Because it was the first day of training—and perhaps also because Eevee needed time to adjust—Yun didn't push too hard. What was supposed to be a comprehensive special training session ended up becoming purely a stamina workout.
One hour in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. By the end of the day, Eevee and Yun had run back and forth a hundred times.
Yun himself was on the verge of collapsing. His legs were so sore he almost couldn't keep going. But to set an example for Eevee, he gritted his teeth and refused to be the first to give up, sticking with Eevee the entire day.
When they got home...
Eevee was exhausted.
Since it wasn't injured and there were rest periods during the special training, there was no need to send it to the Pokémon Center for recovery.
Yun fed it some Oran Berries he had bought in advance to restore its energy, and Eevee also drank a lot of milk to replenish nutrients. After a hot shower together, Eevee quickly curled up in its silk scarf and fell asleep.
After a whole day of training, Eevee slept soundly. Yun was tired and sleepy too, but he had to first summarize the day's results and plan for the next day's training.
"At this pace, progress is way too slow…"
Looking at the messy notes in his notebook, Yun had a headache.
Even though Eevee's round trip time had finally dropped under two minutes after a hundred runs, it was still far from enough.
Still too slow.
"We'll have to ramp up the intensity tomorrow."
After saying that, Yun put down the notebook and collapsed into bed, quickly falling asleep.
The next morning, as the sun rose, the sound of the alarm clock woke both Yun and the peacefully sleeping Eevee.
The moment he woke up, Yun still felt soreness all over. He glanced at Eevee—who looked completely fine, lively and energetic. It seemed the Oran Berries had worked.
Oran Berries are a type of berry produced in secret realms. These realms contain many plants with mystical properties. Oran Berries are typical examples, known to restore a Pokémon's stamina. Though the amount they restore is limited, it's enough for low-intensity special training like this.
However, while Oran Berries are the most widely cultivated berries, they're also consumed heavily, so they aren't cheap—more expensive than most common fruits. For Yun and Eevee, this kind of training was already becoming a money sink.
And once they needed to use the Pokémon Center later on, costs would rise even more...
You could say they had staked nearly all they had on the Little Ho-Oh Cup.
That's also why Yun was so anxious.
A new day. According to the training schedule, Yun wanted to take Eevee to their usual spot. But Eevee suddenly started dozing off.
Its reluctance was obvious. Yesterday had completely worn it out. It clearly didn't want to repeat the same boring training.
"I'm telling you, Eevee!"
Yun looked at the Eevee wrapped in its silk scarf, pretending to be asleep, and said in mock anger, "That's not what you promised me."
"You said you wanted to enter the Little Ho-Oh Cup yourself."
"Bui…" (Eevee noise)
As Yun finished speaking, Eevee slowly poked its head out, wearing an expression of utter despair.
Keeping up enthusiasm for a whole day was already amazing, okay?! (Bui!)
But thinking of its promise to Yun, and those cool-looking Eevee evolutions in movies, Eevee's expression shifted slightly. It seemed to have made a big decision, and reluctantly jumped onto Yun's shoulder.
"That's better… Let's do our best today too! Together!"
That day, Yun and Eevee began their second round of special training. Since he hadn't emphasized it yesterday, Eevee had still been subconsciously slowing down to avoid obstacles. After observing for a while, Yun sighed.
Looks like it was time to bring out the big guns.
"Eevee, come here."
"Listen. To stop you from instinctively slowing down, we're going to change the starting method."
"Bui?" Eevee looked confused.
Yun drew a white line. "Start from here. Use Tackle to burst forward. Use the explosive force of Tackle to gain acceleration. And from start to finish, no slowing down, until you crash into an obstacle. Of course, if you can dodge it, that's even better."
"BUUUUIIIII!!!!"
Yun made it very clear—Eevee's wishful thinking was immediately crushed.
"Come on, look." Yun took a white spray bottle from his backpack.
"I've already prepared healing spray for you."
Eevee: (*￣︿￣), now even less reassured.
But training had to continue. Eevee cautiously got ready and began following Yun's instructions. It used Tackle to launch itself forward, accelerating through the forest—only to crash into a tree trunk within seconds. The bizarre trees in this forest were extremely sturdy. With Eevee's small body, even a full-speed Tackle only left a faint white mark. Knocking them down was impossible. Besides, Eevee's Tackle didn't have much force yet.
At that moment, Eevee looked like a splattered pancake stuck to the tree. As it slowly slid to the ground, it almost burst into tears and looked back at Yun with watery eyes.
Yun slapped his forehead. Although he was mentally prepared to train Eevee's body, seeing it in pain still made him rush over with the healing spray.
He was beginning to worry about Eevee participating in battles. If it already reacted like this to hitting a tree, what would happen if it got hit by a Flamethrower or Thunderbolt? Eevee might not survive!
No wonder people said Eevee wasn't suited for combat. The experts weren't wrong.
The issue Yun now faced was that even though he'd used movies to make Eevee less resistant to special training, it was still extremely hard for it to overcome its fear of pain and exhaustion. If he had chosen a Pokémon with a stubborn, aggressive, or wild nature as his starter, it might've been easier. But Yun had chosen the gentle-natured Eevee, making this a hell-difficulty start.
"No choice."
Yun had done a lot of research and consulted seniors. By their standards, his and Eevee's training wasn't even that intense. Pokémon have greater adaptability than humans might think. The problem was Eevee's mindset hadn't yet changed—it would take some tough love.
Actually… mindset wasn't the only issue.
Yun's starting point was tougher than 99.9% of new trainers—and there was a reason for that.
Because some time ago, he had vaguely discovered Eevee's Ability… was Anticipation (Danger Anticipation).
Abilities are special powers every Pokémon possesses. For example, Overgrow boosts Grass-type move power when stamina is low. Guts increases attack when affected by a status condition like burn or poison.
Most Abilities help Pokémon in battle, but some like Truant or Slow Start hinder them. Skillfully utilizing a Pokémon's Ability can yield surprising results. Eevee's Anticipation, however, was a double-edged sword.
So far, Abilities haven't been fully studied. Anticipation is an undisclosed Ability for Eevee.
This particular Ability is tactically valuable—it allows a Pokémon to sense dangerous moves from the opponent in advance and instinctively avoid them.
But only if the Pokémon has mastered the Ability.
In Eevee's case, it clearly hadn't mastered Anticipation. Instead, it was more of a burden—constantly affecting its reactions.
Before encountering danger—like hitting a tree—Eevee would instinctively hesitate or back off. It was clear that the underdeveloped Anticipation was interfering.
An Ability can be seen as part of a Pokémon's very being. Yun didn't find it surprising that it also influenced personality.
So to help Eevee overcome its mental barriers, Yun was also helping it overcome the drawbacks of its own Ability.
This tree-stump training method was killing multiple birds with one stone. Beyond basic stats and moves, Yun had also planned to use this method to train Eevee's Ability.
But that would come later—only after Eevee got used to the current training. The advanced plan involved blindfolding Eevee and repeating the training.
That way, it wouldn't rely on its eyes, but rather on the instincts granted by Anticipation. A great way to strengthen the Ability.
"Eevee…" Yun said as he sprayed the healing medicine and watched the wounds vanish almost instantly. He sighed helplessly. "There's still a long road ahead…"
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