In the afternoon, according to the original plan, it should have been Eevee's relaxation time.
Cuddling with Aiden and doodling carelessly or watching a blockbuster from Movie Factory—those were the usual activities.
However, after the battle that morning, Aiden decided to take this opportunity to delve deeper into Eevee's "King Engine".
The TV was playing a highly acclaimed film:
"Paranormal Activity".
As everyone knows, the Pokémon world also has its version of Hollywood, so it made sense for some classic works from his past life to appear here.
However, most of the actors had been replaced by Pokémon, which felt quite interesting.
Although technically a romance movie, certain scenes still carried a touch of horror.
Eevee sat in Aiden's arms, completely absorbed in the film. Whenever a scary scene appeared, it would instinctively flinch.
And then…
Thump, thump-thump—
The King Engine roared to life!
At such close range, Aiden felt his head buzz with the reverberations.
Fortunately, outside of battle, Eevee quickly returned to normal.
No wonder Pawmi had reacted so strongly earlier—anyone would be stunned for a while under these circumstances...
Powerful, incredibly powerful!
It turned out that being timid wasn't entirely without its benefits.
Due to the constant anxiety brought on by its nature and Ability, Eevee had inadvertently developed an incredibly strong heart and lungs...
Makes sense—it's perfectly reasonable.
A naturally powerful heart was undoubtedly the key to becoming a formidable Pokémon.
However, unlocking Eevee's potential at this stage still seemed difficult.
After some thought, Aiden came up with a compromise.
If Eevee couldn't become strong immediately, why not make others think it was strong?
Just like Nemona's Pawmi, which had been too intimidated by Eevee's presence to even approach. This created a significant psychological advantage.
So, what move fits this strategy?
The answer was obvious—
The same move used by the "Number One Pokémon in the Universe," Incineroar: Snarl!
Luckily, Aiden already had the TM for this move.
As for the other unlearned move, Skill Swap, he had already given up on it.
He initially picked it mainly to mitigate the impact of Anticipation on actual battles, but now it seemed unnecessary.
Who said this Ability was bad? It was fantastic!
If Anticipation could be fully utilized, Eevee's strength after evolution would be more than enough to serve as the Gym's starter, and perhaps even far beyond that.
Two hours passed quickly, and Eevee, engrossed in the film, didn't notice time slipping away.
"Bui!"
Only after finishing the entire movie did Eevee finally exhale deeply.
Though it was indeed a bit frightening, the story was really interesting—humans and Pokemon's bonds could even defeat a Totem Trevenant!
Wait a minute… where's my Trainer?
When it finally snapped back to reality, it realized Aiden was already sitting on the other side of the sofa, fiddling with a disc.
Seeing Eevee looking at him, he quickly flashed a warm and friendly smile.
"Eevee, you must be tired after watching the movie for so long."
"Take a break and watch a video to stretch your body, okay?"
"Bui…"
Eevee stuck out its tongue—good times were always fleeting.
However, to continue living happily with its Trainer in the Gym, it truly needed to grow stronger.
Deep down, it knew Pawmi's strength wasn't high, but the instinctive fear still made it tense to the point of almost crying out.
Eevee didn't like this weak version of itself.
At the very least, it wanted to protect its home and its silly Trainer.
With this in mind, Eevee nodded obediently, lying next to Aiden with its paws tucked in, waiting for his next move.
"Don't worry, this move will be just as easy to learn."
Aiden smiled, gently patting its round little head.
Those high-powered moves requiring repeated training—he wouldn't even want Eevee to try them, lest it get hurt.
So, he had chosen auxiliary moves for Eevee, combined with some of his own creative ideas, which should produce good results when put together.
Snarl, a well renowned Dark-type special attack.
Its effect matched its name—attacking through a terrifying roar, causing significant psychological damage while dealing physical harm.
The method of using it was simple—
Open your throat and growl, releasing Dark-type energy through sound.
If paired with Eevee's automatic "King Engine" when nervous, it might even directly intimidate the opponent!
Full of anticipation, Aiden watched the instructional video with Eevee.
The Pokémon teaching the move this time was Mabostiff, whose voice was indeed loud. But Aiden couldn't help feeling that this move should be taught by Incineroar…
Stereotypes, pure and simple.
After replaying the video several times, a problem soon emerged.
Previously, the moves Eevee learned had clear patterns—it could replicate the corresponding elemental energy by sketching with its tail.
But this Snarl move had absolutely nothing to do with sketching.
There was no way to mimic such an abstract move.
"Grrr…"
Eevee tried howling several times, but there was absolutely no power behind it.
"I can't hear it! I literally can't hear it!"
Aiden sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration.
If Incineroar's version was the authentic Snarl, full of spirit, Eevee's attempt was, at best, a "soft roar".
It seemed that simply practicing the move wouldn't let Eevee master it anytime soon.
With that realization, Aiden stopped insisting.
"Bui…"
Eevee's expression looked a bit disheartened.
Seeing this, Aiden immediately pinched its cheeks with both hands, giving them a gentle squeeze.
"It's okay—you've done great today."
"Maybe tomorrow I'll think of a way to help you master Snarl all at once?"
Looking at Aiden's gentle smile, Eevee symbolically struggled twice before easily breaking free from his pinch attack and nodding slowly.
---
Time quickly approached 6:30 PM.
Perhaps because it had focused its attention all day, Eevee fell asleep immediately after dinner, sprawled out on the sofa with all four legs in the air.
Aiden still had to stream tonight, so he left Eevee on the couch for now.
When it was time to go live, the stream started right on schedule.
Having streamed twice already, and with his tactics leaving a deep impression on the audience, the barrage of comments in the live chat was noticeably busier this time.
[It's like I'm back at school feelsbadman]
[Here we are again at our favorite tactic torture session—can you give us something easy to pick up today?]
[Streamer, your Explosion Spike combo is indeed strong, but it seems to have a small issue...]
[I know this one! Just a day has passed, and there are already so many spike teams in ranked matches. I can't counter them all, they're literally copy-pasting the strat!]
"Oh? Getting countered by Spikes?"
Noticing a few comments amid the rapidly scrolling barrage, Aiden couldn't help but laugh.
"You only learned the basics but didn't learn how to counter it—now you're stuck, huh? Didn't I teach you how to remove Spikes?"
"Answer me! Look into my eyes!"
While "torturing" his inattentive 'students', Aiden skillfully opened Pokémon Champions.
"But don't worry—Teacher Azure is kind-hearted and can't bear to see you bullied in ranked matches. Today, I'll teach you a Paldea-exclusive spike-removal strategy. Once you master it, you won't fear Spikes ever again~"
------------------------------------------------------
Double Chapters Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)