Pokémon Master

Time flashed by.

A week had passed since Little Eevee was born, and it was also time for Fang Yuan and the others to set off for Magic City.

That morning, after washing up, Fang Yuan woke Eevee and prepared to leave.

Magic City was not far from Flat City, which was one reason the Psychology Club had chosen it as their travel destination.

Eevee knew about today's itinerary as well. Upon hearing Fang Yuan call, it blinked groggily and got up. Out of habit, Eevee tried to wrap the Silk Scarf around itself, but even after a week, putting the scarf on properly was still not easy for it.

"Give me the scarf. I'll hold onto it for you." Fang Yuan held out his hand.

As far as Eevee was concerned, the Silk Scarf was the one thing it could not bear to part with besides Fang Yuan. It was the first gift Fang Yuan, Father Fang, and Mother Fang had given it, and it had stayed by Eevee's side all week, keeping it warm. The little fellow cherished the scarf dearly.

The moment the scarf was taken away, Eevee felt strangely empty and uncomfortable. It could only leap onto Fang Yuan's shoulder with a wronged expression.

"Haha, let's go. Time to set off."

Pingcheng First High School Psychological Society had five members.

Besides Fang Yuan and Tang Ying, there were three others: club president Lu Jie, Vice President Meng Zicheng, and member Du Ai.

Fang Yuan had arrived relatively late. The other four had already gathered, and when they saw him, they immediately teased, "The new president is here."

"Here I am." Fang Yuan scratched his head and smiled.

"Good. Then let's get going and try to reach our destination before noon," Lu Jie said.

West Coast Resort was one of Magic City's famous tourist attractions. The sunlight, air, beaches, and seawater were all first-rate.

The origin of its name could no longer be verified in detail. What was known was that it had originally been a Secret Realm.

It was only a relatively small Secret Realm, though, and it had merged with Earth so long ago that there was no longer any trace of it being one.

"Eevee, you'll need to stay in your Poké Ball for a while, but I'll let you out again soon."

Pokémon were not allowed to remain outside on the train, so Fang Yuan could only explain things to Little Eevee in advance.

Also, Pokémon had to be placed in Poké Balls during security checks. Those were the rules, and Fang Yuan had no choice.

"Eevee..." Eevee looked even more aggrieved.

"Newborn Pokémon are at their cutest, so you'd better cherish this time. My Geodude was... well, it was clearly so obedient at first, but after evolving, its temper became awful. The more I talk about it, the more it hurts," Meng Zicheng said.

"Isn't that because you couldn't carry it anymore after it evolved? Of course it would get mad. You should be grateful it didn't use its little fists to pound your chest," Du Ai said.

As the five chatted, they finally boarded the maglev train.

It had to be said that the service here was excellent.

"Dear passengers, hello. There are still twenty-eight minutes until the train departs. During the wait, we will provide beverages. A special reminder: our Magikarp Soda is extremely famous. Drink it and experience the thrill of Splash. Don't miss it!"

"I'll have one," Tang Ying said.

"+1." "+1." "+1." "+1," the other four said.

Was humanity's true nature really just repeating things?

The journey was long, with only their phones for company. After boarding the train, perhaps because of the setting, they spoke little and each took out their phone to play around.

Fang Yuan had planned to watch a movie, but with Eevee not by his side, watching alone felt far too boring.

So he gave up on the movie and started scrolling through Moments instead.

Li Mu: Friendly reminder: don't throw or toss your Poké Balls. The videos are all lies—you can't hit anything accurately.

Homeroom Teacher: Please do not abuse Poké Balls. Please do not abuse Poké Balls. Please do not abuse Poké Balls. Once school starts, we will teach everyone the proper ways to throw Poké Balls.

"Interesting..." Fang Yuan remained completely calm.

He had long had the foresight to practice throwing a replica Poké Ball toy countless times before he even received his Pokémon Egg.

Fang Yuan continued scrolling through Moments, but after a while, he grew bored. After thinking it over, he began searching for information about dojos.

Magic City supposedly had several dojos, and he was quite curious about them. If he had the chance, he could go take a look.

These dojos were said to be a culture that had spread from Japan during the Monster War era, and they even had counterparts in the anime.

Before the Pokémon League was established, the earliest Trainers had formed civilian organizations to protect towns from Wild Pokémon and teach people their experience in commanding Pokémon. That was the prototype of the dojo.

After the Pokémon League was formed, countries began establishing Trainer Associations, and Trainers from most civilian organizations were recruited.

However, due to manpower shortages in the early days of the Trainer Association, it was unable to manage certain regions, so such organizations continued to emerge.

After the Monster War, someone in Japan combined the newly emerging Karate with the training of Fighting-type Pokémon and achieved excellent results. Then, for fame and profit, he established a dojo to pass on his experience, drawing widespread admiration.

From then on, the dojo business model was widely imitated. Civilian Trainers who had survived the Monster War established many schools based on the types they specialized in. For instance, India's Yoga Meditation produced a group of people who became the earliest Psychic Power users. In China, certain principles also became training concepts and combat techniques, such as "Overcoming Hardness with Softness."

Of course, because dojos charged high fees for their teachings, many shady dojos driven by greed appeared during that period. Things only gradually improved after the Trainer Association cracked down on them harshly.

However, with the spread of basic education and technological advancement, some weaker dojos could no longer survive. Those with deep foundations either integrated into the Trainer Association or had already transformed their operations.

Magic City had several dojos that had been passed down to the present day. It was said that some even had Psychic Power users, and their dojo leaders occupied high ranks in the local Trainer Association, holding distinguished status.

Some wealthy families not only sent their children to elite high schools, but also spent heavily to place them under masters at these dojos as apprentices. There, they learned combat techniques and training concepts to develop more effectively.

"Dojo... isn't that basically the Fighting Dojo run by Karate King Wang Xinyan in Saffron City from the anime?" Fang Yuan's scalp tingled.

Fang Yuan knew very little about schools and lineages. After all, they were only briefly mentioned in the official PM novels—things like Riomote Kusahoshi-ryu, Riomote Mizutaki-ryu, Riomote Iwaiwa-ryu, and so on... He had no idea how effective they would be in reality.

Since dojos had endured to this day, they surely had something unique about them.

The founders who established those schools might have varied greatly in strength, but in their time, they had earned an exceptionally prestigious title.

Pokémon Master.

Fang Yuan thought that title sounded pretty cool. Maybe he could get one for himself someday.