As Mr. Lee approached the Psychology Club room, he heard movement inside first.
He's in there, he thought. Pushing the door open, he called out, "Owen!"
However, the person he was looking for wasn't there. The noise hadn't come from Owen—the only occupant was a certain show-binging Eevee.
Eevee: 📺 (〃￣ω￣〃)
Mr. Lee looked around, confused. "Eevee? Where's Owen?"
Eevee: 🏃♂️💨 ε=ε=ヾ(;ﾟдﾟ)/
"Oh, he went for a run," Mr. Lee translated.
He was already used to Owen assigning training tasks to Eevee and letting her work independently. However, Eevee's miraculous ability to express herself through pantomime still amazed him to this day.
"Honestly, I don't think 'Trainer' or 'Breeder' suits you or Owen... if you two applied to a film academy, you'd be superstars," Mr. Lee quipped, closing the door behind him.
Eevee: ╮（╯＿╰）╭
Owen was, indeed, running.
The Pokémon were training, so he couldn't let his own physical conditioning slip. Owen's goals were modest: he didn't aim to become a "Super Rookie" who could wrestle a Charizard, but he did want to be able to take down a Caterpie with his bare hands. He couldn't afford to be weaker than a random Bug Catcher lad, after all.
"Huff... puff..."
Suddenly, Owen slowed to a stop. He looked at the figure blocking his path and asked curiously, "Mr. Lee? Do you like afternoon jogs too?"
"No..."
Mr. Lee rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Are you familiar with Pokémon Home?"
He looked at the energetic, sweaty Owen, finding it hard to link him to a scholarly researcher.
Owen's breathing leveled out quickly. "Yeah, I know it. I actually sent a paper their way on a whim. I think it was supposed to be published today. Why?"
Mr. Lee: "..."
Holy crap, it really is him! Mr. Lee thought.
But why are you so casual about it? No—why are you so calm? Mr. Lee suspected Owen was doing this on purpose, waiting for someone to come and ask him just so he could drop the bombshell. Unfortunately, he had no evidence.
Owen's run was cut short. He was dragged back to the club room by Mr. Lee for questioning. This time, even Eevee—who was busy memorizing plot points—was interrupted and couldn't continue her training.
Mr. Lee pushed Owen into a chair and asked seriously, "So, you really wrote this paper?"
"Genuine and authentic. Eevee can testify for me," Owen replied.
Eevee slapped the table to get their attention, then gave a quick, obedient nod.
Mr. Lee fell silent for a long moment. "Why did you decide to write this?"
"Well..." Owen gave Mr. Lee the same explanation he had given Siyu. Mr. Lee didn't pry into whether it was the whole truth; instead, he sighed. "You really should have told me about this first."
"But I suppose it's not too late. You discovered a new Ability; the school is going to bask in that glory. You're a student of Fairview No. 1, after all. Think about it—the paper is out. If we manage this correctly, do you think the school will be stingy with your rewards?"
"The scholarship amount won't just increase, it'll... hey, stay calm, that's the secondary stuff."
Seeing Owen and Eevee's eyes turn into dollar signs, Mr. Lee's face went dark.
"The most important thing is that several prestigious universities will offer you 'score reductions' for admission based on your research. Talent with the potential to become a Pokémon Researcher is highly sought after by every top-tier school."
Owen's eyes lit up. That makes sense. Researcher Aoki had hinted at something similar. This would significantly increase his chances of getting into a world-class university.
"Alright," Mr. Lee said, waving a hand. "As long as I can confirm you're the author, that's enough. We'll talk about the paper more later. I'm going to go handle this for you now." He wanted to start negotiating the best possible benefits for Owen immediately.
He truly admired this student. Under Owen's leadership, the Psychology Club had helped many students in less than two months. Mr. Lee had seen it all and felt very gratified. Within his power, he didn't mind pushing for more rewards for a deserving student.
"Thanks, Mr. Lee..." Owen nodded. He'd never turn down extra perks—the more, the better.
It wasn't until after school that Owen had time to browse the published article in detail. As he walked home, he shook his head with a grin.
"Eevee, tell me, how did I become so all-around talented?"
"I can train, I understand psychology, I've got a bit of research flair... is there anything I can't do?"
"Vee..." On his shoulder, Eevee rolled her eyes.
But she thought about it seriously; Owen did have his merits. For example, he bought her phones and paid for her streaming subscriptions. She doubted many other Pokémon had that kind of treatment.
Compared to her, she felt the Magnemite at home had it pretty rough. Every day, it just hovered over the balcony table, boringly practicing its psychic powers...
When Owen and Eevee arrived home that evening, they went to find Magnemite as usual. But both of their eyes widened at the same time.
Today, Magnemite was different. Or rather, a world-shaking change had occurred.
Magnemite was floating in mid-air!
Though it was only a few inches off the ground, Magnemite was undeniably flying. Watching its cautious, wobbling movements, Owen and Eevee rushed over.
"Vee? Vee! Vee!" Eevee chirped in amazement.
Owen gently held Eevee back and looked at the little steel orb. "Vee? Wait, no—Magnemite! Can you finally release your electromagnetic waves?"
"Kuo-yi~" Magnemite hovered at a low altitude, bobbing up and down. This was its first time communicating with Owen while flying. Its expression was one of pure excitement.
Seeing Magnemite successfully take flight, Owen was overjoyed. His theory had been that the "pulses" from Hidden Power were interfering with its internal flight mechanism, which is why he had it focus solely on practicing that move. Now that it could fly, it meant his hypothesis was correct!
Owen had originally expected it to take a year to find a way to get Magnemite airborne. Who knew that in less than two months, it would regain the ability to fly through practicing Hidden Power?
Did this mean its mastery over Hidden Power had reached a new stage?
"Thanks to the meditation method from the Reflect manual... and of course, Magnemite's own hard work."
Owen paused and began to examine Magnemite's progress. Whether it was the meditation, the training, or the recent influx of resources, he reached a conclusion: Magnemite had successfully mastered Hidden Power and could use it freely.
Though it wasn't yet "polished," the fact that it could fly proved its internal electromagnetic waves were no longer being disrupted by the Hidden Power pulses.
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