What should I do if my pet loves watching anime?

Scyther took a deep breath, its eyes instantly becoming focused.

A pale blue aura of energy gathered, and a faint white aura of vacuum-attached energy swirled around the scythe, while purple patterns that could strike vital points spread outwards.

The three energies quickly merged, and purple, white, and cyan lights shone on the scythe.

"cut!"

A streak of purple and white light flashed by!

"Sizzle—!"

With a muffled thud, the wooden stake shook violently, leaving a deep, charred cut on its surface, sending wood chips flying.

This attack seemed to be even more powerful than when it defeated Muddy.

Old Hong's face remained expressionless as he approached the wooden stake and carefully examined the depth, direction, and condition of the cuts.

He reached out and touched the edge and inside of the cut, feeling the extent to which the wood fibers had been damaged.

"Next, use the combo attack to hit that sandbag next to you." Old Hong pointed to another hanging sandbag.

As instructed, the mantis's scythes flashed white, and it struck the sandbag several times in succession, making muffled thuds and causing the sandbag to shake.

Old Hong observed the flying mantis's body posture, the order of force exertion, the coordination of its wings, and its stability after landing as it swung its sword.

"stop."

Old Hong raised his hand.

He walked up to the flying mantis and gestured for it to raise its right sickle.

Old Hong's fingers were rough and strong. He gently pinched the joint where the mantis's sickle connected to its arm, and then pressed several muscle groups on its shoulder, back, and waist along the texture of its carapace.

The flying mantis shifted uncomfortably.

"Relax." Old Hong's voice carried a peculiar soothing power.

He examined it very carefully, even making the mantis perform a few simple stretching and slashing movements.

After a moment, Old Hong withdrew his hand and turned to Gu Beiri.

"Kid, your Scyther build is pretty good. Your physical strength and reflexes are top-notch."

That demonic slash was quite an interesting idea, combining several different types of energy and techniques to increase its instantaneous destructive power and variability.

His tone was calm, as if he were stating a fact.

"However," Old Hong changed the subject, his eyes sharpening, "there are also significant problems."

He walked up to the wooden stake and pointed to the slash mark: "The force was too scattered. It looks powerful, but the power didn't fully penetrate the target, wasting a lot of it."

He then pointed to the mantis's shoulder and wing roots: "The muscle groups here are not being used correctly."

In order to make your strikes faster, you relied too much on the instantaneous acceleration of your wings and the spring-like force of your joints, neglecting the overall power chain from the core rotation of your waist and abdomen to the shoulders and arms.

"It's like a river. You only think about making the downstream flow rapid, but you forget about the power of the upstream water source and the continuous dredging of the middle reaches of the river."

A short burst of power is impressive, but sustained combat can lead to fatigue and even self-injury.

"Strength should be concentrated into a single rope, like the tip of a needle, not like a fan."

Your Demon Slash is now just a fancy iron fan; it looks intimidating, and it hurts when it hits someone's face, but it can't pierce through wooden boards.

He looked at the mantis with a serious expression, a far cry from his previous kind and gentle neighborly demeanor.

"What you want to learn is swordsmanship for killing enemies, not performance routines. Starting today, put aside all your fancy energy integration for now."

"The first step is to practice stillness: stillness of posture, stillness of body, stillness of mind."

Old Hong pointed to the corner of the balcony: "See that iron stake? Go over there, get into your most comfortable attack stance, and then stay there. Only move when I feel your strength sink down and flow smoothly."

The flying mantis looked at Gu Beiri with some confusion.

Gu Beiri said in a deep voice, "Do as Elder Hong says."

As instructed, the Flying Mantis flew to the dark iron stake, assumed the starting stance for its Demon Slash attack, slightly raised its scythes, and leaned forward.

"No!" Old Hong walked over and patted its back without any hesitation. "This part has collapsed! Lift it up!"

He then pointed to its hind legs: "Paws, grip the ground! Imagine your feet are rooted to the earth!"

He meticulously corrected the flying mantis's posture, from the angle of its claws gripping the ground, to the slight bend in its legs, to the tightening of its core, to the relaxation and power gathering in its shoulders and back, and even the angle of its neck and the point where its gaze fell...

Every detail is meticulously crafted to the point of being almost nitpicky.

"Breathe! Keep your breath in! Inhale to gather your strength, exhale to release! I'm not telling you to hold your breath!"

It took a full ten minutes of adjustment before the Flying Mantis could strike a pose that would make Old Hong nod reluctantly.

"Hold on, feel the state of every muscle in your body, feel the path of the flow of power."

The mind must be calm, and the spirit must be focused.

"When you feel that you're not posing, but that this pose is your most natural, most comfortable state, where your power can be released most smoothly, then you've entered the beginner stage."

After finishing speaking, Old Hong stopped looking at it and turned to walk towards Gu Beiri.

"Let it stay that way for now. Let's talk." Old Hong sat down on the old sofa in the living room, poured himself a cup of tea that had long since gone cold, and said, "You, this little lamb, are quite interesting."

His gaze fell on the fluffy sheep with curiosity, but he didn't press for details.

"There are some special features." Gu Beiri didn't elaborate, but he didn't completely hide it either.

"Hmm." Old Hong didn't press further, took a sip of his iced tea, and asked, "Did Xiao Chen get you a high-speed movement skill machine?"

"Yes."

"That thing is icing on the cake for the Scyther, but it's not the root of the problem." Old Hong put down his teacup. "Its root lies in the combination of its own strength and speed, in the instantaneous penetration and continuous pressure."

High-speed movement is a tool, and how well you use this tool depends on how solid its foundation is.

Once he establishes a solid foundation, and considering his high-speed movement, and if possible, the addition of a shadow clone, his future will absolutely exceed your imagination.

He looked at the mantis on the balcony, motionless like a sculpture.

"I'll spend three days honing my skills in character formation."

We'll see the results in three days and then decide on the next step.

During this time, you can do whatever you need to do; you don't need to stay here all the time. Just bring it over for two hours every afternoon.

Gu Beiri nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, Elder Hong."

"If you take someone's money, you have to do their bidding. Little Chen paid up." Old Hong waved his hand, very honestly. "Besides, teaching promising young people is also a pleasure. It's better than spending all day playing chess and arguing with those old guys downstairs."

As they were talking, they heard faint sounds of arguing downstairs. It seemed that several elderly people were arguing heatedly over a few moves of chess.

Old Hong listened intently, then scoffed, "A worthless chess player."

Gu Beiri was speechless.

This Mr. Hong has an ordinary appearance, like a retired old man next door, with a strong sense of everyday life, but he has a deep understanding and almost strict standards when it comes to training Pokémon.

This contrast makes it feel more real and more unfathomable.

"Alright, that's all for today. Let it stay set for now, do as you please." Old Hong got up and walked towards the kitchen, seemingly preparing to think about the menu for dinner.

Gu Beiri walked to the balcony and looked at the Scyther, who was tense and struggling to maintain its posture, and said softly, "Keep it up."

"Chap..." Scyther squeezed out a sound from his throat, his eyes full of seriousness.

Gu Beiri stayed with him for a while longer, and seeing that Elder Hong had no further instructions, he took Rongrongyang and left first.

Before leaving, the Scyther's interface appeared before Gu Beiri's eyes again.

[Pokémon: Scyther]

[Level: lv10]

[Attribute: Insect + Flying]

【Characteristics: Technical Expert】

[Potential: A-]

[Skills: Glare, Vacuum Wave, Focus, Steel Wings, Combo Slash, Ambush to Weak Points, Lightning Flash, Follow-up Strike]

[Custom Skill: Demon Slash]

Great, I've reached level 10 without even realizing it. The battles and training I've been doing lately have been very effective.