Snarl

In the afternoon, the schedule originally called for Eevee's relaxation time.

Cozying up with Qingyu for some mindless doodling, or finding a blockbuster produced by the movie factory to watch.

However, after the battle earlier that morning, Qingyu planned to use this opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of Eevee's "King Engine".

The television was playing an exceptionally well-known film.

"A Chinese Ghost Story: Misdreavus".

As everyone knew, the Pokémon world had a Hollywood too, so it made sense that certain classic masterpieces from his past life appeared here.

Still, seeing the actors universally replaced by Pokémon was quite novel.

Though theoretically a romance movie, certain scenes still carried slight horror elements.

Eevee sat in Qingyu's lap, engrossed in the viewing, and whenever a spine-chilling scene appeared on screen, it would involuntarily give a violent start.

Then...

"Thump, thump-thump-thump-"

King Engine, activate!

At such close range, Qingyu only felt his head instantly buzzing with the vibrations.

Fortunately, Eevee quickly returned to normal outside of battle.

No wonder Pawmi's reaction had been so intense back then; anyone else would be left dumbfounded for a while...

Mighty and powerful, truly mighty and powerful!

Facts proved that being timid was not entirely without benefits.

Because it had lived in constant terror due to its personality, Ability, and other combined factors from a young age, it had ultimately forged such a powerful cardiopulmonary function...

Fair enough, that made total sense.

A naturally powerful heart was undoubtedly the key to becoming a strong individual.

However, trying to stimulate Eevee's potential right now was probably still quite difficult.

After some pondering, Qingyu came up with a compromise.

Since it couldn't become a strong individual for the time being, why not just make others think Eevee was strong?

Just like Nemona's Pawmi, which didn't even dare get close under Eevee's pressure, creating a huge advantage for their side without them realizing it.

So, which move suited this setup?

The answer, of course, was-

The exact same Snarl used by the "strongest Pokémon in the universe", Incineroar!

Qingyu happened to have this Technical Machine on hand.

As for the other move it hadn't learned yet, "Skill Swap", he had already given up on it.

Choosing that move back then was mainly to eliminate the impact of Anticipation on actual combat, which currently seemed unnecessary.

Who said this Ability was bad? This Ability was simply amazing!

If Anticipation could be fully developed, Eevee's strength after evolution would definitely be sufficient to serve as a Gym's lead, and perhaps go far beyond that.

Two hours quickly passed, and Eevee, completely engrossed in the film, was utterly unaware of how time had slipped away.

"Vee!"

It wasn't until the entire movie finished that Eevee let out a long sigh of relief.

Although it was indeed a bit scary, the story was also truly interesting; the bond between humans and Mismagius could even defeat an overlord Trevenant!

Wait, where was my oversized Trainer?

By the time it snapped back to reality, it found that Qingyu was already sitting on the other side of the sofa, fiddling with a disc in his hands.

Seeing Eevee look over, he quickly flashed a kind and warm smile.

"Abu, you must be pretty tired after watching movies for so long."

"Come take a break, watch a video to get your body moving, how about that?"

"Vee..."

Eevee stuck out its tongue; as expected, good times were always short-lived.

However, in order to live happily with its Trainer in the Gym forever, it truly needed to become stronger.

It actually knew that the strength of that Pawmi from the morning wasn't high, but the fear born from instinct still made it extremely nervous, almost causing it to cry out.

Eevee didn't like itself when it was this weak.

At the very least, it wanted to protect this home, along with its idiot Trainer.

Thinking of this, Eevee nodded, obediently lying down beside Qingyu and tucking in its paws, waiting for Qingyu's next move.

"Don't worry, this move will be just as easy."

A smile hung on the corners of Qingyu's mouth as he rubbed its round little head.

As for those high-damage moves that required repetitive training, he wouldn't even want Eevee to learn them if it wanted to-what if Eevee got hurt?

That was why the moves he chose for Eevee were all auxiliary-leaning, paired with some of his own whimsical ideas, which should produce pretty good results when combined.

Snarl, a very famous Dark-type Special Attack move.

The effect matched the name: it attacked by roaring to terrify opponents, while simultaneously dealing very effective psychological damage.

The method for using this move was also very simple-

Open your throat and howl, projecting Dark-type energy through sound.

If paired with the "King Engine" that automatically activated when Eevee got nervous, perhaps it could directly intimidate opponents?

Full of anticipation, Qingyu watched the recording in the Technical Machine together with Eevee.

The teaching Pokémon this time was Mabosstiff; although its voice was indeed very loud, he always felt that this move should be taught by Incineroar...

That was just a stereotype on his part.

After the recording played a few times in a row, a problem quickly arose.

The status moves learned previously still had traces to follow; Eevee could use its tail to Sketch and imitate the corresponding type of energy.

But this time, how did Snarl have anything to do with Sketch?

It had no idea how to copy such an abstract move.

"Roar..."

Eevee also tentatively let out a few muffled howls, yet there was not an ounce of momentum to them.

"Can't hear it, completely can't hear it!"

Qingyu helplessly massaged his brow.

If the Tiger God's version was genuine Snarl with plenty of spirit, what Eevee produced could at best be called a "soft squeak".

It seemed simple move training would make it very difficult for Eevee to learn this.

That being the case, Qingyu no longer insisted.

"Vee..."

Eevee's expression looked somewhat dejected.

Seeing this scene, Qingyu's large hand immediately pinched Eevee's cheeks, gently squeezing them.

"It's fine, you've already done great today."

"Who knows, maybe by tomorrow I'll think of a way to help you learn Snarl all at once?"

Gazing at Qingyu's gentle smile, Eevee put up a token struggle twice, and only after easily breaking free from his pinching offensive did it slowly nod.

Time soon reached six-thirty in the evening.

Perhaps because it had maintained focused attention for a whole day, Eevee collapsed straight to sleep after dinner, lying belly-up on the sofa.

Qingyu still needed to live-stream tonight, so he temporarily refrained from carrying it back to the bedroom.

When the broadcast time arrived, the stream opened right on schedule.

Because he had already broadcast twice, and his tactics had left a very deep impression on the viewers, the barrage comments camping in the stream this time noticeably increased.

[I must start eating on time!]

[It's time for master's favorite tactical torture segment again; can Teacher Yu pull off some easy-to-pick-up good moves today?]

[Streamer, streamer, this self-destruct hazard stack setup of yours is indeed very strong, but it seems there's a little problem too...]

[I know this question! Only a day has passed and there are already tons of hazard stack teams in ranked; a single master taught them and I can't break the strategy!]

"Oh? Annoyed by hazards?"

Noticing a few of those comments scrolling past wildly from the chat, Qingyu instantly found it amusing.

"I had you guys learn the routine, not how to counter it, and now you're stuck, aren't you? Did I not teach you how to remove hazards?"

"Answer me! Looking my eyes!"

While roasting the "students" who hadn't studied seriously, Qingyu skillfully opened "Pokémon Champions".

"But it doesn't matter; Teacher Yu is kind-hearted and can't bear to see students suffer in ranked battles, so today I'll bring you a hazard-removal strategy specially supplied by Paldea. I guarantee that once you learn it, you'll never fear hazards again~"

Thanks to whatever nickname you call it, Mortal World Wandering True Lord Zhong Xiaoli for the tip~

A largely useless piece of trivia: the current number of Pokédex Pokémon has exceeded 1,000, and the move list has as many as 941.

Which meant that if Eevee learned one a day, learning them all would take roughly an eon()

The three-year period has arrived, and Eevee the Dragon King returns!