Following the exchange match, Owen settled back into his familiar campus routine.
The only real change was that the school's management had become significantly more relaxed regarding his schedule. For instance, during training periods, Owen was given complete freedom to arrange his own curriculum.
This might have been due to his stellar performance in the team battle assessments earlier, or perhaps because Dean Wu was so satisfied with how Owen had absolutely decimated the Riverside No. 1 team...
Regardless, genius always comes with perks.
"From today on, you are free to conduct independent training during class hours. You also have unrestricted access to all of the school's training equipment," Ms. Nina told him.
"If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me. Even if you just want to test your progress through a live battle, come find me—I'm available for guidance matches at any time."
These words from Ms. Nina made Owen feel that school life had suddenly become much more interesting. It should have been like this from the start.
If it weren't for the fact that the school cafeteria provided weekly nutritional meals for third-year students' Pokémon, and that there was a wealth of free equipment to use, Owen might have considered dropping out of classes entirely.
Staying home for self-study while training his Pokémon would have been far more liberating.
"Guidance matches... sounds good," Owen noted that last point specifically. Finding a senior trainer willing to spar with you daily for educational purposes wasn't easy.
At a place like the Starry Battle Club, a single guidance match cost upwards of four figures—a luxury only the wealthy could afford.
With his newfound freedom and the resources for Shadow Ball and Reflect in hand, Owen directed Eevee to begin focusing on these moves. Training for her base physical stats was temporarily slowed since her mastery of Return still needed time to catch up.
Shadow Ball, Reflect, and Return—these became Eevee's core focus. Magnemite's routine remained unchanged.
In this manner, half a month slipped by. Finally, Owen's submission was published in the latest issue of the Pokémon Home magazine.
In this issue, the paper regarding Eevee's new Ability occupied a very prominent section. As the most academically valuable piece of content in the edition, the Anticipation Ability sparked widespread discussion.
Not only did it drive the daily sales of Pokémon Home to a monthly high, but the digital subscriptions on the official website also broke their daily limits.
Aurelia, Azure Province,
At the Research Institute, Senior Researcher Aoki had known the exact publication date of the paper. As the one who personally verified the new Ability, he was naturally keen to see the academic world's reaction.
"A pity. His answer was ambiguous; he likely doesn't have a heart for pure academia," Aoki sighed, shaking his head.
He had sent word through a student that if Owen was willing to apply to Aurelia University, Aoki would personally become his mentor and guide him into the upper echelons of the research world.
He saw great potential in Owen, but Owen hadn't given a straight answer, which was a bit disappointing.
However, Siyu, who had relayed Owen's response, understood. No matter who you were, the dream was always to attend world-class, prestigious schools like Imperial Capital University.
Aurelia University was in the top ten in the country, but there was still a significant gap between it and the global giants.
Aside from industry professionals, many regular readers were seeing the paper for the first time.
Ms. Wang, the psychology counselor at Fairview No. 1, was a loyal reader of Pokémon Home. She bought every issue and subscribed to the digital version immediately. This time, she saw the headline: "Performance and Analysis of Eevee's Unknown Ability"...
"Oh?" Ms. Wang's eyes lit up. Eevee had been a hot topic in recent issues, and now someone had actually unearthed a hidden Ability?
"Pokémon Home is getting better and better," she remarked. However, she was more interested in lifestyle-oriented papers, so she skimmed the article and prepared to exit. But then, her mouse paused.
Just before closing the tab, she caught a glimpse of the author's name.
"Owen?"
"Why does that sound so familiar?"
"Owen, Owen... wait, the president of the Psychology Club that Mr. Lee runs is named Owen. What a coincidence, having the same name. Interesting," she chuckled.
She naturally didn't assume for a second that Owen wrote the paper. But as she went to exit, the content of the paper suddenly "pinged" in her brain.
"Looking at the content, the author owns an Eevee. And that student, Owen... his starter is also an Eevee. That's too much of a coincidence." Ms. Wang felt something was off. She stood up and headed toward Mr. Lee's private office.
"Mr. Lee, take a look at the latest Pokémon Home," she said, walking up to him. "There's new intel on Eevee. Isn't that student of yours training an Eevee? This might help him out..."
"Oh? Let me see," Mr. Lee nodded.
Before even reading the text, he spotted the name.
"Heh... his name is the same as Owen's," Mr. Lee laughed, not noticing the strange expression on Ms. Wang's face.
"Wait... the combat value of this Ability is actually quite good. But Eevees with this trait must be rare. I wonder if it stays after evolution... I'm sure more papers will follow soon."
"Um..." As he read further, Mr. Lee's eyes widened, and he began to frown.
The author wasn't a professional researcher, but a trainer who "accidentally" discovered the Ability and owned an Eevee. And the author's name was Owen.
"I need to step out for a moment," Mr. Lee stood up. It was training time, and Owen would be in the club room, the gym, or on the field. He intended to find Owen and ask him directly. It was just too perfect.
Beyond Owen's immediate circle, others who had interacted with him were also making connections.
For instance, Selina, the intern reporter who had interviewed Owen at the Young Ho-oh Cup, happened to see the magazine.
"Anticipation gives Eevee elite reaction speed... hmm, the sense of déjà vu is so strong. Wait! Didn't I interview an Eevee trainer back then?"
"Wow!! The author's name is Owen, too?"
Working as an outdoor intern for the Dawn Group's streaming platform, Selina's eyes sparkled. That interview had been one of her most-viewed segments, mainly because of Owen's unconventional answers.
"I think I've found a story that isn't quite 'news' yet. A high schooler, a rookie trainer, actually discovering a new Ability..."
"Whether it's news or not, I'm going to make it a big story!"
Meanwhile, many Eevee trainers across the country were seeing the article after recommendations from friends. While not every Eevee had the Anticipation Ability, the sheer population of the country meant that plenty of trainers were having "lightbulb" moments.
And they were all remembering the name: Owen.
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