That evening, when Oliver's mother returned home, she showed no trace of dislike toward the family's new member, Feebas. Instead, she treated it sincerely as part of the household.
In fact—though he couldn't be completely sure—Oliver felt that when his mother saw that his first Pokémon was Feebas, she seemed to quietly let out a breath of relief.
Jiang Shuyun also sent him a message, praising him nonstop and saying how much she loved Charmander.
"This time you really carried me hard!" she said.
At the dinner table—
"Summer vacation has officially started now," Oliver's mother said.
"Do you have any plans?"
Like mothers everywhere, she cared deeply about how her child spent his holidays and didn't want Oliver to waste them away.
Fortunately, from childhood to now, Oliver had never disappointed her when it came to planning his own life.
"Mm… I'm planning to take Feebas out for training," Oliver said after swallowing a mouthful of food.
"Of course, I won't slack off on my studies either. Don't worry, Mom."
"I've always trusted you," she replied. "It's just… training at Pokémon Gyms isn't cheap. Do you want me to help cover some of the cost?"
"No need," Oliver shook his head.
"I've saved up some allowance. It'll be enough for a while. And with our family's situation, long-term Gym training isn't really realistic anyway."
In this world, every city also had Pokémon Gyms—not just for challenges, but to respond to sudden appearances of Secret Realms.
However, operating a Gym was expensive, so most of them also offered paid training facilities. These were equipped with professional equipment that allowed Pokémon to train more scientifically and efficiently.
The downside was that these facilities charged by the hour.
That was why most Trainers preferred outdoor training, only going to Gyms at critical moments.
That night, Oliver finalized Feebas's upcoming training plan and closed his notebook with satisfaction.
He looked toward the fish tank in the corner of his bedroom, where Feebas was already asleep.
"Tomorrow," he said softly,
"our journey officially begins."
Early the next morning, after breakfast, Oliver grabbed Feebas's Poké Ball and headed straight for the outskirts of the city.
Because Secret Realms appeared frequently, most cities—aside from a few major ones—weren't very large. Reaching the wilderness was never much trouble.
Oliver had already scouted a suitable riverside location on the map the day before. He called a Dodrio Taxi on his phone and went straight there.
Once they arrived, Oliver released Feebas and let it float on the river's surface, listening carefully.
"Feebas," Oliver said seriously,
"your talent is very high. You've inherited a powerful Dragon Breath, but your mastery of it is still low. So we'll start by training that. Use it once—I want to see the result."
"Hu!"
Feebas opened its mouth and began gathering energy. Oliver watched as its brownish face turned red from the strain before it finally released a thin wisp of pale purple breath.
The attack struck a tree trunk by the riverbank, leaving only a blackened mark. The bark itself wasn't even broken.
Seeing the weak power of its own move, Feebas lowered its head shyly.
But Oliver showed no disappointment at all. Instead, he carefully recorded the result in his notebook and said calmly:
"Very good. Our next goal is to increase Dragon Breath's power and reduce the charge time. Feebas, use it a few more times and get familiar with the feeling."
Feebas obediently began practicing.
It spent the entire morning repeatedly using Dragon Breath—until it was so exhausted it barely had the strength to swim.
But the results were clear.
Its charge time dropped to two seconds, and the Dragon Breath it released was visibly thicker than before.
Oliver took out a small pre-measured piece of Energy Cube and fed it to Feebas to help it recover.
The moment Feebas swallowed it, waves of energy surged through its drained body, rapidly replenishing its strength.
"Next, we'll rest for an hour and a half at noon," Oliver said.
"After that, we'll focus on reducing charge time even more. Try not to condense the energy inside your body—guide it to your mouth first, then compress and release it."
As time passed, Oliver wasn't just training Feebas—he was constantly observing and recording its changes.
All of this could become valuable data in his future research papers, making them more detailed and professional.
Days passed one after another.
"Feebas, let's continue yesterday's training. You've got this!"
…
"Feebas, today we're training Dragon Breath's power. Try compressing the energy as much as possible. Let's do ten repetitions first."
…
"Feebas, today we'll practice using Dragon Breath while performing other moves. On my signal—use Dragon Breath the moment you leap out of the water."
…
"Today we start physical conditioning. You'll swim upstream wearing the weighted vest I bought you. I'll run alongside you on the bank."
…
"You have the Adaptability Ability, so learning a Water-type move is essential. I'll explain the key points of Whirlpool—listen carefully…"
…
In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days had passed.
Not only had Feebas's enthusiasm not faded—it had grown even stronger.
Whenever Oliver felt the training load was enough for the day, Feebas would keep pushing itself.
Whether it was for its own sake or to avoid disappointing Oliver, it showed unwavering determination.
Thankfully, the supply of top-tier Energy Cubes supported it through this grueling regimen. Without them, Feebas might not have lasted this long.
At a glance, Feebas didn't look dramatically different—but its body had grown noticeably larger, its scales had become smoother, and most importantly, the lifeless dullness in its eyes was gone.
Whether it was the effect of long-term consumption of top-tier Energy Cubes, the result of intense training, or a change brought about by its renewed mindset—
One thing was certain.
It looked far better than before.
Oliver faithfully recorded all of Feebas's physical changes in his notebook, preparing them as evidence for future research papers.
Opening the class chat group on Penguin Messenger, Oliver realized he hadn't checked it in a long time due to training.
The news that the top student Oliver had ended up with Feebas had already spread throughout the class.
Some felt it was a pity.
Some sympathized.
Others mocked him openly.
None of that mattered.
Oliver opened the system panel and tapped on Feebas's status.
Pokémon: Feebas
Level: Intermediate – Mid Stage
Potential: Gym Level
Ability: Adaptability
Moves: Splash, Tackle, Flail, Dragon Breath, Whirlpool
Evaluation:
Possesses tremendous potential. If it can gain confidence and successfully evolve…
For most beginner Trainers, summer vacation was simply a time to bond with their Pokémon.
Not training at all was completely normal.
As for owning a Pokémon at Intermediate–Mid level?
That was something most rookies wouldn't even dare to imagine.