If Rhyhorn really couldn't learn it, then he would just spend the money to hire a tutor. Most Pokémon that could learn High Horsepower were Ground-types.

But in this region, Ground-types were heavily countered by Water-types. Very few trainers bothered to raise them. Those who did were usually just trying to check Electric-types.

And since Electric-types were expensive to obtain and not used by many trainers either, there were even fewer people raising Ground-types.

Still, while rare, there were trainers who specialized in them. With money, it should be possible to find someone to teach.

For now, he had Rhyhorn keep headbutting trees on its own, while he shifted his focus back to Poliwhirl.

"Poliwhirl, when you're fighting in front of others, unless I tell you otherwise, don't unleash your full power. Got it?" Reiji sat on a broken tree trunk, speaking quietly.

"Yobo, Yobo." Poliwhirl nodded, committing his trainer's warning to memory.

"Good. Keep working on your punches and kicks. And don't forget to practice Ice Punch—make sure to channel Waterfall into it." Reiji patted Poliwhirl's shoulder, then walked to the shore. The night sea breeze was cool as he watched over his partners' special training.

"Poli!" Poliwhirl stepped up as well. Not far from Reiji, icy crystals gathered around its fist, entwined with streams of water. It drove its punch into a tree, sending shards of ice flying.

Reiji sat quietly by the fire he had built, watching his three Pokémon train. He didn't want Poliwhirl to reveal its true power yet—because something had changed.

The clumsy tadpole from before was gone. The one who used to miss even a Water Gun, who was slow to learn, who couldn't even find food… that version of Poliwhirl no longer existed.

The explosive strike from earlier had startled him. Poliwhirl had already achieved what he had only envisioned: molding Waterfall into a core battle tactic, becoming fast, powerful, and explosive.

He thought about it carefully. That transformation must have happened on the island, during the week Poliwhirl vanished into its center. It had to have learned more than just three simple punching moves.

Could there have been a master on the island? Reiji chuckled and shook his head. That seemed unlikely. Wild Pokémon, mastering combination techniques? Impossible…

Unless, perhaps, a trainer had once released a Pokémon there, and the skills of that Pokémon had been passed down through generations—until Poliwhirl encountered and inherited them.

Right now, Poliwhirl could trigger Waterfall explosively from five meters away. His plan, however, was for it to do so within one meter—even down to an inch.

Back at the orphanage, when Poliwhirl struck without moving, that had been close to an "inch punch."

But as soon as Poliwhirl moved, it always leapt forward four meters or more. That gap was its flaw. If an opponent could exploit that four-meter vulnerability, defeat was likely.

Only by compressing the burst to within one meter—able to release it freely at any distance from one to ten meters—would Poliwhirl truly meet his training vision.

This idea came to him from a martial arts master he had seen in his previous life: the "inch punch."

The concept of inch force meant striking from extremely close range, or accelerating the muscles only at the final instant, releasing a short, sharp burst of power.

What seemed like local force was, in truth, the whole body's coordinated effort.

In simple terms: gather all the body's power into one point, then release it like a bullet.

That was the principle he wanted to apply to Waterfall. Compress its explosive range to within one meter, train it into an instinctive dodge and strike. If Poliwhirl mastered this…

It would no longer be ordinary. It would be a Poliwhirl that worked tirelessly, refining itself through hardship, and finally achieving a true transformation.

There were still four meters to close. But with greater mastery of its body, plus the boost from the Mystic water and the premium Water Pokéblocks that enhanced its Water-type talent, Reiji believed it was only a matter of time.

As for Rhyhorn, its core style was also based on explosive moves. But unlike Poliwhirl, High Horsepower was different from Waterfall, and even Rock Climb wasn't the same.

Only Waterfall could be used in this way. Rock Climb emphasized grip and traction, while High Horsepower embodied pure charging force. Anyone who had seen the anime knew the traits of these moves.

Rhyhorn would learn High Horsepower mainly to empower its collision-based techniques, just like Rock Polish enhanced them by boosting speed.

After it evolved, Rhyhorn could also pair High Horsepower with punching and kicking moves, even working on inch-force techniques.

Still, Reiji felt that Rhyhorn would prefer big, heavy swings—meat-grinding punches, direct and brutal. In short: a brawler.

But with High Horsepower boosting its strikes, even punches and kicks would gain explosive impact. And Rock Climb's traction would make grappling easier. Both moves had to be mastered.

Sitting on the beach, cooled by the night breeze, Reiji mapped out their futures. He thought about Poliwhirl and Rhyhorn's paths, and by the time his Pokémon finished training around eleven, he called them back to head home.

On the way back, he glanced at Krabby's status panel. It still hadn't learned Agility. That would take time.

Rhyhorn's plan for tomorrow was revised: practice Rock Climb with Rock Polish during running, while also spending time learning High Horsepower.

Poliwhirl and Krabby would stick to their current plans.

He also checked the newly caught Caterpie's stats. With 46 potential, no inherited moves, it was still a very solid starter Pokémon.

Tomorrow, he'd bring it to the orphanage. It would make a fine gift for the kids—along with fresh meat to improve their meals.

By the time they returned to the seaside house, it was close to midnight. The rest of the Pokémon were still awake, waiting for them.

Even Farfetch'd stirred when Reiji entered, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

Reiji washed up, while the three who had trained late jumped into the pool to rinse off.

Before bed, he locked the courtyard gate, then curled up on the sofa with Slowpoke in his arms. Most of his Pokémon—Butterfree, Spinarak, Poliwhirl, Krabby—were already asleep in the living room.

After a long day's training, they drifted off in exhaustion.

Reiji too was about to close his eyes—when he thought of his finances.

He had spent a lot today:

Children's clothes: 50,000

Toys: 10,000

Books: 10,000

Candy and snacks: 20,000

Pokémon massage: 12,000

Orphanage donation: 500,000

Poliwhirl's treatment fee for that brat: 10,000

Total: 562,000.

His previous balance: 1,011,000.

Now? Only 449,000 left. Not even half a million.

And he'd thought it would last months… what a joke. The clown turned out to be himself.

TL Note:

There's a small math mistake in the original text. The listed expenses add up to 612,000, not 562,000. The author most likely forgot to include the 50,000 for children's clothes in the total.

(End of Chapter)

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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