The morning sun was not too harsh, which was why he had chosen to watch Poliwag train. He could keep the little tadpole company while it trained.
"Yoyo, yoyo," Poliwag called as soon as it entered the sea and saw Yu Hai standing on the shore. It wanted to come ashore too, but Yu Hai shooed it back into the water.
Leaning on a branch, Yu Hai called to Poliwag in the sea, "Don't mind me. Just focus on your training. I want to sit on the reef for a while and soak up some sun..."
"Yo," Poliwag nodded, seemingly indicating that it understood.
"Cough, cough, cough cough," Yu Hai chuckled helplessly and covered his mouth as he coughed, saying nothing more.
He noticed that Poliwag had become increasingly proficient at nodding. It had learned it from him, though he had no idea whether it actually understood or was simply nodding away on its own.
Pfft, pfft, pfft—
Poliwag then began firing Water Gun shots across the shallows.
Yu Hai kept a close eye on Poliwag's Proficiency Panel. At first, every Water Gun shot increased its proficiency by 0.1.
But once its proficiency reached three percent, Poliwag needed to fire Water Gun two or even three times before it gained another 0.1.
In other words, as Water Gun proficiency continued to rise, it had to fire more Water Guns for that proficiency to change.
This actually fit the principle that practice made perfect.
To master a skill, there was no secret to it—only thousands, even tens of thousands, of repetitions. There were no shortcuts.
This suited him perfectly. An angler who could not endure loneliness would never become a true fishing fanatic. Fishing fanatics could really stake things out; waiting for days on end was basic stuff, something that happened all the time.
Splash—
Seeing how happily Poliwag was playing in the sea, Yu Hai decided to raise the difficulty of its training. After tossing a pebble into the water and drawing Poliwag's attention, he explained, "Poliwag, use Water Gun to attack the pebbles."
Splash, splash—
"Do you understand? Attack the pebbles I throw..."
As Yu Hai explained, he threw more pebbles toward Poliwag. While helping Poliwag practice its Water Gun accuracy, he treated it as rehabilitation training for himself.
He could also farm Throwing proficiency. That was probably killing three birds with one stone.
First, he trained Poliwag's Water Gun accuracy. Second, he did rehabilitation training. Third, he trained his Throwing proficiency.
"Yoyo, yoyo," Poliwag nodded in the water, indicating that it understood.
Poliwag no longer fired Water Gun at random. Instead, it stared intently at Yu Hai's hand, which was pinching a pebble.
Splash—
As the pebble hit the water, Poliwag's Water Gun missed.
"It's all right. We'll take it slowly," Yu Hai reassured the little tadpole before raising his hand to throw another pebble.
Splash, splash...
One pebble after another flew out and fell into the water. Out of ten pebbles, Poliwag only hit one.
"Very good. You hit one. Keep it up," Yu Hai encouraged Poliwag after it struck the pebble.
"Yo," Poliwag's fighting spirit surged after Yu Hai praised it. It could hardly wait to hit the pebbles Yu Hai threw with Water Gun.
Splash, splash, splash—
Yu Hai threw another ten pebbles. This time, Poliwag hit two.
"You've improved. You can already hit two. Keep it up," Yu Hai said. Seeing Poliwag work so hard, he naturally did not skimp on praise, though he would not let Poliwag become conceited either.
As the training continued, Poliwag's Water Gun accuracy improved as well. It could hit five pebbles, then six, seven, eight...
The morning's training came to an end.
"All right, Poliwag, come back. You can rest now," Yu Hai called, beckoning to the little tadpole. The sun was nearing noon, and the temperature was rising. It was no longer the time for training; they should return and rest.
"Yohoo, yohoo," Poliwag panted heavily as it swam from the sea back to the beach, following Yu Hai to the temporary camp beneath the shade of the trees.
"Poliwag, you must be exhausted. There's still some kelp in the pot. Restore your strength first," Yu Hai said, placing several strips of kelp left over from breakfast into Poliwag's leaf bowl.
"Yoyo," Poliwag called. Seeing that there was nothing in front of Yu Hai, it picked up a strip of kelp in its mouth and offered it to him.
Yu Hai did not refuse. The little tadpole was simple-minded, and rejecting it might hurt its feelings.
There would be no training that afternoon, though. Without enough food to replenish itself, training might harm its body. Worse still, it might reduce its Potential, which would not be worth the loss.
After a whole morning of focused training, Poliwag's Water Gun proficiency had reached four percent.
[Poliwag] [Type: Water] [Gender: Male] [Potential: 31%] [Level: 7.11%] [Ability: Damp/0.53%][Hidden Ability: Swift Swim/1.53%] [Mastered Moves: (Mind Reader/0.21%)(Ice Ball/0.31%)(Soothing Mist/0.51%)(Bubble/1.31%)(Hypnosis/0.52%)(Chain Slap/2.64%)(Pound/0.51%)(Water Gun/4.12%)]
Not only had its proficiency improved, but its accuracy had also improved considerably. Its Water Gun was no longer merely skimming the edges of its targets. If it continued this special training, one-hundred-percent accuracy was no longer a dream.
Putting away Poliwag's panel, Yu Hai looked out at the blazing noon sun.
After lunch, he drank some hot water and prepared to take a nap.
But Poliwag had not eaten its fill and had gone out to look for food on its own.
Near the reefs and shallows by the sea, there were not many Pokémon besides Kingler that would come by. As long as Poliwag did not run into a Kingler, it would not be in danger.
If attacked from the sky, Poliwag could dive into the sea.
If attacked from the sea, Poliwag could come ashore. That was the advantage of an amphibious Pokémon.
It could go both underwater and on land...
He did not know how long he had slept when, in his hazy state, Yu Hai heard Poliwag's cries and the sounds of it using Chain Slap.
Slap, slap, slap, slap—
"What? Did the little tadpole pick a fight with some Pokémon again?"
Confused, Yu Hai opened his eyes but did not see the little tadpole. He struggled up from the grass and followed the sounds in search of it.
"Poliwag?" Yu Hai called cautiously toward the inside of a branch from the fallen giant tree, because the slapping sounds were coming from within it.
"Yoyo, yoyo..."
Upon hearing Yu Hai call out, Poliwag inside the branch immediately perked up. Its response grew louder, clearly meant to let Yu Hai know that it was inside.
Once he confirmed that Poliwag was inside the branch, Yu Hai reached out and pulled the branches aside, following its cries deeper within.
He guessed that the Pokémon Poliwag had encountered was not too difficult to deal with. Otherwise, Poliwag would have run away long ago instead of remaining locked in a standoff for so long. At most, it was a tough bone to chew.
As he went deeper into the branch, he was eager to see what exactly Poliwag had found.
Before you continue