At that moment, Leo sighed as he recalled his Munchlax into its Poké Ball.
Owen followed suit and called Eevee back to his side. Aside from being a little winded, she hadn't sustained any injuries.
Against an opponent with far inferior speed and almost no formal training, if Eevee had gotten hurt, the last three weeks of special training would have been a waste.
"Owen... Owen..."
Across from him, the chubby Leo kept muttering Owen's name as if something had finally clicked in his brain.
Facing this peer who had defeated him so easily, he felt a bit dejected, but he had to admit that he and Munchlax were indeed a step behind.
"Did you say your name was Owen?"
"Yeah. Why?" Owen asked, puzzled.
"Crap! Owen? The 'Ruthless One' from Class 12?" Leo finally remembered.
A Secret Realm had appeared in South Nanwu Town. A student from Fairview High had been trapped inside and managed to survive for several hours until rescue arrived. The name circulating online was Owen.
Of course, Leo had seen all of this on his social feed.
"You're that unlucky ghost who accidentally wandered into the Secret Realm?"
Owen's mouth twitched. Am I that famous already?
"I am indeed that unlucky ghost."
"Vee~" Eevee snickered under her breath.
"It really is you! Fine, a loss is a loss." Leo suddenly felt much better. What was a win or loss compared to someone who could survive a Secret Realm?
In the eyes of the general public, Secret Realms were synonymous with danger and casualties. Owen was considered incredibly lucky to have encountered a low-hazard realm; otherwise, he wouldn't be standing here.
Just last month, a rift appeared in the Westwind Canyon. The carnivorous ancient Pokémon there were nothing like Rattata or Spearow.
The "Overlord" of that realm, an Aerodactyl, had reportedly chased four Professional Trainers across the canyon! Owen had seen those news reports, too.
Just then, Mr. Sam and Leo's father walked down from the stands. Hearing the exchange, Leo's father was also surprised. He knew about the South Nanwu Town incident but hadn't expected Owen to be the survivor.
In contrast, Sam remained calm; he already knew most of the details from Ethan.
Approaching them, Sam clapped his hands. "A truly splendid battle. It's hard to believe this was a match between two rookies."
"Indeed." Leo's father wore a kind smile toward Owen, but then his expression turned stern as he looked at Leo. "Leo, look at him, then look at yourself. If you don't start working harder, don't blame me for disowning you!"
Cough...
Owen's expression turned odd. Had he just become "someone else's child"—the dreaded standard of perfection parents use to nag their kids?
The feeling... was actually quite nice.
"This..." Seeing Owen's smug smile, Leo shrugged. Fine. Having lost the battle, he didn't have the confidence to talk back.
"Let's end it here for today. I have matters to attend to. Leo, we're going home," Leo's father said, hiding a secret smile. He had already thought of a way to "cure" his son's laziness.
"I know, I know," Leo muttered.
The New Path
Leo and his father didn't stay long. Once they were gone, Sam turned his attention back to Owen.
"Let's reintroduce ourselves. I'm Sam, the manager of the Fairview branch of Starry Battle Club. You can call me Uncle Sam."
"Uncle Sam," Owen said.
"Vee!" the Eevee on his shoulder added her own greeting.
Sam smiled. "Your performance was excellent. I'll give you a contract to look over in a bit."
Owen's heart leaped. Time to get paid.
"Now that the business talk is out of the way, let's talk about the main event," Sam said. "Ethan told me everything.
You're aiming for the Young Ho-Oh Cup, right? From that battle, I can see you've put a lot of heart into training Eevee. It's very comprehensive. Among this year's rookies in Fairview, you're likely at the very front of the pack."
Owen felt a sense of kinship. Only he and Eevee knew how hard they had worked during their special training.
"Ethan asked me to help patch up your weaknesses. I think I know what to do. Do you and Eevee have any way to deal with Ghost-types yet?" Sam asked.
"None," Owen shook his head. "I was thinking of buying a prop for Eevee to chew on to see if she could learn Bite... but someone told me that was useless."
"Of course it's useless," Sam said. "Bite involves the application of Dark-type energy.
Teeth are just the medium. Even if your teeth are sharp, you'll never learn Bite without understanding how to channel that energy.
Furthermore, Dark-type energy is relatively scarce in the natural environment. Learning it isn't easy. However, the strength of a Normal-type like Eevee lies in her adaptability. With the right method, she should master it in a short time."
"What about... Shadow Ball?" Owen asked greedily.
In the games, Bite was learned through leveling up, while Shadow Ball required a TM. The difference in difficulty was obvious.
"Shadow Ball..." Sam laughed. "Don't even think about it. I don't have a manual for that, and even for someone like Ethan, getting one would cost a fortune. Remember: manuals for Psychic, Ghost, and Dragon-type moves are the rarest. Trainers are rarely willing to share them."
"Of course, if you have the talent, you could create your own manual. Once you can do that, you're one step closer to becoming a Professional Trainer."
Owen: "..."
Rule 2 of the Ten Professional Trainer Commandments: A Professional Trainer must possess a minimum level of training insight—specifically, the ability to create their own high-level move manual. Owen knew this, but for now, it was just a dream.
"Enough digression. As you can see, I will be your private coach. Since this is a personal favor for Ethan, I didn't want to outsource it. During this time, I will teach your Eevee how to use Bite for free."
"Additionally, I heard Eevee was lucky enough to eat some Salac Berries. The effects haven't been tapped into yet, have they? I'll help you with that as well."
"As for anything else... We'll see as we go."
Owen nodded, and Eevee followed suit. It looked like after their time at Starry Battle Club, they'd finally have an answer for Ghost-types.
However, Owen felt that wasn't enough. Eevee's basic stats were up to par, and her move coverage was about to be fixed, but if they wanted a true advantage... they needed to keep training her Ability.
Should he consider... giving Eevee one more "trump card" during this time? He already had an idea brewing.
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