After school, Cheng Tian called his mother to tell her he would be home late due to training. Then, he went to the express delivery supermarket to pick up his package before heading to the Pokémon Center.
Upon arriving at the Pokémon Center, Cheng Tian walked over to a skill-learning machine and released Froakie. "Froakie, in a moment, I'm going to use this machine to help you learn a new move. During this time, you must try your best to feel and remember it. Don't resist. It's best if you can learn it, but it's okay if you can't; we can always buy another one."
Froakie nodded, indicating it understood. Cheng Tian then recalled it into its Great Ball. He placed the Great Ball into a semicircular slot, took out the Whirlpool skill TM he had purchased earlier, and placed it into the disc reader. After clicking the "Start Learning" button, both the Great Ball and the disc reader were simultaneously drawn into the machine.
A progress bar appeared on the screen, currently at 5%. About a minute later, a message popped up on the screen: "Learning Complete!" At the same time, Froakie's Great Ball was ejected.
Cheng Tian quickly released Froakie again. "How is it, Froakie?" Froakie felt very strange, as if a memory that didn't belong to it had just been imported into its mind.
Cheng Tian looked at the panel, and a skill was quietly displayed on the learned skills panel.
Whirlpool (Lv0)
It worked! Cheng Tian's luck was surprisingly good for once; Froakie had learned Whirlpool on the first try.
Cheng Tian quickly went to the front desk, rented a training room, and entered. He walked over to a machine filled with tennis balls and said to Froakie, "Froakie, now try to use Whirlpool."
"Froakie." Water-type energy swirled around Froakie, and a small, rotating vortex slowly appeared in front of it.
However, this small vortex was very unstable and tiny, failing after a short while. "Don't rush; slowly control the vortex and make it stable."
After several consecutive failures, Froakie finally managed to condense a vortex in front of it that was about its own size. Although it was still a bit small, Froakie had now mastered the Whirlpool skill.
Whirlpool (Lv1)
Froakie excitedly looked at the vortex in front of it, then slammed it into a sandbag nearby. The sandbag was bound by the vortex and continuously impacted.
"Well done, Froakie. Now, let's explore how to use Whirlpool." Cheng Tian said with a smile, "Didn't you want to learn the Water Wall from Naruto?"
"Froakie!" "Then release another Whirlpool." With that, Froakie released another Whirlpool. Cheng Tian took a tennis ball from the tennis ball machine and dropped it from the top of the Whirlpool. The tennis ball was instantly engulfed by the vortex and continuously impacted.
"Froakie, the purpose of the Water Wall is to create a wall of water in front of you to block all attacks, right?" Cheng Tian said, looking at the impacted tennis ball, "Look, this tennis ball is being impacted by the Whirlpool. It can't get out, but it's also difficult for people outside to touch it, isn't it? Because touching it would mean getting attacked."
Cheng Tian looked at Froakie. "Froakie, the Whirlpool skill can not only bind opponents and cause them continuous damage, but it can also protect you. Have you ever thought about using a Whirlpool to bind yourself?"
"Froakie..." Froakie's heart seemed to stir, as if it had some ideas, but couldn't articulate them.
"You need to try to learn how to change the Whirlpool so that others will be harmed by it, but you will only be protected by it. Try to use Whirlpool to cover yourself."
Upon hearing this, Froakie released a Whirlpool and covered itself. Cheng Tian turned on the adjacent tennis ball machine, which quickly shot out many tennis balls. However, as these tennis balls were about to touch the vortex, their force was dissipated by the vortex, and they could only be continuously impacted by the outer whirlpool, unable to touch Froakie at all.
"Froakie!" Seeing this, Froakie was greatly surprised. Whirlpool could be used like this!? Cheng Tian smiled and stopped the machine. "Froakie, actually, you can't currently release a skill like the Water Wall. One reason is your limited moves, and another is that with your current strength, you can't control that much water. So, I settled for the next best thing and bought you the Whirlpool skill. If you use it this way, you can learn another Water Release Ninjutsu, Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu."
"Not only that, but in our China, there's a martial art called Tai Chi, which also emphasizes deflecting and neutralizing force. When you feel your Whirlpool is about to break from the force it's taking, you can disengage from the Whirlpool and direct it to attack the opponent, right?" (For reference, see a certain hero's ultimate in a popular mobile game)
"Froakie!" At this point, Froakie was utterly impressed with Cheng Tian. This method of use had many more advantages than simple Water Wall defense.
Imagine, when someone wants to attack Froakie up close, Froakie can not only use Whirlpool to confine the opponent but also cover itself for protection, then charge at the opponent to cause damage. This way, Froakie's close-combat and defensive capabilities would both greatly improve!
Froakie looked at Cheng Tian with gratitude. Its trainer had gone to great lengths to buy skill TM and teach it so many ways to use its skills. Indeed, Cheng Tian was just as good to it as its master!
Cheng Tian patted Froakie's small head. "However, for now, your task is still to diligently adapt to and control Whirlpool. For the next while, let's use this tennis ball machine to help you practice." "Froakie!"
..."Customer, your time is up, please... Oh my God!" The staff member, seeing that the time was up but Cheng Tian still hadn't come out, decided to go in and remind him. But upon seeing the messy training room, even a highly professional staff member couldn't help but swear.
In one training room, there were 10 tennis ball machines, each containing 500 tennis balls. That meant 5000 tennis balls in total. And now, all 5000 tennis balls were on the floor.
"Hmm? Sorry, sorry, I didn't notice the time. We'll leave right away." Cheng Tian saw the stunned staff member and quickly recalled Froakie before walking out.
The staff member looked at the countless tennis balls, forcing a smile that was uglier than crying, and stammered, "Wel-welcome back next time..."
Cheng Tian clapped the staff member on the shoulder heartily. "Definitely, definitely!"