Ling You then bought some Pokémon food suitable for Sprigatito, as well as Grass, Normal, Dark, and Flying-type energy cubes to help Sprigatito replenish energy and adapt to different elemental energies.
He also bought a large quantity of daily necessities and a few Poké Balls.
After Ling You and Lin Qiuyu left Slowbro Department Store, they went their separate ways, heading home.
Ling You returned home with Sprigatito and immediately started tinkering with the expensive move teaching device he had purchased.
It was somewhat similar to an Exp. Share, looking like a helmet, but larger and capable of inserting move discs.
"Sprigatito, let's start with the simplest one, Grass Knot, and give it a try," Ling You said, taking out the Grass Knot move disc, inserting it into the move teaching device, and then placing the helmet on Sprigatito's head.
"Meow?"
Sprigatito immediately felt top-heavy and struggled to maintain balance, swaying for a while before plopping down on the ground.
Ling You turned on the switch and told Sprigatito, "You need to learn well."
Ling You didn't know how long this thing would take to teach, so he let Sprigatito practice there while he tackled his homework.
Fortunately, the school's homework was child's play for Ling You; he had known much of the information since elementary school.
Growing up, being constantly exposed to his two researcher parents meant Ling You's understanding of Pokémon knowledge even surpassed that of his teachers.
The reason Ling You didn't pursue a career as a researcher was because, in junior high, he watched an Elite Four Lin Kong Gym challenge at the Illusion Star Gym in Xingyuan City.
That battle, Elite Four Lin Kong and Bulbasaur, left an indelible impression on Ling You, and from then on, the seed of becoming the strongest Trainer was planted in Ling You's heart.
In Ling You's room, there was also the hat that Elite Four Lin Kong wore at that time, which Elite Four Lin Kong gave to Ling You after the battle.
"I'll be waiting for you; I'll always wait for you on the path of a Trainer."
At that time, Ling You wanted to ask Lin Kong for an autograph, but in the end, he gave the hat to Ling You and left him with those words.
So, Ling You swore he would become a Trainer, constantly growing stronger until one day he could compete on the same stage as Elite Four Lin Kong.
Thinking of this, Ling You's homework speed picked up a bit; he also needed to give Sprigatito a bath later.
Sprigatito probably hadn't had a bath in a long time; although still very cute, its fur was noticeably dirty.
With Sprigatito wearing the helmet, the methods for using the skill from the move disc were now appearing in Sprigatito's mind, including the energy release for Grass Knot and the control of vines.
As the move teaching device stopped working, Sprigatito successfully grasped the principle of the Grass Knot skill, but without practical application, it was still unknown to what extent it could be performed.
Sprigatito used its two front paws to remove the helmet and quietly padded to Ling You's room door.
Seeing its Trainer diligently writing, Sprigatito didn't disturb Ling You.
Sprigatito, with its characteristic agility, jumped onto the desk and found the Acrobatics move disc.
Sprigatito, holding the Acrobatics move disc in its mouth, jumped next to the teaching device, tinkered with it for a bit, removed the discarded Grass Knot move disc, and threw it into the trash can.
Then, Sprigatito unwrapped the package and inserted the Acrobatics move disc into the teaching device.
Sprigatito wiped away non-existent sweat, looking proudly at everything before it.
"I really am a clever cat.
If my Trainer knew how hard I was working, he would definitely praise me, right?"
Thinking this, Sprigatito excitedly put on the teaching device and began learning the Acrobatics skill.
Unlike the seamless learning of Grass Knot, the Flying-type Acrobatics was much more troublesome.
Although Sprigatito, with its Protean ability, was relatively adept at using various types, a type it had never transformed into still required time to adapt and find the feeling.
While learning Acrobatics, Sprigatito was also slowly adapting to Flying-type energy, until it could transform into a Flying-type and perform Acrobatics once, only then would the teaching be considered successful.
Learning Grass Knot took about ten minutes, while learning Acrobatics took nearly half an hour.
Sprigatito lay on the ground, panting; mastering a new type of energy was quite complex.
Although the Protean ability is powerful, raising a Pokémon with the Protean ability well is equivalent to raising several types of Pokémon at once, which is also a very hard task.
"Sprigatito, how is it? Did you learn it?"
Ling You put away his homework and immediately came out to find Sprigatito, only to discover the teaching device placed aside and Sprigatito lying on the ground, panting and completely defenseless.
"Was it very difficult?"
Ling You hadn't expected a single skill to make Sprigatito so exhausted, and he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
"Was I too eager for quick success? Sprigatito has only been here for a day and is already working so hard."
"Is this Acrobatics?"
Ling You took out the move disc from the teaching device; it wasn't Grass Knot but Acrobatics.
Ling You looked at Sprigatito, already having the answer in his heart, and reached out to pick up Sprigatito, asking, "You wouldn't have learned two skills in a row, would you?"
"Meow~"
Sprigatito nodded, looking smug, its ruby-like eyes blinking at Ling You.
"Am I amazing? Praise me, praise me!"
"So amazing!
To be able to learn two skills in such a short time, you're a genius!"
Ling You couldn't help but exclaim.
Generally speaking, move disc teaching devices offer fast-track learning, but they require long periods of practice and mastery.
Although Ling You remembered many people on forums complaining that one move disc wasn't enough to learn a skill.
But in less than 40 minutes, Sprigatito was able to learn two skills, which could truly be called genius.
"Meow~"
Hearing Ling You praise him so much, Sprigatito's vanity was greatly satisfied, and he nodded with a smile.
"That's right, that's right, this cat is a genius Sprigatito!"
"That's great!
Starting tomorrow, we'll practice more to master these two skills as soon as possible."
Ling You nodded, picked up Sprigatito, and walked towards the bathroom, "Come on, Sprigatito, let's go take a bath."
"Meow?"
Sprigatito clearly froze for a moment at the word "bath," not reacting.
The moment he saw the bathroom, Sprigatito panicked, meowing loudly and struggling to jump out of Ling You's arms.
"Meow~"
"This cat is not taking a bath; this cat hates water the most.
I almost got tricked in, but luckily I'm a genius Sprigatito."
"Sprigatito, look at yourself.
How can you not get clean? You don't want people to see you looking dirty, do you?"
Ling You held Sprigatito by the scruff of its neck and carried him into the bathroom, no matter how much Sprigatito struggled, it was no use.
Soon, Sprigatito's sorrowful whimpers came from the bathroom.
After being cleaned, Sprigatito sat on Ling You's lap, looking lifeless, as his fur was blow-dried.
"Sprigatito, you don't have to look so upset, do you?"
Ling You never expected Sprigatito to hate bathing so much.
He shook his head helplessly and placed the uncooperative Sprigatito on the sofa.
"Meow~"
Sprigatito turned its head away, no longer acknowledging Ling You.
"Hmph, that hateful Trainer actually bullied me; I'm not talking to him today."
"Sprigatito, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
How about I make you a Berry Salad?"
Ling You put his hands together and apologized to Sprigatito.
"Meow!"
Upon hearing about food, Sprigatito's eyes lit up, and he immediately turned around and patted Ling You's hand with his little paw.
"I want Sitrus Berries, lots and lots of Sitrus Berries!"
"Okay, okay, okay."
Ling You, hearing Sprigatito's thoughts, immediately nodded in agreement and went to the kitchen to get busy.
