On Sunday, after finishing his theoretical classes for the Rising Star Project, Owen checked the review progress of his thesis as usual. He was delighted to find that his paper had passed another round of scrutiny.
"A paper discovering a new ability usually nets at least 50,000 credits in royalties, and that's for the useless ones. For an ability with significant combat value like Anticipation, surely it should reach six figures?"
Owen's personal savings were dwindling; he had already blown through half of the prize money from the Young Ho-oh Cup. In a bit more time, he would truly be strapped for cash.
"If the royalties don't come in time, I'll just have to ask my parents."
Owen's parents had set aside 300,000 credits for him, sitting in a dedicated bank account. 200,000 of that was for tuition, and the remaining 100,000 was for Pokémon Training.
Now, thanks to the benefits of the Rising Star Project, his tuition was waived, meaning all 300,000 could go toward his Pokémon. However, since he still had some cash on hand, he hadn't touched that fund yet.
"With the 300,000 from my parents, the tens of thousands I have left, the thesis royalties, school scholarships, and the Trainer Association subsidy... I should be able to get through senior year smoothly," Owen calculated, breathing a sigh of relief.
Wake-Up Call
"Eevee, Magnemite! We're heading out for special training this afternoon!"
After lunch and a quick nap, Owen called out to his team. With the ointment Ethan had given him, Owen wanted to strike while the iron was hot and have Eevee master Iron Tail as soon as possible before moving to the next stage.
"Vee..." Eevee crawled up with bleary eyes, only to flop back down.
"Eevee?" Owen looked at his second Pokémon. "Magnemite, give her a shock. Just one volt."
Zzzt!
Eevee's fur stood on end as she bolted upright.
"Vee!" Eevee glared at Magnemite before looking at Owen with a complex expression, as if saying, I'll go, I'll go! But using electricity is cheating!
Owen shrugged. There was no better alarm clock for an Eevee than a light shock. Once the team was ready, Owen began changing his clothes. Just then, his phone rang—an unknown number.
"Hello?" Owen answered.
Silence on the other end.
After a moment, a voice said, "Hello, I am the First Emperor of Qin. A Pokémon suddenly resurrected me. I have tens of thousands of tons of gold buried underground that I cannot dig up. I need your help. Send me 5,000 credits, and when I succeed, I will grant you ten thousand ounces of gold and wish you to become the strongest trainer."
Owen: "..."
A scam call?
"Heh..." Owen hung up immediately. Yeah? Well, I'm Arceus.
He went back to changing, but a moment later, the phone rang again. Another unknown number.
"Persistent, aren't we?" Owen was amused. Usually, scammers only hit him up occasionally, but twice in a row? Did he look like an easy target? He picked up.
"Hello? Who is this?" Owen asked, getting straight to the point.
"Hello, I am Siyu, a Pokémon researcher..." a female voice replied.
Owen raised an eyebrow. This scammer had changed identities. Compared to the First Emperor, this was at least more grounded.
"Oh... and I'm Patrick Star," Owen quipped.
Meanwhile, on a maglev train heading to Fairview, a woman dressed in a white scholar's coat looked bewildered.
"Patrick... what?"
"Patrick Star."
"I... I'm sorry, I must have dialed the wrong number." Siyu, the intern researcher sent by Professor Aoki, took a deep breath and checked the number. It was correct. Also, what was a "Patrick Star"? A Pokémon?
Confused, she called again. No answer. She called once more, and it finally went through.
Siyu only heard a voice say: "Vee?"
"Vee?" Siyu was covered in black lines. What kind of thing was answering the phone this time? "Hello, is this Owen? Have you submitted a paper to The Home of Pokémon...?"
"VEE!!"
Siyu was completely flustered, but after a chaotic scuffle on the other end, a human voice she could understand returned.
"Ah, right. I'm Owen. I did submit an article." Owen's eye twitched.
It wasn't a scam after all...
Beside him, Eevee was rolling on the floor laughing. Seeing Owen make a fool of himself even brightened Magnemite's mood.
"No problem. 3:00 PM, Entrance E of the Fairview Plaza. Great, see you then." Owen wiped his brow and looked at his Pokémon. "Training is still on. The meeting is after three. Let's go."
Eevee: (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ Magnemite: "Koyi!"
Eevee wore a look of "How could you do this?", while Magnemite gave Owen a positive response. Owen loved listening to Magnemite; even though he couldn't understand it, Magnemite's tone always sounded like "Okay! Okay!", which was very satisfying. Eevee, on the other hand, was always "Vee-No! Vee-No!" It was exhausting.
At 3:00 PM at Entrance E of Fairview Plaza, Owen waited for the elite researcher from Aurelia University. Before long, Siyu Wen arrived.
When they met, Siyu looked at the Eevee on Owen's shoulder, then at Owen himself, smiling. "Hello. To introduce myself again, I am a student of Professor Aoki. I'm here regarding your paper on the 'Anticipation' ability."
"Hello. I'm Owen, a rookie trainer. This is my partner, Eevee," Owen said.
As he introduced himself, Owen observed Researcher Siyu. She was very young, maybe only twenty-three or twenty-four? Little did he know, Siyu was even more shocked. Although she knew the author was a high schooler, seeing him in person was different.
Comparisons are odious, she thought. At her age, she could only write general papers or reports under Professor Aoki's guidance. Someone like Owen, who discovered a new ability in high school, was what her circle called a "freak."
"Let's find a place to talk," Siyu said, checking the time. "How about that café over there?"
"Sure." Owen nodded. Once inside, Siyu revealed her purpose: they wanted Owen to assist them in the formal verification of the ability.
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