Before this, Qingyu had never quite understood where Eevee's "timid" personality was supposed to show itself.
Because he honestly couldn't feel that Eevee was timid at all.
From the fact that it could travel alone to other regions and interact with complete strangers, there was clearly no trace of social anxiety.
It wasn't until now—when he noticed Eevee trembling at the sight of two Pokémon battling on the screen—that Qingyu finally understood its nature.
So its timidity was expressed as fear of battles…?
Qingyu couldn't help but sigh.
This was really troublesome. A Pokémon without the courage to battle was hard to deal with.
If Pokémon abilities and personality combinations in the real world had compatibility ratings, then Timid + Anticipation would definitely score very low.
Because Pokémon with this combination would most likely start avoiding battles from a very young age, making them unsuitable as main combatants.
Of course, this wasn't Eevee's fault.
There was no such thing as a perfect Pokémon. Figuring out how to bring out a Pokémon's full potential was the trainer's responsibility.
Otherwise, wouldn't he just be a trainer who ate for free?
"Don't be nervous. It's fine even if you can't learn it."
Qingyu gently patted the little one in his arms, which looked somewhat frustrated, encouraging it with both his tone and his gaze.
When he himself had been lost and down in the dumps, Eevee had never once complained. Instead, it often did whatever it could to comfort him.
He really liked this Eevee. In fact, he felt that being able to have such a considerate Eevee as his starter Pokémon was truly his good fortune.
So if Eevee truly had no desire to battle, he definitely wouldn't force it.
After all, companions should respect each other and accept one another's flaws.
It was just that, in that case, for Sunlight Gym to continue operating, he might have to look for one or two Pokémon that could serve as main fighters.
If possible, he still felt it would be better to focus on training his own starter Pokémon.
Thinking of this, Qingyu let out a soft sigh.
The Eevee in his arms seemed to sense something, lifting its head and noticing the tightly furrowed brows of its trainer.
"Eevee?! Σ(;ﾟдﾟ)"
Perhaps because of its Anticipation ability, its sixth sense activated instantly, and an inexplicable sense of danger suddenly arose.
Although it didn't know what exactly was wrong, it felt like its trainer was thinking about something very outrageous!
You're not thinking about raising other Pokémon, are you?
You can't—absolutely not!
After a thorough bout of mental preparation, Eevee finally gathered its courage. Supporting itself with its hind legs, it stood up on Qingyu's lap and proactively reached out with its little paw to smooth the corner of Qingyu's eyes.
Eevee couldn't speak human language, but its body language was very easy to understand.
For the sake of its trainer, it was willing to try!
Feeling the warm body heat coming from the soft little bundle of fur, Qingyu smiled indulgently and gently set it down.
Sure enough, there really was a bond between him and Eevee.
"Then let's try one more time, Eevee."
"Eevee!"
Eevee's eyes filled with determination as it stared straight at the Gengar on the screen that was demonstrating the move.
So that's how it works. As long as you concentrate the Ghost-type energy in your body, you can form a light that interferes with the opponent's consciousness.
But…
I don't seem to have any Ghost-type energy, do I?
Eevee slowly tilted its head, a question mark forming above it. After imitating Gengar's movements several times, it still couldn't use the move.
Next, it tried Snarl and Skill Swap as well, but the result was the same.
"Eevee…"
The high spirits it had mustered quickly deflated, its round little head drooping in frustration.
Seeing this, Qingyu couldn't help but start thinking.
Had he gotten something wrong?
According to the move list in his memory, Eevee indeed shouldn't be able to learn any of these moves under normal circumstances.
But that was precisely why he had deliberately chosen them.
Because theoretically speaking, an Eevee that had mastered Sketch should be able to replicate the vast majority of moves.
Wait…
Sketch?!
He vaguely felt like he'd grasped the key point.
If Sketch was viewed simply as Eevee's hobby, rather than as a move…
Could that produce some subtle chemical reaction?
"Let's try again, Eevee. This time, try using your tail to draw the move you see."
"Believe in yourself—you're the best Pokémon!"
Encouraged by Qingyu, Eevee quickly reignited its fighting spirit, its fluffy tail dancing through the air.
This time, the move tutorial playing on the TM was Encore.
Encore was a Normal-type move and was inherently quite compatible with Eevee.
This time, Eevee watched extremely carefully, observing every single movement of the Primarina demonstrating the move, frame by frame, while also keeping Qingyu's guidance firmly in mind.
Not learning the move—but drawing it with its tail like Smeargle it had once seen in a gallery?
If it were a Smeargle master, what would it do?
"Eevee…"
Eevee's gaze stayed locked on the screen, its tail occasionally tracing a stroke through the air, as if it had already entered a state of complete focus.
Seeing this, Qingyu sat quietly to the side, silently accompanying it as they replayed the few-minute-long tutorial over and over.
Time slowly passed.
Just as Qingyu's focus began to waver and drowsiness started to creep in—
A subtle sensation suddenly arose within Eevee.
The trainer said I'm the best Pokémon.
I can feel it. The trainer truly believes that.
So, in order not to let the trainer down, I have to try even harder!
As Eevee thought this, an indescribable emotion surged up from deep within, causing its tail to move instinctively along with its thoughts.
In that instant, Eevee felt as if it could do anything.
"Eevee!"
One stroke. One line.
The tip of its fluffy, heart-shaped tail traced graceful symbols in the air. As the final stroke fell, a point of white energy formed in midair and slowly shot in the direction of Eevee's gaze.
Finally, it collided with the wall of the gym's training arena and vanished.
Seeing this, Qingyu couldn't help but smile in relief.
Just as he had guessed, an Eevee that had learned Sketch really could learn moves it normally couldn't.
Encore was just the beginning, but it was already a very practical move.
Encore—a Normal-type status move that forces the opponent it hits to repeatedly use the last move they used.
It held extremely important tactical value in real battles.
"That's amazing. As expected of you, Eevee."
With a smile on his lips, Qingyu wrapped his hands around Eevee and lifted it high into the air.
This was the very first move Eevee had learned under his guidance—highly commemorative indeed.
The sense of ceremony absolutely had to be there!
"Eevee~"
Hehe, so I really am the best!
Enjoying being lifted high by its trainer, and basking in Qingyu's repeated praise, Eevee gradually lost itself, its eyes growing dazed.
To live up to its trainer's expectations, it had to work even harder!
…
Evening.
Perhaps Qingyu's motivational "chicken soup" had been poured a bit too forcefully.
Even after dinner, Eevee was still completely absorbed in studying, repeatedly watching the tutorial videos for the other three moves.
At first, he'd thought it was a poor student. With just a little guidance, it had directly transformed into an overachieving grind king.
Could it be that I'm actually a master motivator?
"If you get tired, go back to your room and rest, okay!"
"Eevee!"
Seeing how serious Eevee was, Qingyu didn't interrupt its enthusiasm.
It was almost time for his stream to start.
After nearly a whole day of buildup, just a single video had already pushed his subscriber count past twenty thousand, with views naturally entering the million range.
"At a time like this, I really should strike while the iron is hot and maintain this momentum as much as possible, right?"
With that thought, Qingyu decisively opened his livestream.
He had already announced today's stream time and content in advance, so the moment he went live, quite a few viewers flooded in.
"Hello, everyone. I'm sure many of you are new friends who came over from the video."
"So, just like I previewed in the video—"
"Today, we're going to give our opponents a little Spikes-levelshock!"
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for Advance Chapter