“Yo yo? Mind Reader?”

Poliwag had no idea what Mind Reader was. Right now, it could barely see anything at all. It could just barely make out the swaying float with its blurred vision.

And now Reiji was saying something about not using its eyes. But how was it supposed to hit a moving float without looking? It couldn’t even see it clearly.

At this moment, Poliwag’s world was caught between light and darkness—everything in front of its eyes was gray. Even when it tried to open its eyes as wide as it could, all it saw was sunlight filtered through tattered cloth.

“Poliwag, stay calm. You need to stay calm. It’s okay if you can’t see—just try to feel the movement of the float. Do your best to sense it. You don’t need to think about anything else…”

Reiji saw the panic and confusion on Poliwag’s face. He immediately stepped forward, resting his hand gently on its body to calm it down—and then added a third layer of cloth over its eyes. With this final layer, all light was completely blocked out.

Poliwag could no longer see anything at all, but Reiji didn’t move his hand away. He kept it there, letting Poliwag feel his presence through touch.

“I’m right here beside you, Poliwag. I’ve been here the whole time. Can you feel me with your damp skin?” Reiji spoke softly, his palm resting gently on its body.

“Yo yo.” Poliwag nodded. It could feel Reiji’s hand. It could feel his warmth, his voice. Reiji was right there beside it.

“This is the feeling of touch, Poliwag. Focus on it. Just like you can feel me with your skin, you can feel the swaying of the float with your heart. Use Mind Reader to feel it—and then hit it with Water Gun.”

“You can do it, Poliwag. Don’t give up. Believe me—you can do this. Focus. Tune out the sound of the waves, the birds in the forest. Just feel. Just listen—to the sound of the wind from the swaying float, that faint little breeze…”

“Yo…”

Under Reiji’s steady voice, Poliwag felt the warmth of his hand, the steadiness of his breathing.

After losing its sight, it had panicked—its heart was pounding, restless and out of rhythm. But as Reiji continued to calm it, that chaotic heartbeat slowly steadied.

And in that calmness, the world became quiet.

The crashing waves faded into the background. The chirping birds no longer irritated it. It began to hear something else—its own heartbeat. Reiji’s heartbeat.

And beyond that… it saw the float swaying in the dark.

“Yo?”

Poliwag blinked—if it could still blink—and felt a strange sense of clarity. It couldn’t see anything else. But the float? The float it saw clearly, swaying back and forth.

And as it swayed, it gave off ripples—just like the ones it saw when soaking in water. Those gentle, circular waves.

It hadn’t expected to be able to see anything while blindfolded. And now that it could, the swaying float had drawn in all of its attention.

It didn’t know how to explain what it was seeing. Language wasn’t its strength. There was no way to tell Reiji about this strange sensation.

There was no water where the float hung. So how was it kicking up white ripples?

Was it the sound Reiji had told it to listen for? Was this the thing Reiji had told it to feel?

Maybe… maybe it was.

It thought it sort of understood—but it also didn’t. Still, if this was what Reiji meant when he said “use your heart to feel,” then this had to be it.

It held onto the feeling. This mysterious state Reiji had helped it enter—this had to be what Reiji was trying to guide it toward.

Reiji, on the other hand, was stunned by Poliwag’s silence. He had no idea it had reached some kind of enlightened state—but he didn’t interrupt. His arm was going numb, but he wasn’t going to risk breaking Poliwag’s concentration now.

If it was at a crucial moment and he pulled away… that would make him the villain. If he ruined its flow, he’d deserve two slaps to the face.

Thankfully, he held out. It was just one arm. He could deal with that. He’d only pull back once Poliwag showed some kind of reaction. That was the standard he set for himself.

Pfft pfft pfft—

Poliwag, still quiet, suddenly fired three quick Water Guns—bam, bam, bam—right at the swaying float. All three hit. A triple-shot, every blast striking the same float.

“…What the hell? Did I just imagine that? It hit the target blindfolded?” Reiji stared in shock.

All that stuff he’d said earlier about feeling with the heart… it had been pure nonsense. Just him spitballing, taking wild shots in the dark. Nothing scientific about it.

The whole “don’t give up” and “believe in yourself” bit? Yeah, that was just fluff. Buffs for the sake of hot-blooded spirit. After all, he had transmigrated into a shounen anime. And shounen logic didn’t care about realism.

Honestly, if not for the constant reminders from the Pokémon around him, he would’ve thought this was a horror series.

With Krabby ambushers trying to snip off his downstairs, Beedrill chasing him with giant syringes, and Rhydon stomping around like they were trying to extract fertilizer from him—it was hard to keep calling this a “hot-blooded anime.”

Still, no reason he couldn’t bring the heat.

Just like an angler hooking a big fish, a little encouragement to Poliwag cost him nothing. If he could hype it up with a few words, why not? It didn’t hurt.

And besides—the skill explanation for Mind Reader on the proficiency panel was already full of mumbo jumbo. “Use your heart to feel.” “Your next attack will surely hit.” That wasn’t science. That was some next-level shounen logic.

Guaranteed hit? In the real world, that’s a fantasy.

What does “guaranteed hit” even mean?

You can’t dodge it even with Teleport, like an Abra?

What if the opponent used Dig? What if they used Dive? What if they used Protect?

If a move hits a target using Protect, does that count as a hit or a miss?

Technically, they’re not dodging at all. They’re just sitting there with a shield.

Miss a moving target, okay—maybe you’re just bad. But miss a stationary one face-to-face? That’s just pitiful.

When Reiji first told Poliwag to try it, he was prepared for it to fail. But it worked.

Was it dumb luck? A blind squirrel finding a nut? A total fluke?

Even if it was, it still worked. One Water Gun hitting a float—maybe you could chalk it up to luck. A lucky shot.

But three Water Guns, all in a row? And the second and third still hit even after the float was knocked off course?

That wasn’t luck anymore.

And if this little guy was that lucky, how could it have ended up starving on a deserted island? How could it have crossed paths with him?

…Then again, who was the lucky one here—Poliwag or him? Tough call.

No need to overthink it. One look at the proficiency panel would confirm whether Mind Reader had been activated.

Before Reiji could open it, the three Pokémon waiting quietly nearby finally rushed in, chirping and chattering around Poliwag—asking how it did it.

Blindfolded. Triple Water Gun. All hits. It was unreal.

“Fuiiii!” Butterfree had been watching the entire time, completely engrossed in Poliwag’s new training. So focused that it had forgotten to work on its own Psychic move.

Especially when Poliwag was blindfolded—its tension, Reiji’s seriousness—it made even Butterfree nervous. It had never seen Reiji so focused before.

As Reiji softly guided Poliwag, Butterfree didn’t dare make a sound. It landed silently on a branch and just watched, witnessing Reiji help Poliwag sense something it couldn’t see.

Then Poliwag hit the float.

And Butterfree couldn’t help but get excited. It wasn’t the one who hit it, but still—it was so happy. Poliwag was its partner.

And its partner’s partner was also itself. So basically, it was the one who hit it. Of course it was proud—how could it not be?

Having a teammate that strong? That was security.

“Krack-krack!” Krabby was just as thrilled. It could finally breathe again. It scuttled up quickly to congratulate Poliwag for learning a new move.

Poliwag-nii was amazing. Hitting the float blindfolded? Krabby felt like kissing its feet.

It already admired Poliwag—but now? Now it worshipped it. Poliwag was forever its boss.

“Cawww!” Wingull had just joined the team, but it still picked up on the tension between Reiji and Poliwag. It knew something serious was happening, and it didn’t interfere.

Sure, it had squabbled with Poliwag before. But not enough to sabotage its training.

If Poliwag was better with Water Gun—so be it. Wingull could admit it. It wasn’t about mind games. Poliwag just had the edge.

Could it hit a float blindfolded? It wasn’t sure. But right now? Definitely not.

Four-shot Water Guns might be doable with time, but this? This took something else.

It would just have to train harder. Catching up to Poliwag looked tough right now. But it wasn’t giving up. If anything, it was more fired up than ever.

Having a rival to chase? That was a good thing. It just hoped Poliwag didn’t fall behind too fast—catching up too easily would be boring.

Poliwag had taken off the blindfold now. It looked at the three Pokémon swarming around it with questions and praise, and seemed a little embarrassed.

It kept saying it wasn’t that good—it only did what Reiji told it to. It didn’t even really understand how it had hit the float.

After the blindfold went on, it had seen the float swaying, kicking up wave-like ripples—almost like the ocean.

So it just fired.

That was the story it gave the others. Whether they understood? That was their problem.

Reiji didn’t join their conversation. He stepped back and opened Poliwag’s proficiency panel.

[Poliwag]

Type: Water

Gender: Male

Potential: 34.21%

Level: 19.53%

Abilities: Damp (2.13%), Hidden Ability: Swift Swim (3.13%)

Mastered Moves: Mind Reader (1.21%) / Refresh (4.11%) / Hypnosis (0.82%) / Double Slap (9.12%) / Water Gun (14.14%) / Water Sport (5.21%) / Bubble Beam (1.21%)

Poliwag had reached Level 19—almost 20. And its potential had increased by 0.1%.

But the most important part? Mind Reader.

Reiji’s guess had been right. Poliwag had activated Mind Reader. But he still didn’t understand how. How had it triggered the move? How had it landed the shot?

It couldn’t just be the blindfold. If that was all it took, anyone could master Mind Reader. The move wouldn’t even need to exist.

Mind Reader hadn’t appeared in the anime, so there was no canon baseline. But it had shown up in the Pokémon Adventures manga.

In it, a Hitmonlee fired a bright beam from its eyes to lock onto the opponent, seeing through all their movements.

Which honestly sounded ridiculous. Not a nighttime battle—why would it need headlights? Calling it a blinding flash to mess up the enemy’s vision would be more believable.

Reading movements? What if they were fakes? What if it was a feint? A trade hit?

And as a Fighting-type, if you’re fighting something way stronger than you, trading hits is a losing game.

Experienced trainers and Pokémon didn’t even need the move. They could read opponents on their own. That’s what “predictions,” “reads,” “counter-reads,” and “mind games” were all about. An endless guessing match.

Only veterans could play that game. Beginners? They should just memorize type charts and learn their move pools first.

There was also a Poliwrath that used Mind Reader in the manga. It remembered the opponent’s movements and predicted them in advance, blocking their attacks.

That version felt more reasonable. More in line with what Reiji believed.

Mind Reader was probably all about prediction—helping a Pokémon read its opponent’s next move, then strike back accurately.

In games, it’s called pre-cast and post-cast delay. Characters have startup animations before their attacks come out. That delay lets skilled players dodge.

Back in his past life, Reiji had slow hands. Always stuck in Bronze rank. Too many trolls. Never could climb.

Later he realized… maybe he wasn’t bad. Maybe the matchmaking was just cursed. Maybe his hands weren’t the problem…

Even in martial arts novels, masters talk about countering moves, using stillness against motion, defeating form with formlessness. Same idea.

But this wasn’t a wuxia world. No inner energy. No spiritual awareness.

Compared to a Pokémon predicting moves on its own, a trainer’s prediction would usually be more accurate—unless their callouts couldn’t keep up with the Pokémon’s reaction speed. Humans process faster than most Pokémon, after all.

But how did Poliwag predict the float’s motion and land the hit?

None of it made sense.

(End of Chapter)

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep