Training Plan

Yu Hai was not so careless or naive as to entrust his life to the kindness of other Pokémon.

He treated this place as another real world and would always view everything around him with the utmost malice.

To put it bluntly, other than his own Pokémon companions, he trusted nothing around him, including humans and other Pokémon.

This was a sign of his extreme lack of security. Perhaps it would change once he became stronger, but not now.

The only thing that could give Yu Hai a sense of security was Poliwag evolving into Whirlpool Warrior. Only then would they have greater security. Strength was the source of security; otherwise, he would not have avoided that delinquent Kingler.

When he summoned Poliwag's Proficiency Panel again, some subtle changes had appeared on it.

[Poliwag]

[Attribute: Water]

[Gender: Male]

[Potential: 31%]

[Level: 6.02%]

[Ability: Damp/0.53%][Hidden Ability: Swift Swim/1.23%]

[Mastered Moves: (Mind Reader/0.11%)(Ice Ball/0.31%)(Soothing Mist/0.21%)(Bubble/1.31%)(Hypnosis/0.52%)(Chain Slap/2.09%)(Pound/0.11%)]

"Level six? Poliwag had actually reached level six." Yu Hai thought back carefully. From the Sharp-toothed Fish until now, Poliwag did not seem to have done much. It had only fought twice.

He had checked the experience gained from those two battles before. It had only increased by 0.5.

"No, that's not right." Yu Hai recalled that Poliwag seemed to have eaten two full meals during this period.

In other words, Poliwag also gained experience from eating. It was probably the experience gained from growing.

As long as it ate and drank its fill, it could gain experience without doing anything.

After thinking it over carefully, Yu Hai understood. There was nothing strange about it. Pokémon naturally grew up, and the Proficiency Panel merely displayed the experience Poliwag gained from growing.

This was probably the natural process by which Pokémon grew, fought, and then evolved in the wild.

It was just that the Potential section had already locked in its growth limit. It should be able to break through somewhat when evolving, but without encountering some great tonic or receiving a legendary Pokémon's blessing, many Pokémon would remain like this for their entire lives.

Reproducing their species and then living out an ordinary life was the fate of most Pokémon.

There were no changes beneath the level section, but the move proficiencies had risen somewhat, including Ice Ball, Bubble, and Chain Slap.

The first two moves had increased because Long-winged Gull had forced Poliwag to use them. Chain Slap had increased the most, probably because it had slapped the Sharp-toothed Fish.

This level-up had also added Pound, a Normal-type move. Its power was only forty, but it was better than nothing.

Pound and Chain Slap were the same type of move. One struck once, while the other struck repeatedly.

Poliwag now had Chain Slap for close combat, Bubble and Ice Ball for ranged attacks, Soothing Mist to heal injuries and remove abnormal conditions, and Hypnosis to put its opponent to sleep.

Looking at Poliwag's move list, Yu Hai thought of two idioms that could describe its starting state: capable in both offense and defense, skilled in both martial and civil pursuits.

It could attack when advancing, defend when retreating, remove abnormal conditions, and use hypnosis to interfere with its opponent. As long as it raised the proficiency of all these moves, Poliwag would possess basic combat strength.

"Right, where's Water Gun? Why isn't there a Water Gun move? That's standard for Water-type Pokémon." Yu Hai scanned Poliwag's Proficiency Panel again, examining its mastered moves several times, but there was no Water Gun. It really was strange.

"Poliwag, where is your Water Gun move?" Yu Hai withdrew his gaze from the panel and asked Poliwag, which was leaning against his leg.

"Yoyo?" Poliwag tilted its head, blinked in confusion, and acted cute.

Yu Hai helplessly pressed a hand to his forehead. He used the iron cup to scoop a cup of water from the bucket, took a sip, then spat it out before asking Poliwag again, "Water Gun. This is the Water Gun move..."

As Yu Hai explained it to Poliwag, he took another large mouthful of water and spat it out again.

"Yoyo, yoyo." Poliwag understood and immediately bounced toward the water bucket.

But before Poliwag could reach the bucket, Yu Hai picked it up. He was truly afraid Poliwag would drink all the water, leaving him with none.

After stopping Poliwag, Yu Hai raised a hand and pointed toward the sea. There was plenty of water there, and it could drink as much as it wanted.

"Yoyo." Poliwag understood again. Though somewhat dejected, it knew that was Yu Hai's drinking water. If it drank it and spat it out too, Yu Hai would have no water left.

Then, under Yu Hai's direction, Poliwag took tiny steps toward the shore, gulped down mouthfuls of seawater, and spat them back out, playing with great delight.

"Come back, Poliwag." Yu Hai waved, signaling Poliwag to return.

Poliwag had only played for a short while before Yu Hai called it back. The sea was unsafe at night.

Such a conspicuous Poliwag might already have caught the attention of predators in the sea.

"Yoyo, yoyo." Poliwag was obedient as well. Upon hearing Yu Hai call, it bounced back, shook the droplets from its body, and leaned against his leg.

Yu Hai looked at Poliwag's Proficiency Panel again. Sure enough, a Water Gun move had appeared in the mastered moves section.

[Mastered Moves: (Mind Reader/0.11%)(Ice Ball/0.31%)(Soothing Mist/0.21%)(Bubble/1.31%)(Hypnosis/0.52%)(Chain Slap/2.09%)(Pound/0.11%)(Water Gun/0.51%)]

It had not been there before, likely because Poliwag lacked water. Perhaps even Poliwag itself had not realized it possessed Water Gun. Water Gun's power was also forty.

Since all Water-type Pokémon knew Water Gun, could he have quenched his thirst with water spat out by a Water-type Pokémon when he had nearly died of thirst before?

"No, probably not." Yu Hai secretly shook his head and dismissed the guess.

He had seen it clearly. The water Poliwag spat out in the sea was seawater as well.

It would only work with a freshwater river. The Water Gun spat out then should be freshwater.

But whether it was freshwater or seawater, he did not want to drink it. There was no special reason; he simply did not want to drink Pokémon saliva.

Now Poliwag had two more moves. Next, it should first grind Water Gun proficiency. This was the easiest move to train, and practicing Water Gun in the sea basically consumed nothing.

Mind Reader was unclear. Yu Hai did not understand its effect or principles, so it still required research.

Ice Ball was not a same-type move, so it was unsuitable.

Soothing Mist required stamina, so it was unsuitable.

There was no need to train Bubble Attack because it had Water Gun, unless Bubble Attack's advanced move was Bubble Beam.

Hypnosis and Chain Slap could be backup moves to train. Once Water Gun proficiency had increased, he could train those two.

There was no need for Pound. It overlapped with Chain Slap, so training one was enough.

With that, Poliwag's training plan was settled. Leveling and Water Gun came first, Hypnosis and Chain Slap came second, and Soothing Mist and Ice Ball came last.

Just as Yu Hai was arranging Poliwag's training plan, Poliwag began snoring against his leg. The little fellow had actually fallen asleep.

Yu Hai smiled helplessly. He picked up some scrap cloth left over from mending torn rags beside him, covered Poliwag with it, and soon fell into a deep sleep as well.

At present, this book's only chance for exposure is getting onto the new book rankings after signing a contract. Sigh, the competition is brutal. If there are any problems with this book, please point them out, preferably with reference materials so I can verify and revise them. I do not know if nobody is reading, but I have not seen any chapter comments. It makes me think there are no problems with the book. Please discuss it more. I will occasionally post Pokémon pictures... If there are things I missed, everyone can post pictures yourselves.