At noon, after the special training ended, Owen was already sitting in the Pokémon Center.
As expected... the session ended with Eevee exhausted and unable to move. The morning had truly pushed the little one to her limit.
"Number 18, Owen."
Hearing the announcement over the broadcast, Owen stood up to collect Eevee. The Pokémon Center was truly a magical place; seeing Eevee full of life again, Owen scooped her up.
Immediately, Eevee scurried up Owen's arm to her favorite spot on his shoulder. She extended a paw, attempting to unzip Owen's backpack.
"Not now."
"Vee..." Eevee's paw stopped, her mouth pouting.
"Don't be impatient. You can have it after lunch."
When they left the Starry Battle Club, Uncle Sam had given them their daily ration of the Sept-Corner Fruit (Nanab variant). Although Eevee didn't know how it would taste, it was food, and she was looking forward to it.
After lunch, it is.
Hearing Owen's decree, the little Eevee turned her anticipation toward lunch and began nudging Owen to hurry up.
"Must be nice..."
Watching the carefree Eevee, Owen sighed. He wished he had that mindset. Even after high-intensity training, Eevee could be perfectly happy as long as she had the cheapest snacks and some mindless anime to watch, quickly forgetting the day's troubles.
He, on the other hand, was under immense pressure preparing for the Young Ho-Oh Cup.
"Is it because I've been single too long? Was Dad right about that?" Carrying this doubt, Owen finished lunch and finally returned home with Eevee.
Since there were no more assignments at the Starry Battle Club today, the afternoon was theirs to schedule.
Although the morning had been grueling, time was money. As soon as Eevee finished her Sept-Corner Fruit, Owen pulled her aside for a talk.
Or rather, a "soul interrogation."
"Vee?"
Looking at the drawing Owen held up, Eevee's eyes widened in confusion. It was a piece of white paper with two Pokémon drawn in a... divine art style (meaning: terrible).
Eevee pointed a trembling paw at the creature on the bottom, asking if that was supposed to be her.
"Correct. The Pokémon on the ground is you, and the one in the sky represents all Flying-type Pokémon."
"I've been thinking. Once you learn Bite, combined with your speed and Ability, we won't have to fear Ghost-types.
But aside from that, have you noticed? If the opponent is a Flying-type, you'll be very passive because you lack long-range attacks."
Eevee nodded thoughtfully.
"Also, looking back at this morning's training, I've summarized another point: if the opponent is faster than you, you also lack a good counter-measure."
Eevee nodded again, starting to suspect Owen was picking on her.
The Inspiration of Physics
Owen took a deep breath. "So, to address these two problems, I believe it's necessary to undergo additional special training. It'll give us one more trump card and a better chance of winning."
"Vee~" Eevee barked, asking exactly what he had in mind.
"Actually, I got the inspiration while doing my homework..." Owen grabbed a physics workbook from the desk and flipped to the first page. It was a problem regarding centrifugal force.
Centrifugal force is an inertial force that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference, directed away from the axis of rotation. Simply put, it's an effect brought about by spinning.
It reminded Owen of a specific tactic from the anime.
Counter Shield (also known as the Countering Shield or Countering Coat).
This was a tactic developed by Ash Ketchum during the Diamond & Pearl series. It successfully stopped the hypnosis of Fantina's Ghost-types and became the key to Ash's victory. Even Fantina, a top Stylist and Gym Leader, praised the tactic and named it.
The Counter Shield can be used for both offense and defense simultaneously. Essentially, it's an application of rotation.
It uses the Pokémon spinning in place to disperse a move in every direction rather than focusing it on one point, covering a massive area and turning a damage-dealing move into a dual-purpose tool.
Ash's inspiration came from Dawn's Contest performances—simple displays that showed how a move could wrap a Pokémon's body without any blind spots.
Later, this tactic shone at the Lily of the Valley Conference and was even adopted by Ash's rival, Paul, and his companion, Brock.
It was one of the few genuine tactical innovations shown in the anime.
This technique might not be groundbreaking for masters, but for Owen and Eevee right now, it would be the perfect trump card.
"If you can master this technique, you'll have an excellent counter-measure against faster opponents or those flying in the air."
After Owen explained the principles of the Counter Shield, Eevee looked blank. What move should I use to do it? Surely not Quick Attack?
"Ideally, a projectile-type attack move is best. But you can't learn those flashy moves right now. I thought about Swift, but even if you could learn it in the short term, you likely wouldn't be proficient enough to use it this way..."
"Plus, you're busy learning Bite. Forget Swift. Let's give up on that."
"I think Sand Attack is perfect. You're already very skilled with it. While it doesn't do direct damage, it has a powerful disruptive effect.
Think back to the battle—Munchlax lost its rhythm entirely because of your sand, giving you an easy win."
"That disruption... combined with the inertial force given by rotation... it could be used for offense or defense. If used well, it's a brilliant counter-attack!"
"And the enemy would never expect Sand Attack to be used like this!"
The more Owen thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Eevee's control over Ground-type energy was decent, as evidenced by how quickly she learned Sand Attack.
However, there was a difficulty: Sand Attack is a status move, unlike Flamethrower or Thunderbolt, which are projectile attacks. Executing a Counter Shield with sand would require further brainstorming.
"Vee..."
As she listened, Eevee patted the ground with her tail and yawned. She didn't want to use her brain.
You just arrange it! I'll do the work!
"Then it's settled. Come on, let's go downstairs and try it out!" Owen said excitedly.
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