It was the third day since they had returned to the countryside.
Eevee had finally overcome her initial struggles and was now tackling the special training with a serious and dedicated attitude.
However, whenever she remembered Owen's punishment—banning her from watching her shows for a week—a wave of inexplicable grief washed over her.
You only realize how precious something is once it's gone...
Eevee made it clear: she wanted to watch her dramas! Her dream was to be wrapped in her Silk Scarf, lying comfortably on the bed, holding the phone and binge-watching, even if it was only for two hours a day.
Owen hadn't anticipated this. His original plan was to pique her interest in battling by exposing her to Pokémon media, but it had backfired slightly.
While Eevee did want to get stronger, she had developed a secondary obsession with the screen. Whether it was movies, anime, TV dramas, or battle replays, she loved the feeling of watching a story unfold.
Perhaps because she didn't want to argue with Owen, by the fourth day, the drama-deprived Eevee channeled her grief into motivation.
She trained even harder. More importantly, she didn't want Owen to skip any more meals because of her laziness.
Consequently, the results on the fourth day were much better than the day before.
Even without using the explosive force of Tackle to start, Eevee was able to navigate the dense woods with increasing ease, and her speed was approaching her normal physical limit.
Additionally, because she was seeing results, Eevee began to fear the training less. When she looked at the dense woods now, her eyes held the same competitive glint they had when she saw the Sandshrew's palace on the beach.
Having shaken off the psychological weight of her Anticipation ability, she had returned to the competitive little Eevee Owen knew.
They continued their routine of visiting the Pokémon Center, leaving each time under the puzzled gaze of the intern nurse.
On the fifth day, Owen spoke to Eevee: "Next, we begin special training for Quick Attack."
"Vee!" Eevee barked with confidence, though she didn't quite understand what Owen meant yet.
"You experienced the Tackle move two days ago, right?" Owen asked. Eevee nodded.
Back then, Eevee had been hesitant to sprint through the woods, so Owen had forced her to start with Tackle and forbidden her from slowing down.
It had been brutal, and Eevee had taken quite a few hits. Once her mindset changed, they went back to basic sprints, as training must be progressive.
"If Tackle is just a burst of power to hit a target at short range, then Quick Attack is about maintaining that extreme speed continuously," Owen explained plainly.
"Quick Attack demands more from your stamina, physical strength, explosiveness, and coordination.
But once you master it, you'll have much higher mobility in battle."
Eevee began to understand.
"So, we are going back to the training from two days ago. You must use Tackle repeatedly in the woods to maintain a high-speed sprint while dodging obstacles.
If you can adapt to that, you'll be very close to learning Quick Attack."
In these dense trees... using Tackle non-stop?!
Even though Eevee was prepared, she was startled and gave Owen a look of pure skepticism.
"Ahem... what's with that look?" Owen's face reddened. His training method might be self-taught, but it was grounded in solid logic.
"Vee." Eevee turned her head, giving him a "fine, I'll trust you" look, and trotted to the starting line.
By the fourth day, she could already navigate the woods at normal speed. Now, she wanted to see if she could break her limits and complete the course at high velocity.
At Owen's command, Eevee's body glowed with a white light as she blurred forward. A few seconds later, the light faded—the energy had dissipated.
This showed that in a real fight, her Tackle could only reach close-range targets; if the opponent was too far, the move would fizzle out before contact.
Owen stopped the timer. Eevee had failed.
When the energy from one Tackle faded, she had to immediately manifest it again to keep the momentum. However, she couldn't handle the speed. Just like on the third day, she slammed into a tree.
Fortunately, after days of hardship, she wasn't a crybaby anymore. She climbed up, shook the dust off her fur, and started running again. Her physical durability had improved significantly.
Turns out, a thick skin is literally built by taking hits...
Because using moves repeatedly was draining, this training couldn't last all day. Learning a new move is difficult, and Owen didn't want to be counterproductive. After a few attempts at Quick Attack, he would switch her back to basic fitness or rest.
This cycle continued for another three days. On the seventh day of training in the Black Woods, Eevee underwent a significant change.
Her energy control had leveled up. Her stamina was now sufficient to maintain high-speed movement for longer periods.
The experience gathered from hundreds of collisions had made her proficient with the Tackle move; the explosive force was no longer difficult for her to manage.
The only thing slightly lacking was her coordination, but it wasn't enough to stop her from mastering the move.
With all her preparations complete, the results merged seamlessly. As Owen watched Eevee, shrouded in white light, zip effortlessly across the clearing, he nearly teared up.
Learning Quick Attack was far harder than learning Sand Attack. Sand Attack had been a stroke of luck, but Quick Attack was earned through every drop of Eevee's sweat and every bruise on her body.
Once she finished her demonstration, Owen scooped her up and said the words Eevee had been dying to hear: "Starting tonight, you are allowed two hours of phone time..."
Eevee: (✧ω✧) That's what I've been waiting for!
Looking at Eevee's expression, Owen felt like he'd been played somehow, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He just scratched his head in confusion.
"Also, to celebrate, that's enough training for today!"
Owen laughed. Everything was going smoothly. If they kept up this momentum, the Young Ho-Oh Cup was definitely within reach.
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