Soon, five days passed. During these five days, Icarus, like Bellsprout, focused on getting familiar with his rapidly increasing strength.
Two days ago, he had taken the time to visit Pidgey and discovered that it had already touched the threshold of mastering its new move. It would likely fully grasp it within the next couple of days.
In fact, Icarus himself had completely adapted to his improved physical condition yesterday. Under normal circumstances, based on his years of training experience, it wouldn't have taken this long. But this time, the increase had been too significant, so he had to adjust carefully and methodically.
Over the past two days, he had mainly been helping Bellsprout familiarize itself with its own strength—giving guidance, making corrections, and recording the results.
Some might say that since Bellsprout would evolve at low-tier Normal level, it would have to readjust and retrain anyway. So why bother striving for perfect control now?
At first, Icarus had thought the same. As long as Bellsprout had basic mastery, that would be enough. After all, it would evolve soon according to common sense.
But when he visited Uncle Sam two days ago, a piece of advice had made him decide that Bellsprout must achieve complete control—no compromises.
The conversation was still vivid in his mind. It had nearly led to a costly mistake.
---
Uncle Sam had taken the initiative to ask:
"Kid, Pidgey still needs a few days to finish learning. What about your Bellsprout? Have you been training it, or taking it out hunting?"
"Uncle Sam, Bellsprout has mostly mastered its strength. Since Pidgey still needs a few days, I was planning to take Bellsprout outside to test the waters and see how strong it really is."
"Cough! Mostly mastered? That fast at the Normal tier? How much is 'mostly'? Tell me clearly."
Uncle Sam tapped the sofa beside him casually, though his tone sharpened.
"Uh… it's pretty much under control," Icarus answered honestly, slightly confused.
"That won't do! I bet you're thinking that since Bellsprout is about to evolve, you'll have to retrain it anyway, so partial mastery is good enough!"
At this point, Uncle Sam sat up straight, his expression turning serious.
"Yes… the time before evolution isn't long. Is there a problem, Uncle Sam?" Icarus scratched his head, puzzled.
"There is a problem—a big one. This is the gap in awareness most civilians have. I'm guessing you plan to use a Leaf Stone to improve Bellsprout's aptitude during evolution, right?"
"Yes. Isn't that correct?" Seeing Uncle Sam's serious expression, Icarus felt his heart tighten.
"That method has been verified by many researchers. Of course it's correct."
Seeing Icarus's worried look, Uncle Sam first reassured him.
"But what you don't know is the principle behind it. It relies on a large amount of external energy to wash and reconstruct the Pokémon's body during evolution.
Without sufficient energy, aptitude cannot improve. I know you've prepared for that—after all, you tried to give me your bank card last time. So let's skip that part.
Now here's the key question: if energy supply isn't the issue, what grade of Leaf Stone do you plan to buy?"
"A high-grade one should be enough, right?"
"That's more than enough. Now that energy supply is settled, let's talk about control.
If your Bellsprout only controls seventy to eighty percent of its own power, how will it control a massive influx of external energy during evolution?"
Uncle Sam's voice grew firm.
"If it can't control it properly, much of that energy will overflow. The result? No improvement in aptitude.
Worse still—if it fails to manage the surge and its body is damaged during evolution, its aptitude might actually decline.
Do you understand now?"
He stared at Icarus with a grave expression.
"This… this…"
Icarus felt a chill run down his spine. If Uncle Sam hadn't told him this, not only would the money have been wasted, but Bellsprout's potential might have been permanently harmed.
"Thank you for your guidance, Uncle Sam. I'll focus on energy control training with Bellsprout over the next few days. We won't consider evolution until it achieves full mastery."
He bowed deeply.
"Heh, this kind of knowledge… only civilians without backing don't know it. After I broke through to Elite, it was mentioned in the training materials. For certain families, it's just common sense."
Uncle Sam waved his hand.
"To be honest, I think highly of your future. That's why I'm giving you a push."
"Don't worry, Uncle Sam. I'll remember your advice—and your help."
Icarus wasn't surprised. This was precisely what he wanted. With guidance from an Elite trainer, even a few simple pointers could save years of detours.
"Haha, good. That's good."
Uncle Sam smiled approvingly.
---
After returning home, Icarus couldn't help but sigh.
For powerful families, this was common knowledge. For ordinary civilians, it was precious and hard-earned.
No wonder so few civilian trainers ever broke through to Elite.
Originally, he had thought that since the Alliance provided methods to improve aptitude, more civilians should be able to rise.
Now he understood: key information was still tightly held by influential factions within the Alliance.
Many talented civilian trainers in town were willing to sign contracts nearly equivalent to selling their freedom just to join a Gym as low-level apprentices.
Though they would be suppressed by family members within the Gym, at least they would gain correct cultivation knowledge. Resources could be accumulated slowly. Once they became senior apprentices, they would earn some freedom of movement.
To obtain key Pokémon knowledge in an Alliance dominated by family interests, sometimes the only way was to become part of them—even if only at the bottom.
---
"Sprout? Sprout?"
Bellsprout's voice pulled Icarus out of his thoughts.
"Ah—sorry, Bellsprout. I got distracted. Go ahead and start again."
"Sprout! Sprout~"
Bellsprout rolled its eyes helplessly but obediently released three streams of powder once more.
Icarus observed carefully.
"Good. I can barely see any stray powder now. You've trained very well these past few days. But keep pushing.
If we want to improve your aptitude, we need one hundred percent control."
"Sprout!"
Bellsprout nodded firmly and continued practicing toward that final margin of perfection.
Watching it train tirelessly, Icarus clenched his fist.
He was fortunate that Uncle Sam, an Elite from a civilian background, was willing to invest in him.
After becoming Elite, Uncle Sam had begun laying the foundation for his own small family network, so he wasn't bound by rigid aristocratic rules.
What he offered was knowledge and guidance. What he expected in return was Icarus's future potential.
If Icarus broke through to Elite, he would support Uncle Sam within the Alliance.
If he failed, he would join the guard team—with favorable benefits.
Either way, this was an opportunity.
And Icarus intended to seize it.
(End of Chapter)
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