The next day.
Owen sought out Uncle Sam to show off the results of Eevee's speed training—Double Team.
Yesterday, Sam hadn't been at the club, and Owen and Eevee had been bursting with a sense of achievement, having no one to brag to. Today was different.
"She's mastered Double Team?" Sam was somewhat surprised, then gave a nod of approval. "Sand Attack, Quick Attack, Double Team, and Bite.
With these four moves working together, the tactical options available to you are far more extensive."
"Exactly. This makes our run in the Young Ho-Oh Cup much more 'stable,'" Owen said confidently.
However... Eevee didn't quite see it that way.
She remembered the last time Owen had used the word "stable." What happened then? They were hunted by a Pidgeot until they were breathless.
Realizing her trainer was recklessly planting "death flags" again, Eevee, perched on Owen's shoulder, couldn't help but feel a wave of unease.
"Don't get overconfident. You and Eevee are hardworking, but if you want to climb to the higher peaks on the path of a trainer, hard work is merely the most basic requirement.
You have to realize that in a place like Shanghai, there are many clubs like Starry. Can you guarantee that others haven't hired even more professional private coaches?"
Sam paused, then continued: "Furthermore, Shanghai is home to several trainer dojos with long-standing traditions.
If you're unlucky enough to run into an apprentice who has studied there, you won't find it easy to gain the upper hand."
Owen's expression soured. Why is he dampening my spirits again? Can't Sam just say something I want to hear?
"Vee!" Eevee nodded along, seemingly in total agreement with Sam's cautionary words.
Sam laughed. "Haha, I'm just trying to scare you a bit. After all, the contestants in the Young Ho-Oh Cup are all rookie trainers just like you.
There's no need to be overly anxious; you'll make yourself sick. Keep training hard, and you won't be inferior to anyone else."
Owen and Eevee let out a sigh. After all that talk, it came back to the same old "chicken soup" for the soul.
However, what Sam didn't know was that besides the training tasks he had assigned, Owen and Eevee had prepared their own hidden trump cards:
The Ability: Anticipation.
The tactical application of Sand Attack: Counter Shield.
In half a month, as long as Eevee could master even one of these, her actual combat ability would see a massive leap.
The four Raticates at the Starry Battle Club were excellent teachers. On one hand, they allowed her to sense Dark-type energy; on the other, the grueling battles against them helped Eevee better adapt to her Ability.
It could be said she had already touched the threshold of the Anticipation Ability. Her knack for sensing danger—which used to be a passive instinct—was on the verge of becoming an active skill for predicting threats.
Owen had always believed that Eevee's Ability was incredibly powerful; he wondered why no one else had deeply explored it.
Now, Eevee was just one step away from mastering it. Once she did, her reaction speed would be significantly more agile.
To speed up the mastery of this Ability, Owen had already reached an agreement with Eevee: for the final week before the Young Ho-Oh Cup, they planned to try battling the Raticates without relying on sight—relying solely on her Ability to sense the attacks.
"Wait a moment."
Just as Owen and Eevee were about to head off for today's special training, Sam called him back.
As the manager of this club, he was busy every day. Naturally, he rarely supervised Owen and Eevee during their sessions, only providing resource assistance.
However, what surprised Sam was that Owen and Eevee possessed great self-discipline, lacking the typical restlessness of most teenagers. He could see this clearly through Eevee's rate of progress.
There weren't many rookie trainers Sam truly admired, but Owen was one of them. Therefore, Sam wanted to share a few extra things with Owen—not because of Ethan, but simply because he wanted to tell him.
"Do you know why I was always trying to knock you down a peg before?"
"To keep us from being too ambitious/unrealistic?" Owen said instinctively.
"That's exactly it. Rookies should have their feet on the ground. You've only just begun your journey as trainers.
I didn't want you to become arrogant over a few small achievements. Though I suppose you two aren't that type of people."
Owen and Eevee looked at each other. Actually, we are.
"Do you want to know how we 'old-timers' who have been trainers for many years classify the different stages of a trainer?" Sam asked.
There's a story here.
Owen and Eevee nodded rapidly.
"You are indeed standouts among your fellow rookies; I won't deny that. But the scope of 'rookie trainer' is very broad.
To put it simply, it refers to those newcomers who have been trainers for less than a year after registering their status. You know this, right?"
"Due to the country's new policies, the vast majority of rookie trainers are now rising high school seniors. These are your primary competitors, and your starting lines aren't that far apart."
"Next are the Ordinary Trainers who have raised Pokémon for a certain number of years. If you picked any one of them at random, their Pokémon's basic stats probably wouldn't be inferior to your Eevee's. This group is also the most numerous."
"Then there are the top students specially cultivated by major universities—the backbone of the trainer field.
For example, the members of our Provincial University's school team frequently represent the school in competitions across various cities.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them the Elite among trainers."
"Then there's a group of people who are close to becoming Professional Trainers but failed the professional assessment due to various factors. These are Senior Trainers."
"Some of these people are still struggling for their professional license, while others have given up entirely.
Most have integrated into various industries for their livelihood, serving as Forest Rangers, police officers, bodyguards, referees... or my previous profession: professional coaches who design training plans for other trainers in major battle clubs."
"Finally, there are the Professional Trainers. They fight on the front lines, enjoying the resources found within Secret Realms, but they must also fulfill the duty of guarding and pioneering those realms, protecting ordinary people from the disasters that spill out from them.
Do you know why Ethan couldn't teach you personally and entrusted you to me? Because every Professional Trainer is incredibly busy.
They are far from the glamorous image the public sees. Within the community of Professional Trainers, the mortality rate is very high."
"So, that's why I say you must keep your feet on the ground. The road ahead is still very long."
"It really is long..." Owen made mental notes.
Rookie, Ordinary, Elite, Senior, Professional.
These five stages of a trainer, as told by a veteran like Sam, felt far more substantial and vivid than the descriptions Owen had read on his own.
"Thanks, Uncle Sam. I understand what you mean. Eevee and I are going to train now."
"Alright, go on," Sam said.
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