I could do it. But our power of friendship made me jump to the next level," Yamcha muttered jokingly.

"Really?" Puar asked, leaving Yamcha confused. The cat-like creature sighed. "Then that's good, but we should be more careful."

This guy is way too trusting, thought Yamcha. A bead of sweat dropped down his cheek.

"Okay, let's fly back like this," Puar sighed.

"No, we're still going to our destination," Yamcha was headstrong. He was even glad that the winds and climate were so horrible. This was where he could get some training.

The next time he meets Goku, Yamcha has no intention of being the weaker one among the two. He wanted to become so overwhelmingly strong that even Goku, with his Zenkai boosts, wouldn't catch up to him any time soon.

"Okay, then we can fly there," Puar sighed in disappointment, or maybe it was desperation?

"Who said we're flying?"

"Huh?" The little furry's face paled.

"We're swimming," Yamcha cancels his flying technique and drops down into the cold water. He starts swimming like a madman.

[You have gained Skill: Swimming]

Oh? That was cool, thought Yamcha. Today's challenge was not to take any Senzu Beans and struggle. That's the way growth works in this world. This world worked on Shonen logic, well, it technically didn't for most people, but he had to adapt to it now. If he couldn't struggle a little under control, what about times he would have to struggle later when the situation was dangerous?

…

After fighting a shark, a whale with a spiky horn, two dolphins, and getting his Swimming Skill to level 8, they finally arrived at their destination.

Yunzabit Heights was a desolate place, where even grass barely grew, and harsh wind storms hit the place. Puar had to hold onto Yamcha's hair so as not to be blown away by the powerful storms.

The first thing Yamcha did was to put on the weighted vests and bracelets Dr Briefs had made for him. It wasn't weighted clothing but as close as one could get to them in a week.

He also put Puar under his shirt so the little guy didn't have to face the harsh winds.

After that, Yamcha started what he had been drooling about since coming here. To explore this whole place! Why were there such harsh storks here? Discovering things and training simultaneously was like hitting two birds with one stone.

Yamcha went past desolate hills, mountains, and caves, and except for a couple of dinosaurs with ice around them like armor, nothing else really bothered him.

'If it were a week ago, I would have had to eat Senzu Beans constantly just to stay alive. Yet now, while uncomfortable, it isn't that dangerous.'

But just as he thought that, he peeked over another hill and saw something that shocked him.

There was a building in the distance, standing on four legs. It's white with an organic sculpted appearance, protruding spikes, and a large bulbous window.

'Is that a… spaceship?!'