Greatest Pokémon Trainer

The next day.

Fang Yuan found Uncle Shan and showed off Eevee's progress in speed training—the Shadow Clone technique.

Yesterday Uncle Shan wasn't at the club, so Fang Yuan and Eevee had no one to show off to, but today was different.

"You've mastered the Shadow Clone?"

"With Sand Splash, Quick Attack, Shadow Clone, and Bite, you'll have many more tactics at your disposal," Uncle Shan said.

"That's right, this way, the Little Phoenix King Cup seems much more secure," Fang Yuan said.

However... Eevee didn't think so.

What happened to them after Fang Yuan said "secure" last time?

They were chased by a Pidgeot...

Realizing Fang Yuan was recklessly jinxing them again, Eevee, lying on Fang Yuan's shoulder, couldn't help feeling uneasy.

"Don't be complacent, although you and Eevee have been working hard, if you want to reach higher peaks on the path of a Trainer, effort is just the most basic requirement. Do you know that in Magic City there are many places like the Starshine Battle Club? Can you guarantee that others haven't hired more professional private coaches?"

"Moreover, Magic City has several long-standing Trainer Dojos. If you're unlucky and come across an apprentice who has studied there, you're not going to benefit from it."

Fang Yuan's face turned bitter. Why does Uncle Shan always dampen his spirits? Couldn't he say something Fang Yuan liked to hear?

"Bwoo!" Eevee nodded, seemingly in agreement with Uncle Shan.

Uncle Shan said, "Haha, just scaring you. After all, the contestants of the Little Phoenix King Cup are new Trainers just like you, so you don't need to worry too much—don't get sick from anxiety."

"Keep training hard, and you won't be worse off than others."

Fang Yuan and Eevee sighed, having heard it all before—it still ended up being a pep talk...

However, what Uncle Shan didn't know was that aside from the training tasks he arranged for Fang Yuan and Eevee, they had also prepared their hidden trump card.

Ability, Dangerous Premonition.

The tactical skill of Sand Splash, Counter Shield.

In half a month, as long as Eevee could master one of them, its combat ability would greatly improve.

The four Rattata at the Starshine Battle Club were excellent teachers for Eevee, which not only allowed it to experience Dark Type Energy but also helped it become more accustomed to its ability through tough battles.

It could be said that Eevee was on the verge of mastering the Dangerous Premonition ability, shifting from passively sensing danger by instinct to actively predicting danger with a god-level skill.

Fang Yuan had always thought Eevee's ability was powerful; why had no one delved deeper into it?

Now, Eevee was only a step away from mastering this ability, and soon its response time would become even sharper.

So, to accelerate the mastery of the ability, Fang Yuan had already discussed with Eevee that in the final week before the Little Phoenix King Cup, they planned to try battling the Rattata without relying on sight, using only the ability instead.

...

"Wait a minute."

Just as Fang Yuan and Eevee were about to start today's special training, Uncle Shan called out to Fang Yuan.

As the person in charge of this club, he was busy every day.

Naturally, he had almost never supervised Fang Yuan and Eevee's training, only able to provide them with some resources to help. However, Uncle Shan was surprised to find that Fang Yuan and Eevee were very self-disciplined and seldom impatient—a trait common among the youth, which he could tell from the progress Eevee had made.

There weren't many new trainers whom he admired, but Fang Yuan was one of them.

So Uncle Shan wanted to talk to Fang Yuan about something extra, not concerning Yang Han's matters, but purely his own thoughts that he wanted to share with Fang Yuan.

"Do you know why I always seemed to be hard on you before?"

"You didn't want us to have unrealistic ambitions..." Fang Yuan said subconsciously.

"That's exactly the point. Newcomers should be down-to-earth. You guys are only just starting on the trainer's path. I just didn't want you to become arrogant because of minor achievements."

"However, I don't think that's the kind of people you are."

Fang Yuan and Eevee looked at each other; no, they were.

"Do you want to know how us old timers who have been trainers for many years categorize the stages of a trainer?" Uncle Shan asked.

Storytime.

Fang Yuan and Eevee nodded quickly.

"Among your peers of new trainers, you indeed stand out, and I won't deny that."

"But the range of new trainers is also broad, simply put, it includes those who have registered as trainers and have been in the role for less than a year, you should know this."

"Due to the new national policy, most new trainers are high school students, who are going to be seniors. Your main competitors are these people, and your starting lines are not too different from each other."

"Next, there are the ordinary trainers who have raised Pokemon for a certain number of years. Any one of them could be called forward, and their Pokemon's basic qualities probably wouldn't be worse than your Eevee. At the same time, this group of trainers is the largest."

"Then there are the highly talented individuals specially trained by major universities, and they are an important tier within the domain of trainers. For example, the members of our provincial university's team often represent the school in competitions across different cities. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them the elites among trainers."

"There's also a group of people who are close to becoming professional trainers but failed the professional assessment for various reasons."

"Some of them are still striving for a professional license, while others have given up completely. However, most have integrated into each industry in society to make a living—for example, rangers, police, bodyguards, referees... and my previous profession, being a professional coach at various battle clubs planning training for other trainers."

"Finally, there are the professional trainers. They fight on the front lines, enjoy resources from secret locations, but they also have the duty to protect civilians from disasters of secret locations, such as maintaining and pioneering these places. Do you know why Yang Han couldn't teach you personally and entrusted you to me instead? Because every professional trainer is busy and not as glamorous as ordinary people see. The death rate among professional trainers is very high."

"So, that's why I said you need to be down-to-earth. The future journey is still very long."

"Indeed, it is long…" Fang Yuan silently took notes in his heart.

New trainers, ordinary trainers, elite trainers, senior trainers, professional trainers...

The five stages of a trainer were eloquently explained by Uncle Shan, a seasoned individual, much more comprehensive and vivid than what Fang Yuan understood on his own.

"Thank you, Uncle Shan, I understand what you're saying. Then Eevee and I will go train now."

"All right, off you go," Uncle Shan said.