Classmate Xia Hunao fished for a whole day, catching all sorts of random aquatic life. While it's said that anglers never return empty-handed, it made Xia Hunao doubt the profession of fishing.
"System, am I not suited for fishing?" Xia Hunao hoped to get an answer from the system.
"Can't say for sure. How about we change our minds and do something else?" The system felt it couldn't analyze fate, so it gave a vague, evasive answer to change the subject.
Xia Hunao thought, that makes sense. If he fished like this every day and actually caught something rare, like a Master Ball, an evolutionary stone, or a Z-Crystal, that would be fine. But he was afraid of what he got today, where anything and everything could appear, and that would be a real hassle.
Xia Hunao leaned back in his wheelchair. "Let's just do special training. Anyway, Froakie is about to evolve. We need to conduct special training and make adjustments for the changes after evolution."
As he spoke, Xia Hunao looked at Froakie. "Froakie, we have special training tomorrow. Are you ready?"
Froakie nodded, and the flames burning in its eyes made Xia Hunao nod silently.
...
The next morning, Xia Hunao was still asleep when Little Fish'er rushed into his room. "Big brother, big brother, can we go to the Pokémon League?"
Xia Hunao groggily opened his eyes and pushed away Little Fish'er, who was shaking his arm. "Get out! Get away from here!"
Little Fish'er was startled, paused for a moment, and then burst into tears, turning and running out of Xia Hunao's room.
Xia Hunao was dazed for a while longer before his morning grumpiness subsided. "Just now, was that Little Fish'er who came in?"
Xia Hunao quickly washed up, pushed open the door, and stepped out of the room. He saw Little Fish'er squatting pitifully in the corner of the corridor, looking over with teary eyes.
Xia Hunao clapped his hands. "Little Fish'er, come here. Big brother isn't angry. Big brother apologizes to you."
Little Fish'er sniffled. "B-Big brother really isn't angry?"
Xia Hunao nodded. "Mm, don't worry, big brother isn't angry. I scolded you just now because I just woke up and wasn't in a good mood. You shouldn't be angry either."
Little Fish'er walked over. "It was my fault. Big brother, let's go to the Pokémon League."
...
After breakfast, Xia Hunao took Little Fish'er to the Pokémon League and completed the temporary adoption procedures for Shellder. Only then did they return to the guesthouse to begin special training.
Pushing his wheelchair and Froakie to the beach, Xia Hunao looked at the young ladies in swimsuits around them. "It's so nice. If I hadn't been so badly injured, I should be helping Xiaoyu change into her swimsuit right now."
He imagined a scene of himself helping Shen Yu change into a swimsuit. The romantic and ambiguous scene made Xia Hunao feel a surge of blood, a subtle hint that things might get out of hand.
He quickly shook the messy thoughts from his mind and released Froakie. "Froakie, if I knew the Shadow Clone Jutsu, our special training would have started long ago, wouldn't it, Froakie?"
Although Froakie didn't understand what was happening, it nodded in response to the special training.
However, Xia Hunao suddenly had a question. "System, how many levels does Froakie need to be to learn Shadow Clone?"
The system looked at him like he was an idiot. "Confused? Didn't anyone tell you that Shadow Clone is a TM?"
Xia Hunao blinked. "It's a TM move? Why don't I remember? I clearly made the Pokédex and integrated TMs."
The system cursed him. "Don't try to deny it. Whether it's the Pokédex or the integrated TMs, the data was entered by them. You just made a suggestion and occasionally messed around. You expect to have memories of it?"
Xia Hunao tugged at his hair. "Damn it, I'll have to go buy a TM. What a hassle."
With all this dragging on, it was already afternoon when the special training officially began.
"Froakie, Shadow Clone!"
Froakie took two steps forward, and then slowly, one turned into two. Xia Hunao shook his head, seemingly not too satisfied with Froakie's performance. "It's taking this long to create just one clone, what could be the reason?"
The two Froakies looked over together, while Xia Hunao began to brainstorm. "I have an idea. Froakie, let's practice Water Walking!"
The two Froakies tilted their heads. "Froak?"
Xia Hunao's design was this: have Froakie go into the sea, start running in water that's about knee-deep, and accelerate continuously. By doing this, he could see if afterimages could be produced.
In Xia Hunao's research, the so-called Shadow Clone was created by using extremely high-speed movement to produce afterimages, thereby forming Shadow Clones. The faster the speed, the more real the afterimages, and the more of them there would be.
Froakie obediently went into the sea and gave a light hop, feeling the effect of the seawater. Meanwhile, Xia Hunao was contemplating the question raised by the system:
Froakie is a freshwater frog. Seawater is not freshwater, and due to osmotic pressure, will it affect Froakie's internal environment?
Seeing that Xia Hunao hadn't called out to start, Froakie stood in the seawater. The system chuckled. "It's fine that you care about Froakie, but the mysteries of Pokémon are beyond your imagination. Begin the special training..."
"Froakie, run!"
Froakie began to sprint across the surface of the water. Xia Hunao watched the splashes of water kicked up by Froakie's legs. "Froakie, don't kick your legs too high backward. Continue accelerating."
Froakie's speed on the water kept increasing, and Xia Hunao, seeing Froakie's speed pick up, finally issued the second command. "Froakie, Shadow Clone!"
Froakie's body trembled, and it successfully created another clone, which followed the original Froakie forward. Xia Hunao nodded. "Froakie, again, Shadow Clone!"
The two Froakies moved simultaneously, and then four Froakies appeared on the surface of the sea.
"Stop. Let's train up to this point for now."
Froakie dissipated the remaining three Shadow Clones, and the original returned to Xia Hunao's side. Xia Hunao looked at Froakie. "Froakie, why can you only create one clone?"
Froakie thought for a moment and then made a starting stance for Tai Chi. Xia Hunao understood at a glance. It was because when they were previously practicing the concept of "One begets two" during the concept of Tai Chi giving birth to two poles, the concept of "one turning into two" was instilled too strongly in Froakie, and now Froakie's Shadow Clone could only make one into two.
What was the use of this one turning into two? Xia Hunao chose Shadow Clone to increase Froakie's survivability. What was the use of one turning into two? It didn't actually help Froakie's small body at all.
Xia Hunao clapped his hands. "Froakie, look at my hand."
Froakie looked at Xia Hunao's right hand, and Xia Hunao's arm began to shake rapidly as if he had a seizure, making Xia Hunao himself dizzy.
Froakie watched for a long time, and finally, Xia Hunao asked, "Froakie, how many hands did you see?"
Froakie let out a cry, indicating that it only saw one hand. Xia Hunao felt that he had swung his hand too slowly just now, but he was already close to ruining his hand, and if he continued swinging, his recently recovered hand would have to recover again.
But Xia Hunao quickly thought of another method. He extended his hand, signaling Froakie to look at his index finger, and then rapidly tapped on the wheelchair with his right hand. It had to be said, Xia Hunao's hand speed was truly fast. Soon, afterimages were created on the wheelchair. Froakie watched Xia Hunao's hand, mesmerized.
However, Xia Hunao's outrageous actions didn't last long. He quickly stopped, his wrist already struggling to hold on. "Froakie, did you understand my movements just now?"
Froakie nodded. Xia Hunao decided to try again. "Froakie, move, Shadow Clone!"
Froakie ran towards the sea, its body flashing to create two-and-a-half Froakies. Yes, two-and-a-half. Two complete Froakies could run and jump, while the remaining half-Froakie, though created, remained motionless and was an obvious target.
However, this was already a huge improvement. With continued training, it would eventually be able to create normal Shadow Clones.
Xia Hunao would easily get absorbed when training. By the time Xia Hunao and Froakie realized it, it was already past five in the afternoon. Xia Hunao looked at the crimson sea. "Froakie, let's do one last round and see the effect."
Froakie nodded and stood in the sea.
"Froakie, Shadow Clone!"
This time, Froakie's figure didn't even flicker. Instantly, seven or eight Froakies appeared, mixed with the original Froakie, making it impossible to distinguish the real from the fake. Seeing this, Xia Hunao's eyes darted. "Froakie, Water Pulse, Froakie, Dark Pulse, Froakie, Ice Beam!"
Xia Hunao's rapid series of commands quickly confused the cloned Froakies. Water Pulse and Dark Pulse were essentially the same, both wave-based moves. Theoretically, they could be used simultaneously, but Ice Beam was another matter entirely.
However, with Xia Hunao's command, even if they couldn't figure it out themselves, the Froakies had to try something. Thus, these Froakies decisively conjured a bunch of poorly formed attacks. The energy of these poorly formed attacks was extremely unstable and exploded directly in the Froakies' hands. The violent energy fluctuations instantly swept over the Froakies on the sea. When the energy fluctuations disappeared, Xia Hunao saw only the original Froakie on the sea. It swayed its body, then managed to stay standing with great effort.
Xia Hunao sat by the sea and called out to Froakie. "Froakie, you did very well. Come back."
Froakie walked back from the sea. Xia Hunao held Froakie's hand. "Let me see, is your hand okay?"
Fortunately, Froakie's hand was not injured by the energy explosion.
"Alright, Froakie, let's go back and rest for a bit, then have dinner. We'll train again after dinner."
With that said, Xia Hunao pushed his wheelchair and headed back to the Groudon Guesthouse.