Greatest Pokémon Trainer

"You're going to stay at our hometown?"

That night, after Father Fang and Mother Fang got back home, Fang Yuan told them about his intention.

"That's good, your grandparents must be missing you too, and with them cooking for you, you won't have to order takeout every day, which isn't healthy. Home-cooked food is much cleaner," Mother Fang said.

"Yes," Fang Yuan agreed, although he still found the idea overwhelming.

Fang Yuan only moved from the countryside to the city when he was in elementary school, having spent his childhood in Nanwu Town, just south of Pingcheng, so he was very familiar with the area.

He remembered there was a forest in his hometown where the trees grew extremely close together and were incredibly sturdy, probably because the area had merged with a secret location in history which made the density of the trees much higher than those in any other forests he remembered.

This was the place that Fang Yuan had carefully selected for the special training of his Eevee.

Father Fang and Mother Fang were happy to see Fang Yuan take the initiative to go live in their hometown, and the next day, Fang Yuan called his grandparents to tell them the news.

Nanwu Town wasn't far from Pingcheng; it was just an hour's drive away, but Fang Yuan and his Eevee decided to take the bus, which took a little longer, about the length of a movie.

Nanwu Town, one of the six towns under Pingcheng, started urbanizing last year, but it wasn't completed due to various restrictions and the process was soon announced to be discontinued after a short duration.

In the house at his hometown, his grandparents had already cleared out a room for him and Little Eevee; although it was a bit spartan, it was the place where Fang Yuan grew up, so he found it quite homely.

More importantly, it lacked nothing essential, with Internet and air conditioning available, hardly any different from the city. After having a meal with his grandparents, Fang Yuan set to work assembling the laptop he had brought from the city. As for the living supplies for both himself and Eevee, as well as Eevee's food and supplements, because there was too much to carry, he would have to make another trip to fetch them later.

Therefore, Fang Yuan planned to start the special training with Eevee from tomorrow.

In the countryside, the elderly tend to wake up early; however, Fang Yuan expressed that he and Eevee had the determination to train hard, so they woke up even earlier. The next morning, the entire Nanwu Town was still very quiet when they got up.

"Gurgle..."

Standing sleepily at the sink brushing his teeth, Fang Yuan wasn't fully awake yet, but the Eevee on the washing machine not far from him was chirping repeatedly, urging Fang Yuan to hurry up.

"It probably thinks that 'special training' is as easy as the 'watching movies', 'going to amusement parks', or 'building sand castles' we did before."

Even though Fang Yuan's eyes were still half-closed, his mind was alert, aware that Eevee was facing another difficult issue.

Persistence.

Even for himself, he had many experiences where he planned the coming period perfectly and envisioned it beautifully, but behind those beautiful goals, the effort required was something most people couldn't stick to...

"What to do... How can I make Eevee willingly persist? I wonder how much the hobbies I've developed for it recently will help," Fang Yuan wondered silently.

Black Forest.

A yet-to-be-developed forest not far from Nanwu Town, named for its dark and shadowy environment. The forest was often used by the townspeople to scare children, with threats of being thrown in to feed the bugs if they didn't behave.

Recently, there were plans to construct high-rise buildings there, part of a major project, and the forest was said to no longer house any Pokemon. Outside the forest was a vast open space, which Fang Yuan thought was a very good training ground. Perhaps because it was the countryside, such a good place was surprisingly devoid of any Trainer training their Pokemon, which made it very quiet.

"That makes sense, compared to this kind of remote and quiet spot, most people would probably prefer bustling places like public training fields or gyms for training," he thought.

Besides that, the fact that the area might be felled could also be a factor, but as the construction crew had not yet begun work, Fang Yuan didn't mind using the place for now.

He would use it for as long as he could.

"No wonder nobody wants to come here, the atmosphere really is oppressive," he remarked.

"Bwoo..." Sitting on Fang Yuan's shoulder, Little Eevee started to panic. The forest looked gloomy and ominous, obviously not a safe place...

"Don't worry, I scouted the area while you were resting. There won't be any danger," Fang Yuan, who had a bolder heart, took the time to scout the perimeter even though it looked sinister. Sure enough, just like the rumors, no living creatures inhabited the place any longer.

To facilitate the upcoming pioneering work, the trees inside the forest had been treated with insect repellent, so naturally Bug Type Pokemon couldn't inhabit this place. Without Bug Type Pokemon, Flying-type Pokemon naturally wouldn't come to such a desolate place either.

Moreover, Pokemon allowed by the Trainer Association to live in human habitats have virtually no aggressiveness left.

So before the official work began, Fang Yuan took advantage of it, wanting to use these trees to train Eevee's physical qualities.

Fortunately, the place isn't far from the Spirit Center in Nanwu Town. Nanwu Town doesn't have a Trainer Association branch, but it does have a Spirit Center, albeit far less equipped than those in the cities, whether in terms of equipment or function...

In terms of medical care, it's akin to a small clinic, capable of treating simple colds, wounds, tiredness, and such for the Pokemon.

But these were enough for Fang Yuan and Eevee.

In the dense thickets of Black Forest, the close-packed tree trunks were the reason Fang Yuan chose it. Only such densely packed trees could better train Eevee.

This special training was named by Fang Yuan as the Stump Training Method, simple and brutal, it's all about having Eevee sprint back and forth at its fastest speed.

First, it trains explosive power.

Second, it trains endurance for extended periods.

Third, it trains movement speed and reaction time.

Fourth, it trains the ability to coordinate the body, as the complex dense tree trunks are great obstacles.

Fifth, it trains body strength. As long as the speed is fast enough, crashing into trees is inevitable, and the impact of the reactionary force can also temper Eevee's will.

Fang Yuan had already explained the details of the training to Eevee before coming. Eevee looked down on the idea of "back and forth sprint training."

The little guy didn't see it as a challenge at all.

After Fang Yuan drew a line, the little guy strutted proudly to the line to get ready. In the dense forest, Fang Yuan had tied a red line at a boundary, and reaching the red line meant Eevee could return. The whole course was about 400 meters. Fang Yuan planned to gradually increase the distance.

With a worn watch he had found somewhere, Fang Yuan put it to use quite formally. At his command to start, Eevee dashed out vigorously.

But...

When it neared the dense tree trunks, Fang Yuan could distinctly feel the little guy hesitate. Not wanting to crash into the trees, it instinctively slowed down to give itself enough time to judge before entering the woods. Once inside, its speed dropped even more... In this forest where the trees were closely spaced, speeding up would inevitably lead to Eevee hitting the trees given its size, and this was the ideal training spot Fang Yuan had painstakingly considered. Used well, it wouldn't be less effective than professional training gym equipment.

After all, it could simultaneously train multiple basic qualities.

"This little guy..." When Eevee returned from the total distance of 400 meters, considering the time it took to avoid the complex obstacles, it took a total of 133 seconds, over two minutes and thirteen seconds.

"Not up to standard," Fang Yuan said helplessly as Eevee came back still shaken from the experience.

"This is still without using any moves. If you can't maintain full speed throughout the course, you won't be able to control the speed of Quick Attack later on. Rest for a minute, and we'll do it again. This time I'll follow you and keep an eye on you."

Fang Yuan wasn't in too much of a hurry and planned to let Eevee get used to a few laps first, to train its endurance a bit more.

However, the ultimate goal of this training method wasn't just to build endurance...