"Poliwag, come try this float!" Reiji called after securing the float ball.
"Yoyo? Yoyo?" Poliwag eyed the float ball tied to the branch and leapt up to slap it with its tail.
The float ball wobbled from the hit.
Finding it fun, Poliwag leapt again to smack it, but missed this time.
Frustrated, it raised its tail to try again—only to be stopped by Reiji.
"Poliwag, hold up. This one's for practicing with Water Gun. Sure, you could use it for Double Slap too..."
But Double Slap was a contact move—what mattered most was getting in close, not improving accuracy. Once you're face-to-face, landing a hit is the easy part.
"Yo, pff pff pff," Poliwag responded, immediately firing a triple Water Gun burst at the float.
Out of the three shots, only one hit. The other two splashed wide as the float ball bounced away.
"Yo..." Poliwag grumbled in frustration—the more it missed, the more fired up it got.
It had honed its accuracy to reliably hit pebbles during past training. Now, suddenly, it couldn't even hit a swinging float? Of course it was mad.
"Good, getting riled up is what I want," Reiji grinned. That drive? He could work with that.
If Poliwag had this much energy to argue with Caterpie all the time, better to channel it into mastering Water Gun. After thousands of reps, there's no way the shot would still go crooked.
"Okay, okay, stop for a sec!" Reiji quickly called time-out. Even if you're training, there's a method to the madness—blindly spamming attacks won't get you anywhere.
"Yoyo?" Poliwag was still in the zone. Reiji's interruption came at the worst time.
"Look here, Poliwag." Reiji held the float ball and showed its swinging arc, pointing slightly ahead of where it would pass.
"When the float swings , you've got to aim just a bit ahead. Its motion is predictable. What you need to do is anticipate the arc, then shoot."
"Yoyo, yoyo!" Poliwag nodded excitedly, eyes locked on Reiji's demo—it understood.
"Good. Now try it again." Reiji pushed the float ball into motion and reminded, "Don't rush it. Read the trajectory first, then fire."
Poliwag didn't shoot right away. It focused hard, following the float's pendulum swing to trace its path.
After observing seven or eight swings, it finally picked up on the predictable arc. The motion might slow, but the track never changed.
As Reiji nudged it again—
With one shot, Poliwag nailed the float… and broke it.
"Not bad, Poliwag! You learned to anticipate with just one try!" Reiji applauded.
Poliwag's tail spun like a speedboat propeller in delight, splashing the water joyfully.
"Look here," Reiji continued, pointing at the float with a big hole. "Hitting it isn't enough. You also can't break it, got it?"
"Yo?" Poliwag blinked—what? But it hit the target perfectly!
Its smug face instantly deflated, its head drooped like an unwatered houseplant.
"Alright, keep practicing while I make lunch. I'll check your results later." Reiji smiled, patting its head before turning away.
The routine resumed as always: soup on the boil, Caterpie tails for Magikarp's meal.
Magikarp was still a bit shy, but Reiji didn't mind. A few days of care and it'd settle in just fine.
Once lunch was ready, it was time to call Poliwag back.
"Poliwag! Lunch time!"
"Yohuu, yohuu!" Poliwag gasped, panting as it ran back, visibly exhausted from training.
"Take it slow, no rush. Eat, rest a bit, and I'll check how you've improved."
In truth, Reiji had been sneakily watching during meal prep. Poliwag hadn't broken any more floats—though the Water Gun lacked power, that was fine. With more time, it would learn to balance strength: enough to move the float, not so much as to destroy it.
After lunch, they napped under the shade of a tree.
By afternoon, they returned to the beach. Reiji wanted to test Poliwag's morning progress.
"Poliwag, show me what you've got with your Water Gun." He swapped out the broken float for a new one.
"Yo! Pff pff pff!" Poliwag fired a three-shot burst.
The first shot hit and knocked the float away. The second sent it flying farther. The third hit dead-on as it swung back.
"Nice work, Poliwag! Not bad for just one morning's practice," Reiji praised. Then he set up two more float balls and said, "Poliwag, hit all three with your next three shots!"
"Yo..." Poliwag studied the swinging trio carefully before attacking.
This time, only one hit. The other two missed completely.
"That's okay, Poliwag," Reiji consoled. "This jump in difficulty isn't like going from Level 1 to Level 2—it's more like straight from 1 to 3."
Targeting a single float? You just follow its motion. Easy.
But with three? One pair of eyes tracking three different arcs? That was a whole new ballgame. Repetition would be key until it became instinctive.
"Yo..." Poliwag drooped again, feeling like it had let Reiji down.
"No worries, I'll train with you. Let's start with two floats," Reiji said gently, stopping one of the float balls and gearing up to guide Poliwag through the next session.
"Yo!" Fired up once more, Poliwag nodded eagerly. This time, it would not let Reiji down.
It wanted to become stronger.
It wanted to help Reiji…
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my to read 20+ chapters ahead]
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