Greatest Pokémon Trainer

Evening.

Fang Yuan called Darkrai, and everyone gathered for a dinner.

Unfortunately, the feast of Shokugeki no Soma cuisine did not come with clothes-bursting abilities.

The dinner was to celebrate Darkrai joining the team and the process was very joyful.

Pokemon such as Eevee clinked their glasses filled with cola, Sprite, juice, milk, draft beer, boiling water, venom, and toasted with Darkrai— from now on, they were all in the same boat!

"Oh~~~"

(＿＿)ノ｜Darkrai, who had been fed eight or nine different drinks, leaned against the wall and nodded silently.

Now it felt somewhat nauseous, regretting if it was still possible.

After the evening feast.

Fang Yuan personally took Darkrai back to the Fossil Reserve.

Although he had tamed Darkrai, it definitely felt more at home in the Nightmare Cave of the Fossil Reserve than living at the research institute.

And there, Darkrai could observe the Fossil Pokemon better.

The reason Fang Yuan personally took it back was not because Darkrai was drunk, but because he had some things to explain alone.

"I've already spoken with Glutton and Dream, starting tomorrow morning you will practice spatial abilities with Glutton, and in the afternoon, you'll use the Time Flower provided by Dream to practice control over time within the Dreamland," Fang Yuan said.

"I will find time before my daily research to work with Rotom and guide you to correct your training content," he continued.

"Also, during the training periods, you'll need to stick to a specific diet plan to absorb nutrients, which I will prepare as soon as possible."

In one night, Fang Yuan nearly finished explaining the subsequent ability development content and training plans to Darkrai.

For Darkrai, there was no need to practice other flashy abilities.

It just needed to keep developing its Power of Dreams constantly to eventually step into the Legendary Realm.

Fang Yuan also wanted to cultivate a Legendary Darkrai that could clash with the Temporal and Spatial dragons!!!

"Okay, I've got it clear," Darkrai responded.

As it was the first time being guided by a human Trainer, Darkrai was also looking forward to it.

It was curious to see how its strength would progress after a period of time following Fang Yuan's training plan.

…

After returning Darkrai, Fang Yuan went back to the research institute.

It was already dark, and even Monferno had stopped training.

Although there was energy recharging from Victini and injury treatment from Milotic, Fang Yuan still insisted that Monferno and the others get plenty of sleep, as the fatigue of the spirit and soul was not so easy to fully recover.

The training during the day was intense, and it was absolutely okay to have a proper rest in the evening; combining work and rest was the best training method.

At this time, Eevee was still quite spirited.

Being a typical night owl, Fang Yuan sometimes wondered whether it would be more suitable for Eevee to evolve into a Moon Eevee.

Its red eyes also looked very cute.

Bathing in the moonlight, its body would glimmer with dazzling golden circled patterns, which was also quite cool.

"Practicing Substitute again?"

After entering the research institute, Fang Yuan found Eevee continuously practicing Substitute.

It wasn't practicing the kind where five bodies play games together, but Eevee kept making Substitutes, one after another, again and again.

Create, dispel, create, dispel, repeating this cycle.

On the sofa, an Eevee with brown, soft fur looked ahead with a serious expression.

Sometimes a palm-sized miniature Eevee would appear in front of it, sometimes a spherical-tail mutant Bwoo would appear.

The four Substitutes, constantly changing, one moment with emo hairstyles, the next with bangs, making Fang Yuan wonder in the middle of the night if it was thinking about switching professions to becoming a hairstylist.

"You're trying to remove the dominant Dream gene from the Substitutes, aren't you?" Fang Yuan asked.

"The goal is for the Substitutes to be able to evolve into different Eevee forms depending on external stimuli, like Evolutionary Stones," he deduced.

Fang Yuan took out a box with a Rainbow Feather that Fu Hei and the others had sent during the day, opened it, and looked inside without turning back, he spoke.

"Bwoo??!!"

The Eevee practicing on the sofa, hearing Fang Yuan's voice, looked up with disbelief in its big eyes.

How did Fang Yuan know!!!

To win the next Fang Yuan Championship and convince Fang Yuan to start an anime and game company, Eevee tried all means to get stronger, but in the end, after analysis, it was left with only the shortcut of Substitute evolution.

Although joining forces with evolved Substitutes was still not necessarily enough to defeat the Guardian God, there was no other option, right?

Compared to progressively training its basic qualities or the vague goal of mastering an Autonomous Z Move without Fang Yuan's help, Eevee felt the Substitute evolution technique was a bit more reliable.

Now, Fang Yuan casually mentioned the big secret technique it was preparing to train, making Eevee feel anxious.

Bwoo... perhaps this was a training plan that Fang Yuan had already discarded long ago?

"I raised you from an egg to this size, how could I not know what you're thinking," Fang Yuan said, looking at the miraculous feather emanating rainbow light, speechless.

Then, he reached out to touch the feather.

No change.

Good!

Fang Yuan is indeed a kind and incomparably just person!

"Bwoo bwoo!!" Having been seen through by Fang Yuan in a glance, Eevee hastily inquired.

So, what exactly is this training direction!!

"First, you develop Substitute, letting the Substitute carry an Evolutionary Stone as an item to evolve, then the main body and the four evolution forms attack together, thereby enhancing the combat strength of the Substitute Joint Fighting Technique. Is that what you're thinking?" Fang Yuan asked.

Eevee nodded obediently.

"Do you think this can defeat Darkrai, Monferno, and Armed Magnetic Monster?"

Eevee shook its head hesitantly.

Even though the strength of the Substitute has improved, the chances of it surpassing the main body are small; it's still weak.

Facing Darkrai, who masters group moves, and the Chimchar of Five Gates, which is so fast that even Future Sight can hardly capture its shadow correctly, it's easy to be broken one by one.

"Substitute evolution, huh."

"It's a good idea for improvement, but it needs a slight change," Fang Yuan said, closing the box again.

"Although I don't know if it can be successful, we can imagine more boldly."

Fang Yuan also hopes that Eevee can become strong quickly, so he offered his own suggestion.

Although Eevee can also become stronger by methodically training its basic qualities and its potential has not yet been dug out, isn't the existence of Trainers all about using various ingenious ideas to rapidly enhance Pokémon strength in a short time?

If one is always training basic qualities, what's the use of a Trainer?

A few years ago,

When Eevee could freely revert between Sun Form and normal form, Fang Yuan had pondered whether Eevee could evolve into other forms.

In the end, he concluded that unless Eevee's life level could evolve to surpass that of Mew, suppressing the Dream gene, the chances were not great.

However, the idea of eliminating the Dream gene from the Substitute is indeed interesting; Fang Yuan had thought about it back then.

But in the end, he still rejected it.

Because, with just the Partner and Sun Forms, Eevee couldn't train to the Species Limit, and many abilities could not be perfectly developed. Evolving into so many forms—and only being able to use them in Substitute state—was really useless, broad but not refined.

With Eevee's personality, it simply couldn't manage the training, similar to learning moves; it's not about having as many as possible, but about being as refined as possible.

Now, Eevee has come up with this training direction on its own, which reminded Fang Yuan of his original concept. Looking at it from his current perspective, Eevee's idea isn't wrong, but a joint attack with five forms is definitely not the ultimate essence of this training direction.

The ultimate essence of the Substitute evolution method should be Nourishing Oneself.

"Your Substitute is quite special, because it has been strengthened with Life Energy and Mental Energy, it's almost like another you, possessing the same life soul consciousness. You can personally experience their sensations," Fang Yuan explained.

"Bwoo!" Eevee nodded, that's right.

"Suppose, you can now create eight Substitutes, and they each evolve into eight evolutionary forms. Do you think the strength you can exert by commanding them in a battle with your mind split nine ways is stronger, or, if the power of these eight evolved Eevees all returned to you, relying on yourself alone with 100% focus, combining all abilities, is that the strength you can exert stronger?"

Eevee was stunned.

"Bwoo!!"

However, the Substitute power that had been split off could not be 100% merged back into the main body.

Whether it was through passing the baton, Helping Hand, or absorbing the Substitute's physical strength through Partner Skills, none could achieve a complete recovery of power.

"So in addition to developing Substitute, you also need to develop a move that can recall 200% of the Substitute's power!!"

"During evolution, each of your Substitute has undergone a life rank elevation and the direction of that elevation differs."

"Some have evolved forms with physical strength talents, some with power talents, some with speed talents, some with double defense talents; these are all changes brought about by life energy. Think about it, if after they evolve, your main body can also inherit the power boost they gain, how strong will you ultimately become?"

"The average Pokemon can only evolve 2 or 3 times, but you can undergo eight evolutions by sharing evolutionary power with your Substitutes, gaining eight chances to elevate your life rank."

"All the species advantages of the eight Eevee evolutionary forms will converge on the main body, reaching the species limit of Eevee should be a piece of cake."

"I shall name it the 'Return to Elementary Education Method,' which shares a clever connection with the 'Nine-color Sublimation Gather Top' move. It can also be understood as 'Autonomous Nine-color Sublimation Gather Top.' The normal 'Nine-color Sublimation Gather Top' relies on the power of the eight evolutionary forms to strengthen oneself, while 'Return to Elementary Education Method' is about experiencing the essence of life rank elevation in each evolutionary form through your Substitutes, and then using life power to fully claim the evolved power for the main body."

"This is a more advanced use of life energy, it can also be named 'Gratitude 6.0!!'"

After Fang Yuan shared his conjectured training system with Eevee, Eevee's expression grew increasingly excited.

Indeed.

If its main body could absorb all the power of the life rank elevated Substitutes, then with every evolution of a Substitute into a new form, its main body's qualities should be reinforced each time, gaining optimization in different respects.

With all qualities enhanced six or seven times, reaching the species limit would definitely be effortless.

Initially, as it evolved into Sun Eevee, its Eevee form's mental power was greatly enhanced.

If the Substitute evolved into Leaf Eevee or Fairy Eevee, and the optimized species abilities could all return to the main body, then according to their naturally tough species traits, maybe the main body's dual defense against attacks could be greatly increased.

If the Substitute evolved into Lei Yibu, when absorbed back, the main body would gain lightning-fast movement speed; if the Substitute evolved into Flareon, when absorbed back, the main body would gain a tremendous physical strength...

Eevee's eyes gleamed brighter and brighter.

If it could be successful, it would be much more reliable than mastering an Autonomous Z Move as Dream mentioned.

But the question was, how to perfectly absorb their power back??

Fang Yuan: "Take your time to think about it, and if it doesn't work out, go find the Island Protectors to develop the normal 'Nine-color Sublimation Gather Top,' and perform your autonomous 'Nine-color Sublimation Gather Top.'"

"Others utilize the power of different individuals' evolutionary forms, but you will have the main body inherit the Substitute's evolutionary form's power. This is the core of 'Return to Elementary Education Method,' 'Autonomous Nine-color Sublimation Gather Top.'"

Eevee: "Magnemite!"

"All abilities converge in me? Sounds like the makings of a great emperor." Just then, Luo Kuo, who didn't know where he had popped up from, muttered this while Fang Yuan and Eevee were spontaneously creating their "training method."

Fang Yuan, Eevee: …

How come you're everywhere!