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The next day.
Li Zhehan left early in the morning.
He didn't bring any Pokémon with him, nor did he tell Mrs. Yin about the content of the conversation.
Alone, he drove to the Qingcheng Pokémon Association.
Li Xiang watched Li Zhehan leave in silence.
He wasn't sure what his father's demands or goals were, so he could only provide Li Zhehan with some information to strengthen his bargaining position.
There was nothing else he could do, and he might even end up causing trouble.
All he could do was wait.
He hoped for a good outcome.
As for Mrs. Yin, she was supposed to work at the breeding base on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, but after what had happened, she naturally took time off to stay home and keep an eye on Li Xiang.
It seemed Li Xiang wouldn't regain his freedom until school started.
But with Torracat out of commission and Lin Feng also grounded, whether he went out or not didn't make much difference. Might as well stay home, browse forums, and enjoy the drama.
Speaking of which, there was a decent-sized open space on the rooftop where they could practice some moves.
More importantly, he needed to record the moves Froakie knew and its strengths, then come up with a training plan.
It was currently at level 14. If they were lucky, it might evolve soon.
Coincidentally, now that Froakie was here, Li Xiang finally had someone to feed all those Special Attack candies he had been saving.
Greninja was a typical Special Attack-oriented Pokémon. Although its Physical Attack wasn't low either, its move pool leaned more toward Special Attack moves.
Moreover, despite being a humanoid Water-type, it didn't know Aqua Jet. Its only Water-type Physical Attack move was Waterfall.
It did have a lot of Dark-type moves, like Feint Attack, Night Slash, and Brutal Swing, but none of them were as powerful as Dark Pulse. Sometimes, that little bit of extra damage could be crucial.
"Froakie, let's go to the rooftop."
Li Xiang searched for Froakie for a while and finally found it pretending to be a statue next to the standing air conditioner.
This guy's presence was really low.
Li Xiang had confirmed Froakie's unique trait. Last night, he could blame it on poor lighting, but what about this morning?
Over on the sofa.
Riolu had completely turned into a simp, fussing over Torracat.
Meanwhile, Torracat had started acting tsundere, finding Riolu annoying and pushing it away with its uninjured paw.
However, both sides seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Even Li Xiang, their trainer, was being ignored. They didn't interact much with the newcomer Froakie, even though the fat translator and Meowstic were right there.
That was fine.
Having a cat and dog get along so well was something many people could only dream of.
Li Xiang smiled and took Froakie upstairs.
The rooftop garden.
Florges had recently taken an interest in the plum tree Li Xiang's grandfather was growing and even considered adding it to its "harem."
That is, its flower ring.
Hmm... this was actually its natural behavior, but since Mrs. Yin's Florges described it in such an otaku-like way, it came off as... weird?
Never mind.
Li Xiang found the wooden stake Li Zhehan had used as a target when he was young and set it up.
"Froakie, show me all the moves you know, except for Camouflage and Smokescreen."
Li Xiang pointed at the stake.
Froakie nodded, reached behind its back, and put the foam on its face.
This seemed to be its habit. With the foam covering its face, it felt more at ease and could perform better.
Kamen Rider—Henshin!
The performance began!
First, it jumped up, its dark pupils turning white, and then it slapped the stake with a glowing palm.
Slap!
Pound.
Then, Froakie opened its mouth and spat out a visible soundwave, made up of overlapping black lines.
Growl.
Next, it ran around the stake at lightning speed, leaving behind white light trails like threads.
Quick Attack.
After a few laps, the white light disappeared, and its body began to shake violently, creating multiple identical Froakies around it.
Double Team.
It took a few steps back, its pupils turning blue. It secreted a large amount of water-rich foam from its palms, throwing it at the stake like small balls, which burst and left water marks.
Bubble.
Froakie clasped its hands together, as if kneading a ball, and formed a blue water orb, which it threw at the stake.
Boom!
The water orb exploded into a small wave that crashed down on the stake, causing it to sway slightly.
Water Pulse.
At this point, including the two moves he already knew, that made eight, but it wasn't over yet.
Froakie approached the stake, its pupils turning a deep purple. It suddenly opened its mouth and shot out a tongue wrapped in purple energy!
Slap!
A crisp, pleasant sound.
Lick.
Its pupils turned earthy yellow as it lay on the ground and rolled around, inexplicably spitting out yellow mud that eventually covered its body.
Mud Sport.
Finally.
Froakie focused, its pupils flashing sky blue. A refreshing wind began to gather around it, eventually forming a large milky white sphere.
Boom!
The sphere jumped up with a loud sound!
This jump took it at least ten meters into the air!
And it stayed there for about ten seconds before the sphere came crashing down!
Bounce.
After landing, Froakie looked a bit tired, leaning on the ground and taking deep breaths.
Not overly exhausting, but not easy either.
Li Xiang fell into deep thought. In total, Froakie knew eleven moves. Many were useless, but quite a few were useful.
More importantly, he had figured out its ability.
That's right, Froakie's ability was the hidden ability Protean, which changed its type to match the move it was about to use.
This ability was one of the rare top-tier abilities.
Its advantage lay in its flexibility, enhancing both offense and defense.
In Generation VII singles, Greninja's usage soared thanks to this ability. While it wasn't as broken as Mimikyu, it was still among the top contenders.
What held it back from going further was its fragile defenses and low HP. Even with the type-changing advantage, it sometimes couldn't withstand the opponent's attacks.
And its damage output wasn't particularly high.
Those above it either had great survivability or could deal enough damage to take out the opponent before being taken out themselves, with priority moves.
Overall, this guy was similar to Riolu.
Candies could definitely boost it.
Speaking of which, all three of his Pokémon had hidden abilities, and one of them was even a shiny.
Honestly, Li Xiang felt incredibly calm right now. He wasn't excited at all; in fact, he felt like laughing.
"Impressive, impressive."
Li Xiang clapped loudly. He couldn't be more satisfied with Froakie.
Whether it was its talent or its personality, this guy was undoubtedly top-tier.
Almost on par with Torracat!
"Froakie~"
Froakie landed on the stake, the foam helmet on its face automatically retracting back into a bundle.
Actually, the design concept of this Pokémon wasn't great.
The foam on its back was originally meant to symbolize the bundle carried by Japanese thieves, representing stolen goods.
And its differently colored hands were designed to represent white gloves that wouldn't leave fingerprints during crimes.
However, Li Xiang's Froakie clearly treated the foam as something like a motorcycle helmet, complete with an automatic retraction feature. Aside from the hassle of manually refilling it.
It was still interesting.
"Come here."
He beckoned Froakie over, and it leaped forward, landing effortlessly on his shoulder.
The reason he called it over was to test the strength of the foam on its back.
In the design, Froakie's foam had incredible elasticity and stickiness, capable of cushioning impacts while maintaining its adhesive properties.
In the anime, it even demonstrated the terrifying resilience of lifting Ash and Talonflame.
Li Xiang personally felt that Froakie's foam bundle could be used in many ways.
Shield, weapon, rope, trap... and so on.
Ideally, when it evolved into Greninja, it could keep the foam. A foam scarf would look much cooler than a tongue scarf.
As for whether it was possible, how would you know if you didn't try?
"It's really sticky."
Li Xiang tried to pull off a bit and found his whole hand becoming sticky. When his index finger and thumb touched, it felt like they were coated with 502 glue—a bit gross.
As for toughness...
He noticed that when Froakie used the foam, the effect was different from when others used it.
For example, Froakie could twist a bit of foam into a rope-like strand and stand on the stake without it falling off no matter how much it shook.
But when Li Xiang tried, he couldn't even form a proper strand.
"Psychic? Or bodily fluids?"
Li Xiang touched Froakie's palm. The miracles Pokémon could create were closely related to their own bodies. High-strength foam like this was likely connected to Froakie's secretions.
Sure enough, Froakie's palm was slick, a texture completely different from the sticky foam, but when water was added, the slickness turned into a terrifying stickiness.
The amount of water mixed in determined the final strength of the foam.
"Froakie?"
Froakie tilted its head in confusion, clearly not understanding why Li Xiang was so interested in its bubbles.
Li Xiang smiled and explained his thoughts to it.
"Froakie! Σ(⊙▽⊙)
Froakie suddenly understood, punching its left palm with its right fist, then giving Li Xiang an appreciative look.
Kid, I really like you!
It felt even more that becoming partners with Li Xiang was the right decision.
Li Xiang humbly accepted its praise and began formulating a training plan for it.
The first thing to do was definitely to learn moves to cover its weaknesses. Coincidentally, it could learn Ice Beam and Hidden Power.
In the games, Hidden Power's type was determined by a Pokémon's IVs.
But in this world, there were no IVs, only individual differences.
Thus, it became about eating berries.
Among the countless varieties of berries, there was a group that, when consumed, temporarily increased resistance to a certain type.
Players generally called them "resist berries."
And these were the key items that determined a Pokémon's Hidden Power type.
When a Pokémon frequently consumed one type of berry while learning Hidden Power, the move would naturally become the type that the berry resisted.
If mixed berries were eaten, the type wouldn't be mixed but randomly selected.