And so, in the following days, Jiang Mo really stopped providing energy cubes to Mudkip.
Mudkip, having been hungry for several days, felt utterly speechless and grumbled to itself.
This Trainer was truly ruthless; even the previous Trainers, even if they knew it was foolish, would still feed it well.
At least they'd make Mudkip look energetic so it could fetch a better price when sold, unlike Jiang Mo, who wouldn't even give it food.
Finally, Mudkip's stomach growled with hunger, feeling truly uncomfortable, so it had no choice but to scheme to sneak out and steal food in the middle of the night.
Taking advantage of the dead of night when everyone was sound asleep, Mudkip quietly slipped into the kitchen and saw the energy cubes Jiang Mo had left on the kitchen table; its mouth watered so much it almost drooled.
However, it was very clever, only stealing a tiny bit each time, thinking that this way Jiang Mo probably wouldn't easily discover it.
Little did it know, all of this was within Jiang Mo’s calculations.
Jiang Mo had long anticipated this move, so he deliberately placed the energy cubes there, waiting for it to take the bait.
After several observations, Jiang Mo confirmed that Mudkip was indeed not truly foolish, but merely feigning ignorance.
Jiang Mo sat on a chair, resting his chin on his hand, deep in thought, and already had a plan to deal with Mudkip.
In the dead of night, moonlight streamed through the window onto the kitchen floor, and Mudkip tiptoed into the kitchen.
Its stomach was already growling with hunger, and it secretly complained about Jiang Mo's "ruthlessness."
It expertly jumped onto the table, its eyes fixed intently on the energy cubes, its mouth uncontrollably watering.
"Gala..." Mudkip mumbled softly, extended its paw, grabbed an energy cube, and eagerly stuffed it into its mouth.
However, the next second, its expression instantly froze.
"Crunch!"
With a crisp sound, Mudkip's teeth bit into something hard, hurting it so much it almost cried out.
It looked down and saw that what it had bitten into was not an energy cube at all, but a stone!
"Gala!"
Mudkip was so angry it stomped its feet, the stone still in its mouth, unable to spit it out or swallow it.
"How is it, does the stone taste good?" Jiang Mo's voice came from the darkness, carrying a hint of amusement.
Mudkip abruptly turned around and saw Jiang Mo leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, looking at it with a half-smile.
Pikachu and Haunter also stood behind Jiang Mo; Pikachu was covering its mouth, stifling a laugh, while Haunter floated in the air, its long tongue swaying back and forth, looking as if it was enjoying the show.
Mudkip instantly froze in place, the stone still in its mouth, too embarrassed to know what to do.
Jiang Mo walked forward, gently patted Mudkip's head, and said with a teasing tone, "You've been feigning ignorance for so long, finally couldn't hold back, could you?"
Mudkip lowered its head, the stone still in its mouth, not daring to look Jiang Mo in the eye.
Jiang Mo sighed, squatted down, gently pried open Mudkip's mouth, took out the stone, then pulled a real energy cube from his pocket and handed it to Mudkip.
"Eat, I know you're starving." Jiang Mo's tone softened a bit.
Mudkip hesitated for a moment, but finally took the energy cube and ate it in large bites.
After eating, it looked up, its eyes holding a complex expression, seemingly a mix of guilt and helplessness.
Jiang Mo looked at Mudkip and said seriously, "Mudkip, I know you don't want to train and want to live an easy life. But you need to understand that in this world, strength is the most important thing."
"Only by becoming strong enough can you truly control your own destiny and do what you want to do."
Mudkip blinked, seeming to have taken some of it in.
Jiang Mo continued, "You want to be a slacker, no problem."
"But if you don't have enough strength, others can take away your right to be a slacker at any time."
"Only when you are strong enough that no one dares to provoke you can you truly live the life you want."
Mudkip lowered its head, seemingly pondering Jiang Mo's words. It recalled its past experiences, how its previous masters forced it to train, and it could only feign ignorance to escape.
But if it were truly strong enough that no one dared to force it to do anything, then couldn't it truly live the life it wanted?
Thinking of this, Mudkip's eyes lit up.
Seeing that Mudkip was wavering, Jiang Mo struck while the iron was hot and continued, "I'll give you time to think, but if you still choose to continue feigning ignorance, then I won't feed you anymore. Think about it carefully."
The half-smile on Jiang Mo's face appeared particularly unsettling in Mudkip's eyes.
With that, Jiang Mo stood up and left the kitchen with Pikachu and Haunter, leaving Mudkip to ponder alone.
Mudkip watched Jiang Mo's retreating back, its heart a mix of emotions.
It knew Jiang Mo was right; without strength, it would always be at the mercy of others.
But if it became strong, then it could truly control its own destiny and live the life it wanted.
"Gala..." Mudkip murmured softly, a hint of determination flashing in its eyes.
In the following days, Mudkip no longer feigned ignorance but began to seriously cooperate with Jiang Mo's training plan.
"Mudkip, come on!"
Jiang Mo patted Mudkip's head and said with a smile, "Once you become strong enough, I'll take you to eat all the delicacies in the world and let you live a truly leisurely life!"
Mudkip looked up, its eyes sparkling with determination, and nodded vigorously: "Gala!"
Subsequently, Jiang Mo tailored a systematic and rigorous training plan for Mudkip based on its characteristics and potential.
At first, Mudkip was full of resistance towards the high-intensity training, but when it thought about being able to be a carefree slacker in the future, it gritted its teeth and overcame its inner laziness again and again.
During training, Mudkip was panting, its limbs seemingly no longer obeying, but its eyes became even more determined.
Because a voice kept echoing in its heart: "The suffering endured now is all for true enjoyment in the future; I must not give up."
And so, relying on this belief, it persevered day after day.
Jiang Mo saw all of this and was filled with relief; once this Mudkip with the Grass-type ability evolved into Swampert, it would definitely become an existence even more sinister than stagnant water.
If Pokémon like Water Absorb Charizard can exist, then according to the saying that 'existence is reasonable,' a Grass-type Swampert is also very reasonable, right?
"Hehehe, you have Water Absorb Lao Pen, I have a Grass-type slacker..."
As a rare potential stock, Jiang Mo absolutely could not waste its talent, even smiling foolishly in his dreams at night.
And Mudkip was already on the verge of evolution; after several days of high-intensity training and Jiang Mo's careful feeding, Mudkip gained several levels, successfully evolved into Marshtomp, and also learned the Water Pulse move.