To be honest, Reiji didn't really understand much about raising Pokémon.

His judgment that a Pokémon had "just evolved" came from the proficiency panel. His conclusion that its "training was terrible" also came from the panel.

If someone misunderstood him as a real breeder… well, that couldn't be helped. In truth, he was just disguising himself as a breeder and trainer with the help of the proficiency panel.

"Poliwhirl, come here."

Reiji waved when Poliwhirl finished its laps around the gate, ready to have it demonstrate its Water Gun trick to Skinny. The source of this content ɪs No(ᴠ)ᴇlFire.nᴇt

"Poli," Poliwhirl stopped running, panting heavily as it came to Reiji's side, waiting for orders.

"Poliwhirl, use Water Gun to hit those three bottles hanging over there," Reiji pointed toward the damp-training field, then called out to Skinny: "Send out your Poliwhirl and watch carefully."

As Skinny's Poliwhirl looked up, Reiji's Poliwhirl fired three needle-like Water Guns in a burst, each shot striking a different bottle.

When the bottles began to sway, Reiji shouted again:

"Poliwhirl, keep going—hit the swinging bottles!"

"Poli! Psssh-psssh-psssh!" Three more bursts, three direct hits on moving targets.

These were tricks Poliwhirl had already mastered long ago. Its current limit was hitting four moving targets blindfolded.

Of course, Reiji wasn't about to have it show that—otherwise, how could he possibly explain it?

Clap clap clap. "Good job, Poliwhirl. Back to running laps." Reiji patted his partner and sent it jogging again outside the yard.

Skinny froze on the spot. Even his Poliwhirl, standing beside him, stared blankly at the scene.

If it had just been hitting fixed bottles, Skinny thought his Poliwhirl could probably manage that with some practice. But striking three moving targets simultaneously?

Was that even something a Poliwhirl could do? It felt unreal—like he was dreaming.

"Poliwhirl, you give it a try," Skinny finally said, trying to cover his own embarrassment. He realized how laughable he'd been to doubt Reiji's words.

Reiji was right—the Pokémon were fine. The real problem was him.

Wanting to prove it wasn't his own fault, he urged his Poliwhirl to attempt it.

"Poli~whirl…" Skinny's Poliwhirl looked back at its trainer with an expression that screamed, "Are you stupid? You know full well my Water Gun aim is garbage!"

Psssh-psssh-psssh—

It fired three shots, missing every single moving bottle. Poliwhirl turned to Skinny with a deadpan look that clearly said: "Happy now?"

"Ehem…" Skinny turned his face away, coughing to hide the shame. Of course, he hadn't expected his Poliwhirl to succeed, but watching it fail so miserably only deepened his embarrassment.

Still, he managed to say something encouraging: "Poliwhirl, as long as you keep practicing, you'll be able to hit moving targets. Let's work hard together."

"Poli~whirl!" Encouraged, the Pokémon threw itself back into practice with renewed determination.

But after more than ten minutes, not a single moving bottle had been hit.

Back when Reiji's Poliwhirl had first trained this, it had taken days of work and a solid foundation of stone-target practice before it could land three consecutive Water Guns on the same floating target.

Skinny's Poliwhirl would need at least several days of dedicated training—especially under a trainer who didn't even know how to guide it properly. Who knew when it might succeed?

After watching silently for half an hour, Reiji couldn't take it anymore.

"Poliwhirl, to hit moving targets, you need to predict their trajectory—fire where the bottle will be, not where it is."

"Poli~whirl?" Skinny's Poliwhirl tilted its head in confusion, clearly not understanding.

"Pelipper, show it what prediction looks like," Reiji called.

From its perch on the wall, Pelipper flapped down, explaining with squawks before firing three precise Water Guns—each one landing on a swinging bottle.

Skinny's Poliwhirl blinked. It still didn't fully get it, but a faint glimmer of understanding was there.

The boy, however, nearly collapsed in shock. He'd thought such perfect accuracy was unique to Reiji's Poliwhirl. Yet even the seemingly unremarkable Pelipper had mastered it.

"Krabby, your turn—Water Gun, three-shot burst!" Reiji waved over Krabby, who'd paused during its run.

"Krkkh!" Still catching its breath, Krabby fired three Water Guns. All three hit dead center. Reiji sent it back to continue running.

"Magikarp, Wishiwashi, your turn!"

Both fish Pokémon splashed in the pool.

"Karrrp!" Magikarp rolled its eyes at Skinny. "Please. I've watched this drill a hundred times. Not that hard."

"Shii…" Wishiwashi, equally fed up, launched two Water Guns in quick succession, striking both bottles.

Together, the two fish flicked their tails against each other in smug celebration, water splashing everywhere.

The kid and his Poliwhirl both crouched in the corner, practically drawing circles on the ground in despair. Everything they thought they knew about battling had crumbled.

Reiji finally broke the silence:

"Enough sulking. I was going to teach your Poliwhirl the combination move it used back at the orphanage—"

But Skinny interrupted firmly:

"No. I want to learn this first." He pointed at the bottles. His pride burned too hot to let it go—being shown up not just by Reiji's team, but even by Magikarp and Wishiwashi. His Poliwhirl had to learn it.

He realized just how shallow he'd been—king of the hill at the orphanage, smug in his little pond. But compared to this world… he'd been playing house with Pokémon.

That had to change.

"Fine. If you have questions, let your Poliwhirl ask Pelipper. I've got running to do." Reiji went back to jogging.

If the boy wanted to focus on aim training, he wouldn't interfere. When Skinny was ready for combination moves, he'd teach him.

Their relationship was simple: Reiji would open the door. Whether the boy walked through it was up to him.

Skinny then sent Breloom to join his Poliwhirl in target practice, while he himself joined Reiji in running laps around the yard.

Seeing this, Reiji nodded. The brat had initiative. Still, willpower alone wasn't enough—the real test was persistence.

The morning training flew by. By eleven, Reiji called it to an end, showered, and began preparing lunch. Skinny collapsed under the eaves, exhausted, while his Poliwhirl and Breloom continued training with the fish.

Their accuracy was improving—fixed targets were nearly mastered, and moving targets were hitting about sixty percent.

Once the food was ready, Reiji called everyone over. The Pokémon crowded around their meals while Reiji set two extra sets of dishes on the table.

"Kiddo, come eat with us," he said, waving the boy over.

Hearing his name, Skinny froze, then slowly approached. For the first time, he sat down at a proper table with warm rice and fragrant stir-fry instead of the stale bread he usually gnawed.

He hesitated, then dug in—hard. Seeing him devour the food, Reiji also ate faster, worried the kid might finish the meat before he got any.

When lunch ended, Skinny leaned back, stuffed and oddly content.

"Afternoon training?" he asked.

"No rush. Take a nap first," Reiji replied, stretching out on the sofa.

The boy nodded, lay back on a single-seater chair, and was asleep in seconds.

The house fell into quiet as Pokémon soaked in the pool or curled up in the cool living room.

When everyone woke, the afternoon session began anew.

Poliwhirl now needed the bottle-field for humidity sensing training, so Reiji handed Skinny a clothesline pole, bottles, and rope.

"Make your own moving targets."

The kid obeyed, crafting practice targets for his team. Soon, everyone was training again—Poliwhirl dodging bottles, Krabby and Rhyhorn pounding away outside, Butterfree and Slowpoke drilling their Psychic powers, Spinarak sharpening its aim.

Skinny watched, puzzled why Poliwhirl was dodging bottles instead of running laps. "What exactly is this training for?" he finally asked.

"Evasion skills," Reiji lied smoothly.

The boy accepted it. When his Poliwhirl mastered accuracy, he'd make it train dodging too.

Then Reiji asked suddenly:

"Kiddo, you like Fighting-types, don't you? Planning to specialize in them?"

Skinny blinked. "I don't know… These two were just given to me by Grandpa."

Reiji thought back to the anime—there was once a trainer with a Poliwrath, who even helped Ash capture Charizard. Maybe coincidence, maybe not.

But in the anime, Ash was the protagonist. That guy was just a supporting role.

[End of Chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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