"You're moving back to the old house?"
At night, after Yun's parents returned home, he told them about his plans.
"That's fine. Your grandparents must miss you too. With them cooking for you, you won't have to rely on takeout every day. That stuff's unhealthy, nothing like home-cooked meals," his mother said.
"Yes." Yun knew she was right, but still felt a bit of a headache over it.
Yun only moved to the city during elementary school; his childhood was spent in Nanwu Town, a rural area under Ping City. He was very familiar with that place.
He remembered a forest back in his hometown. The trees there grew very densely and were incredibly sturdy—perhaps due to a mysterious realm once merging with this place. The forest was far denser than any he could recall.
This was the very place Yun had carefully chosen for Eevee's special training.
Yun took the initiative to return home, and his parents were happy to see it. The next day, he called his grandparents and told them about it.
Nanwu Town wasn't far from Ping City—just an hour's drive. Yun and Eevee chose to take the bus. It took a bit longer, but no more than the length of a movie.
Nanwu Town, one of six towns under Ping City, began urbanization last year. However, the process was quickly halted due to various limitations.
At his old home, Yun's grandparents had already cleared a room for him and Eevee. Though a bit simple, it was a place he'd grown up in—it still felt very familiar and warm.
And most importantly, it lacked nothing: internet, air conditioning—basically no different from the city. After having a meal with his grandparents, Yun started setting up his laptop that he brought from the city. As for the rest of their living essentials and Eevee's food and supplements—there were too many heavy items to bring all at once, so he planned to return for them later.
Thus, starting tomorrow, Yun planned to begin special training with Eevee.
In rural areas, the elderly tend to wake early. But Yun had made up his mind: he and Eevee were determined to train hard—so they woke even earlier. By the time they got up, Nanwu Town was still silent.
"Gurururu…"
Still a little drowsy and brushing his teeth at the sink with half-shut eyes, Yun heard Eevee—perched on the washing machine—calling out repeatedly, urging him to hurry up.
"It probably thinks 'special training' is just as fun as 'watching movies,' 'going to amusement parks,' or 'building sandcastles,'" Yun thought.
Though still squinting, his mind was fully awake. He knew Eevee was facing a tough challenge.
Perseverance.
Even he had made many beautifully laid-out plans for the future, only to find them hard to stick to. Behind those wonderful goals was a level of effort most people couldn't sustain…
"How can I make Eevee willingly stick with it… I wonder how much the hobbies I helped it develop recently will help?" Yun wondered.
Blackwood Forest.
Not far from Nanwu Town was a still-undeveloped forest, nicknamed for its dark and eerie environment. Adults often used it to scare kids—"Keep misbehaving and we'll throw you in Blackwood Forest to feed the bugs."
Recently, there had been plans to build tall buildings here, for a large-scale development. Wild Pokémon had long since disappeared from the area. Just outside the forest was a large open space—Yun thought it was a perfect training ground. Perhaps because it was rural, no other trainers had come to train their Pokémon here. It was very peaceful.
"Yeah, most people probably prefer lively public training grounds or official training centers."
Besides, maybe no one came here because the forest was marked for deforestation. But since construction hadn't started yet, Yun didn't mind using it while he could.
"No wonder no one wants to come. This place is really oppressive."
"Eevee…" Sitting on Yun's shoulder, the little Eevee began to panic. The forest looked gloomy and dangerous—definitely not a safe place…
"It's fine. I already scouted it while you were sleeping—there's nothing dangerous," Yun said confidently. Even though it was creepy, he had already walked through the outer area thoroughly. Just as rumors said, there were no creatures left.
To prepare for the upcoming development, pesticide had already been sprayed throughout the forest, driving away all Bug-type Pokémon. Without bugs, Flying-types also wouldn't stay in such a barren place.
Moreover, wild Pokémon permitted to live in human zones had almost no aggression.
So before construction officially began, Yun intended to use the forest to train Eevee's physical abilities.
Luckily, the forest was also close to Nanwu Town's Pokémon Center. Though the town didn't have a branch of the Trainer Association, it did have a Pokémon Center. However, the facilities here were far simpler than those in cities—more like a small clinic, only capable of treating basic illnesses, wounds, and fatigue.
But that was more than enough for Yun and Eevee.
In Blackwood Forest, the densely packed tree trunks were exactly why Yun had chosen it. Only such dense trees could effectively train Eevee.
He named the training method the "Tree Stump Sprint." It was simple and intense—Eevee would repeatedly sprint at full speed back and forth through the forest.
First, it would train explosive power.
Second, build endurance through long-duration exertion.
Third, improve movement and reaction speed.
Fourth, enhance body coordination—the complex tree layout provided natural obstacles.
Fifth, strengthen the body—if Eevee ran fast enough, crashing into trees would be inevitable, and the impact would help temper its willpower.
Yun had already explained this entire plan to Eevee beforehand. And frankly, Eevee looked down on the idea of "back-and-forth sprints."
The little guy thought it sounded too easy.
After Yun marked a line on the ground, Eevee arrogantly got into position behind it. Deeper in the forest, Yun tied a red string to a branch—once Eevee reached it, it could turn around and run back. The total distance was about 400 meters, and he planned to gradually increase it.
Using a beat-up watch he found somewhere, Yun took it quite seriously. As he shouted "Start," Eevee dashed forward.
But…
As it neared the dense cluster of trees, Yun could clearly see the little guy hesitate. To avoid crashing, Eevee instinctively slowed down to give itself more reaction time before entering the woods—and once inside, it moved even slower…
In this tightly packed forest, if Eevee truly ran full speed, a collision was inevitable. That's exactly why Yun chose this spot. If used properly, it could rival professional training equipment in effect.
After all, it trained multiple basic attributes at once.
"This little guy…" When Eevee returned, the full 400 meters, factoring in time spent dodging complex obstacles, took 133 seconds—over 2 minutes.
"Unacceptable," Yun sighed as Eevee returned, still a little shaken.
"And that's without using any moves. If you can't run full-speed for the whole route, there's no way you'll ever control the speed of Quick Attack. Rest for a minute—we're doing it again. This time I'm coming with you to supervise."
Yun wasn't in a rush. He planned to let Eevee get used to the run first—building up its stamina gradually.
But ultimately, this training had a much bigger goal than just endurance...
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