In the evening, Chen Kai arranged to go shopping with Liu Jianshan and Zhang Yongchao.
However, Zhang Yongchao and Smeargle seemed busy with something and couldn't make it out.
He had originally intended to ask Chun Jie to dinner, but unfortunately, she and her group had actually gone to the outskirts of Kyoto, searching for the so-called "treasure dropped by a spy."
Only Liu Jianshan and Chen Kai arrived at one of Kyoto's "Jintai Mall," where the goods were primarily daily necessities, and prices were not too outrageous.
Chen Kai wore cleaning gloves and carried Dipplin, wandering around the mall. Dipplin's current apple shell was too sticky, so he had no choice but to resort to this.
Guomi Chong No. 2 was very satisfied with this height, allowing it to poke its head out from the bottom of the apple and browse the merchandise properly.
"Holy moly, your Applin evolved?" Liu Jianshan looked at the Dipplin in Chen Kai's hand in surprise.
Chen Kai smiled, "Yes, it just evolved. Now there are two 'dragons' inside its apple, and it's giving me a headache."
"That's great! Your Flaaffy and Dipplin have both evolved. I wonder when Scorbunny will be able to evolve," Liu Jianshan said, stroking Scorbunny's head.
Scorbunny also curiously observed the newly evolved Dipplin, and its own expectations for future evolution grew.
"Mii!!" (It smells so good over there!)
Guomi Chong No. 2 exclaimed.
Chen Kai glanced over; Guomi Chong No. 2 was pointing at a fruit store.
"Then I'll take you to see it. Pick whatever you want to eat."
Guomi Chong No. 2 happily wiggled its eyes.
"Mii!" (Okay!)
It wandered around the fruit store for a long time but was slow to make a choice.
Miraidon even offered suggestions midway: "I think watermelon is pretty good. It's big and filling, and it's cheap in the summer."
But Guomi Chong No. 2's next words made Chen Kai's jaw drop.
"Mii, Mii!" (Only children make choices; I want them all!)
You were just born two days ago! You must be a child!
However, Chen Kai could only grumble internally, not daring to speak out. He organized his words and communicated kindly with Guomi Chong No. 2: "Guomi Chong No. 2! Look, you've already eaten dinner tonight, and there are so many fruits here; you wouldn't be able to finish them in three days. How about you pick a few kinds of fruit first, and we'll come back to buy more next time."
Guomi Chong No. 2 hesitated but still agreed.
"Woo~ Mii, Mii, Mii!" (Woo~ Okay, let's pinky swear, no lying to me!)
"Okay!" Chen Kai extended his pinky finger and hooked it with Guomi Chong No. 2's tail.
"Mii, Mii." (Pinky promise, a hundred years, no changing.)
For some reason, Chen Kai always felt like he was coaxing a child, but it really was a child right now, wasn't it?
Ultimately, Guomi Chong No. 2 still followed Miraidon's advice and chose a watermelon.
On the other side, Liu Jianshan bought a children's soccer ball with Scorbunny.
Chen Kai, carrying two large bags of watermelon, suddenly thought, "By the way, what has Old Zhang been doing these past few days? There's been no news at all."
Liu Jianshan was a bit unsure: "I heard he's been drawing with Smeargle? We can go see him next time we have a chance."
"Then let's go see Old Zhang together next time. My watermelons are too heavy; I'll head back first."
"Alright, then let's meet up next time." Liu Jianshan waved his hand and went home with Scorbunny.
Chen Kai carried the watermelons home and shared them with his Pokemon.
Of the two watermelons, Miraidon ate one, and Chen Kai, Xiao Mei, and Dipplin themselves shared half of the other.
What Chen Kai didn't expect was that Guomi Chong No. 2, a single 'dragon,' ate half a watermelon by itself.
This watermelon was bigger than its entire 'dragon' body, yet it could finish it!
Chen Kai exclaimed, "As expected of the 'Gluttony' ability! The original Dipplin isn't greedy at all; it turns out all the gluttonous habits are on Guomi Chong No. 2!"
Iron Bundle was still the same, not eating anything, just quietly charging on the side.
However, Chen Kai had bought several crystal balls online and just bought a few more at 'Jintai Mall.' He handed them all to Iron Bundle, who, while saying "ugly, don't need," still 'reluctantly' accepted the crystal balls.
Chen Kai got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and secretly saw Iron Bundle happily playing with several crystal balls.
It really says one thing but does another!
The next day, Chen Kai came to the Botanical Garden to continue training.
Teacher Ye Gai had said so yesterday; if he didn't come, it would be disrespecting Teacher Ye Gai, and he indeed had questions he needed to ask Teacher Ye Gai.
Ye Gai saw Chen Kai arrive early for training and nodded, "Hmm! Very good! Then let's start with our morning exercise!"
He led Chen Kai, Xiao Mei, and Dipplin in their usual morning run.
However, Dipplin still ran awkwardly, stumbling.
Dipplin itself directed:
"Mii!" (Run that way!)
Guomi Chong No. 2 said:
"Mii! Mii!" (Which way is that way?! I can't see where you're pointing!)
Chen Kai said awkwardly, "Please excuse us, Teacher."
Ye Gai laughed, "Haha, let's finish the run first! I had anticipated your situation. How did you train yesterday?"
Chen Kai briefly explained his mother's experience in raising Exeggutor.
"What your mother said is indeed correct. For a Pokemon like Exeggutor, which has multiple minds in one body, establishing a central commander is indeed enough," Ye Gai affirmed.
"However, Dipplin's situation is different. Unlike Exeggutor, it has multiple bodies! So, simply establishing a central commander is not enough.
You need to let them develop a tacit understanding, just like Falinks. Not to say complete unity, but at least to achieve tacit understanding and synchronization."
"I see!"
After the run, Ye Gai checked Dipplin's skill usage and also looked at Xiao Mei's skill proficiency.
When he saw Xiao Mei use Dazzling Gleam, he was also a bit surprised.
He had seen Ampharos use Dazzling Gleam, but it was indeed his first time seeing Flaaffy use it.
So he earnestly told Chen Kai, "Xiao Kai, your Flaaffy's talent for learning skills is indeed second to none, but I recommend that you streamline its skills."
"Teacher, why is that?" Chen Kai was a bit puzzled. In the Pokemon games on Earth, he always thought that the more skills, the better?
"More skills are definitely not always better. You'll learn this in your sophomore year curriculum later. Learning too many skills will actually make your Pokemon's proficiency in each skill insufficient.
Practicing a small number of skills more will actually improve the power, accuracy, and release speed of all those moves. Some people can even perform many tricks with a few skills."
Chen Kai thought: This is like Pikachu's Thunderbolt, right? It really had many variations in the later parts of the anime.
Ye Gai continued, "Research shows that it's better for Pokemon to primarily practice four moves. Too few, and the coverage isn't enough.
Even if your Pokemon has a strong ability to learn skills, don't exceed four skills by too much. Five to eight is basically the limit; too many will lead to biting off more than you can chew."
