"Hello, let's get acquainted. I'm Hayden. Perhaps your Eevee will recognize me."
As Hayden approached, he spoke up.
Eh?
Owen had noticed someone approaching, but after the man spoke, he still froze for a second before reacting.
The attire... and the mention that Eevee might know him...
"I'm Owen. Hello. Are you a doctor from the Pokémon Center?" Owen asked, while gesturing to Eevee to pause her training.
"Vee?"
Hearing the call, Eevee slammed on the brakes and ran over quickly. She looked up at the sudden stranger with a puzzled gaze.
But a moment later, Eevee let out a happy chirp. Clearly, just as the man said, she recognized this doctor.
Owen had a realization and said, "So it's Doctor Hayden! Thank you very much for treating Eevee; her injuries have been recovering very well."
Hayden replied, "Just doing my job."
He smiled and crouched down to look at Eevee, continuing, "Judging by her appearance, this Eevee was very well-cared for in her early days.
Both her spirit and energy are abundant. Also, with this kind of fur luster... she must drink Moomoo Milk frequently, right?"
"That is indeed the case," Owen nodded calmly, though he was surprised. Could a doctor really determine a Pokémon's diet just from the luster of its fur?
Also, why did it feel like the fur luster between Eevees wasn't that different anyway?
Eevee... sorry about that.
"Haha, actually, it's very hard for most people to distinguish such subtle differences," Hayden said. "We go through systematic training for this."
"By the way, when treating Eevee, I often detected a lot of Potion residue on her. Compared to her wounds, you're using a bit too much.
Actually, minor everyday scratches don't really matter if left alone. For Pokémon, slight abrasions can actually help train their self-healing abilities."
"Vee?" Hearing this, Eevee—who had been feeling a bit friendly toward Hayden—immediately took a step back, nearly baring her teeth.
"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind." Although Owen didn't know why this Pokémon doctor was so talkative, he took the expert advice to heart.
He had been using Potions frequently during training purely out of worry that the wounds might worsen.
Eevee looked at Owen in despair. What kind of world is this... She felt like the entire world was conspiring against her.
After a few more words, Hayden stood up. Even as a Pokémon doctor, he highly approved of Owen's training method.
This kind of comprehensive training saved a lot of time and made it easier for Eevee to integrate her skills and grow in a balanced way.
"Doctor Hayden, don't you have to be at the Center today?" Owen asked curiously.
"Oh, today is my day off." Hayden adjusted his white coat and said, "I ran out of clean clothes at home, so I had to wear this.
Plus, I'm planning to go back and do some overtime later, so I didn't bother changing."
"Are you from South Nanwu?" Owen asked in surprise.
"Don't I look it?" Hayden smiled. "Speaking of which, you just became a Rookie Trainer, right? Studying at Fairview High? By the way, whose kid are you?"
This Doctor Hayden was an absolute chatterbox, his questions flowing non-stop. Owen didn't mind the company and answered as they chatted.
"Yeah, I registered this summer. My grandfather is... everyone calls him Old Man Fane
"Hey, you're from Old Man Fane's family?" Hayden was quite surprised.
"You know my grandfather?"
"The old man is great at chess. I often go to the street corner to watch them play," Hayden said.
Owen was also surprised. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. Since they had been chatting for so long anyway, he might as well ask some useful questions.
A Pokémon doctor's certificate wasn't easier to get than a Breeder's; in terms of Pokémon nurturing, a Pokémon doctor was practically half an expert.
"Doctor Hayden, I don't know if you checked Eevee's physical condition thoroughly at the Center. Her last full check-up was when she was born.
As you know, I'm a rookie, and when it comes to nurturing... I'm really playing it by ear." Owen gave his most friendly smile, hoping for an expert opinion.
"I see." Hayden nodded. He actually admired Owen for being able to nurture a newborn Eevee to this level. More importantly, he could see that the bond between Eevee and Owen was excellent, which was a very precious thing.
"Actually, Eevee is developing very well in all aspects..."
"But there is still room for improvement."
"Is Eevee still drinking regular Moomoo Milk?"
"Yes, and she eats solid food suitable for Normal-types purchased from the Aurora Group," Owen said. "Is there an issue?"
"No issue. But seeing how hard you're training, is there a specific reason?" Hayden asked.
"I want to enter a rookie tournament in Shanghai with Eevee," Owen said casually. It wasn't exactly a secret.
"If that's the case and you're focusing on boosting power, your current food pairing isn't the optimal choice," Hayden mused after a moment of thought.
"But you don't need to make massive changes. Switch the regular milk to 'Aspear Juice Milk' or 'Pinap Juice Milk,' and use 'Premium Moomoo Milk'—the kind produced by Miltank during their nursing period.
Eevee doesn't need to drink it every day. With your current training intensity, about three bottles of each per week should suffice."
"Eevee is currently in her growth phase. Those two types of juice-milk can make her body stronger and supplement micronutrients, while the Premium Moomoo Milk can subtly alter her constitution, allowing her to absorb the results of special training more efficiently.
That way, even if you increase the intensity a little more, she'll be fine."
"I'm not a professional Breeder, so I can only give you these suggestions."
Juice-milk was a nutritional supplement blended with special Berries, not ordinary fruit. Premium Moomoo Milk was the essence of milk produced by Miltank during nursing.
Both had much higher nutritional value than ordinary milk and even had stamina-restoring effects. Of course, the price...
Owen coughed dryly. Never mind.
The reason was simple: he was broke.
Moreover, these high-end nutritional products needed to be used long-term to see results; one month wouldn't make a dramatic difference.
The cost-performance ratio was significantly lower than regular Moomoo Milk! Owen had to consider it carefully.
Hayden smiled slightly, seeing Owen's embarrassment. But that wasn't his concern; he just found Owen interesting and came over for a chat since they were fellow townspeople.
They didn't chat much longer. Hayden left under the pretext of going back to work overtime. Before leaving, he encouraged Owen and Eevee, telling them to do their best.
The Calm Before the Storm
Is that uncle really from South Nanwu Town?
Owen truly had no memory of Doctor Hayden, but he didn't dwell on it for long, treating it as a small interlude in their training.
He took some of the advice to heart, but as for upgrading the quality of the supplements... Owen was truly powerless.
Unless he and Eevee could win the prize money from the Young Ho-Oh Cup. But if they'd already won the cup, they wouldn't be as desperately in need of the supplements. It was a complete catch-22.
"Doesn't matter! Back to training!" Owen shouted.
"Vee!"
Thirty days remained until the Young Ho-Oh Cup, and Eevee's training had entered its most intense phase. Owen desperately wanted to improve training efficiency because, aside from their current three drills, they had another vital task—
Eevee currently had no moves that could hit Ghost-types. Owen had to figure out a solution within this timeframe. Otherwise, if they encountered a Ghost-type in the tournament, Eevee would be defenseless.
Time flew by. Another half-month passed. No matter how hard or exhausting the training was, Owen and Eevee persevered.
However, at the same time, in Fairview City, the Disaster Warning Center of the Trainer Association Branch suddenly underwent a frantic change.
"Preliminary assessment: The Secret Realm scale is ultra-miniature."
"Predicted appearance location confirmed: South Nanwu Town, Coordinates..."
"Re-confirming... Issuing D-Class Disaster Alert."
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