Greatest Pokémon Trainer

Fang Yuan considered his food options, but that was all for now.

He knew his expenses had increased recently, but the newborn phase for Pokemon was crucial, and proper nutrition was essential.

Only then could Eevee grow up healthy and strong.

After dawdling for a while, Fang Yuan set aside the menu and pulled out his summer homework.

Five years of college entrance exams, three years of mock tests.

Even though he was a Trainer, Trainers still had to do homework.

The subjects of the college entrance exam—language, math, and foreign languages—as well as physics, chemistry, and biology were inescapable; it's just that on top of these, students at key high schools had an additional written exam on Pokemon knowledge and a combat subject to deal with.

Not all Trainers would have a smooth journey, supporting themselves solely through Pokemon battles.

Many lacked the talent for battling, and for them, this identity might become a financial burden instead of a boon, leading most to switch careers after graduating from college.

Nevertheless, being a Trainer came with its own advantages, which stemmed from their Pokemon partners.

Jugglers... Magician... Workers... Journalists... Actors... Nurses... Doctors... Researchers... Firefighters, and many others—this advantage applied to various fields.

Just picture it—a fire breaks out. What's faster at extinguishing the blaze, various fire-retardant chemicals or the capabilities of a Water-type Spirit?

Most importantly, a qualified firefighter with a Water-type Spirit could directly enter a fire scene and rescue victims more quickly.

In the rescue process, moves like Sand Splash and Fire Pull could also be useful; or take for example...

Doctors, the ones who treat people—if they have a Pokemon capable of hypnotism and precise use of Superpower as their partner, they can undoubtedly provide better counseling to patients or perform surgeries more perfectly.

These individuals still need knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology, and even math.

Although Fang Yuan aspired to be a more pure Trainer, he understood that these were unavoidable.

Even with the state's recent policies favoring Trainers, there was no reason to abandon traditional subjects as talent in other fields was equally important.

What pleased Fang Yuan, however, was that he felt he could score high on the written exam about Pokemon knowledge without much study.

That was much simpler than the exams for Breeders.

Identify Pokemon from pictures.

Match moves with their Pokemon.

Write from memory about attribute weaknesses and resistances.

As well as some legal analysis questions concerning Trainers and Pokemon.

If he couldn't score high on these, he might as well bash his head in.

...

Come noon, since Eevee was still sleeping, Fang Yuan ordered takeout for himself.

He didn't rush to tell his parents, who were at work, about Eevee's birth, planning to surprise them that evening.

But the foolish Fang Yuan had forgotten that he was friends with them on social media. As soon as he shared a screenshot of Little Eevee sleeping on his feed, they found out.

Father Fang: Has it hatched? Have you fed it yet?

Reply to Father Fang: Fed, fed.

Mother Fang: It's as cute as you were when you were little. It's like having another son.

Reply to Mother Fang: ???

I'll just take that as a compliment to me.

But, Little Eevee seems to be female.

At the same time, class 12 of Grade 11's group chat was particularly lively—or, rather, it had been abuzz with messages since the day before.

Whenever a classmate's Spirit egg hatched, a bunch would start chatting, flooding the group with half a day's worth of messages.

Right after Fang Yuan finished eating and shared a photo of Eevee, the group chat exploded.

Someone said, "Holy cow, that's too cute, hope my Mankey can be this adorable."

"Dream on, you know full well how fierce Mankey looks, don't you?" was the immediate mocking response.

"I take issue with that. Let's have a battle when my Mankey hatches."

"Sure, as if my Incense Poliwag is afraid of your Mankey..."

These jokers... banter is what keeps you guys happy.

Fang Yuan lurked for a while, only begrudgingly popping up after many had @'ed him.

"All right, I know my Eevee is very cute, no need to be too envious. After school starts, I can let you girls hold Eevee, but that's only for girls."

Typed it out, sent!

The next moment, the chat group fell silent.

Then came the onslaught of "shameless" and "despicable" filling the screen.

But there were other words as well.

Lin Jing: "Really? It's a promise then."

Wang Xueying: "That's awesome."

Zhang Jiale: "Cool gesture."

Li Mu: "Kind of looking forward to it."

Wang Xueying: "Damn, Li Mu, you're a guy, what are you looking forward to?"

Surrounding the topic of Little Eevee, the chat group talked for about an hour before other topics began to surface.

Suddenly the class leader said, "Has everyone downloaded the Pocket Monster Illustrated Handbook APP yet?"

"Why does it always freeze on me, stupid XX."

The Pocket Monster Illustrated Handbook APP is a mobile application that allows trainers to scan Pokemon with the app's camera to gain partial information about them. It's an essential tool for new trainers.

Huh...

If the class leader hadn't mentioned it, Fang Yuan would have nearly forgotten about it, although he felt he might not need it.

"Blaming the phone outright instead of the software shows how dissatisfied you've been with it for a long time..." Fang Yuan typed a line, then added, "After Eevee wakes up, I'll take it to the Spirit Center to activate my Trainer ID. The APP requires the Trainer ID to log in, right?"

"Right... Whoa, no more talking, my phone is burning up; I'm off to look at new phones."

Fang Yuan: "..."

"Go ahead," Fang Yuan replied without much enthusiasm.

Suddenly...

Just then, Fang Yuan thought he heard a strange noise and turned his head to look. It was Little Eevee on the bed, slowly waking up.

It was groggy and struggling to open its eyes but still seemed half asleep as it rolled around the bed, inadvertently unraveling its entire silk scarf.

"Bwoo..."

Little Eevee didn't seem to understand the situation until it felt something missing from its body, then suddenly woke up with a confused jump and started looking around: Σ(°△°|||)︴

Click...

Fang Yuan quickly captured the moment with his phone.

"Bwoo!"

The sound of the phone taking a picture also served as a reminder for Eevee to accurately locate Fang Yuan's position. Seeing Fang Yuan, Little Eevee happily ran over without a word and leaped into his embrace.

"How was your sleep?" Fang Yuan tapped Little Eevee's forehead with a finger.

My silly, endearing Little Eevee...

"Bwoo bwoo~" Eevee nodded energetically.

And then...

Its stomach rumbled.

Fang Yuan laughed, not surprised. As a newborn, its digestion was really quick. He remembered feeling full for a good while after drinking a whole can of milk.

"Climb over here," Fang Yuan pointed to his shoulder, "I'm going to get you some milk. After you're done, I'll take you out for a walk."

Little Eevee obediently climbed onto Fang Yuan's shoulder in a pose reminiscent of Xiaozhi and Pikachu in the animation.

Feeling the warmth on his neck, Fang Yuan hummed with contentment.

Quite comfortable...

It wasn't as tiring as he had imagined.

So, Fang Yuan decided, unless necessary, he planned to keep Eevee with him rather than inside a Poké Ball.

"Ah, almost forgot... After activating the Trainer ID I have to buy a Poké Ball for Eevee as well."

Fang Yuan suddenly remembered that he could legally purchase Poké Balls after activating his Trainer ID. After buying a Poké Ball, he would need to link the Poké Ball information with Eevee at the Spirit Center.

Linking it to Fang Yuan's Trainer ID and binding it with the Poké Ball information was equivalent to creating an identity card for Little Eevee.