"They actually got caught out like that..."
"I get the logic behind it, but that Eevee is just too cute to be mad at."
Inside the Goldenspire Sports Center everything had gone quiet. Still, being a friendly match, the crowd broke into spontaneous applause regardless.
Curtis let out a long sigh. Brought Sasha in specifically to embarrass my old rival, and instead one unevolved Eevee just tore straight through my whole roster.
Amid the general awe Luke carefully retrieved the Power Anklet he'd thrown down earlier.
"Thank god, not broken," Luke said, exhaling in relief.
______________________________
Back at Metro City's bench, Whitman made no effort to hide his excitement, clapping Luke firmly on the shoulder.
"Once we're back you can pick any technique or secret manual you want from Metro City's library!"
Luke blinked. The manuals themselves included training footage and methods, sure, but the actual training resources still came out of pocket.
His expression twisted. "Coach, you really don't have to—"
"Ha, I get it!" Whitman laughed heartily. "Feeling like that's not enough? Fine, I'll throw in two combat manuals instead!"
"...Thank you so much," Luke said.
Despite five straight matches, Eevee showed no injuries, still radiating energy. The system's BP counter had climbed to 2000, and Luke was already planning two more ten-pulls once they got home.
The rest of the Metro City team looked at Luke with a mix of excitement and outright reverence. Assistant Coach Luke's good at training, sure — but he's actually THIS strong in a real match too?
Gordon, still stinging from his own loss, looked genuinely ashamed. Luke gave his shoulder a pat.
"Don't beat yourself up. What matters is how you treat your Pokémon."
Luke thought of Torkoal — stubborn, honest, refusing to quit, not unlike its Trainer — and smiled.
"Pokémon never let you down."
That's the version I choose to believe, Luke thought privately. Unlike every single time you two backstab me personally.
Gordon stared at him for a long moment before nodding firmly.
______________________________
The friendly match wrapped. A talented, good-looking Trainer paired with an adorable, reckless Eevee had become the talk of Goldenspire University overnight. In a sense, watching one Eevee take down five straight opponents counted as something close to a historic moment.
Curtis shook Whitman's hand with a wry smile. "I genuinely hope we don't cross paths again this points season."
Whitman considered it — Luke technically counted as external assistance in his role as assistant coach, not something you could realistically deploy in every single match.
"Believe me, I wish he could play every match too," Whitman sighed.
On the high-speed train back to Metro City, Hannah kept replaying the whole five-on-one spectacle out loud, seemingly incapable of stopping.
Luke's head throbbed. So what if she beat five opponents? Is that genuinely something to celebrate? If anything, watching himself run Eevee through a string of clearly outmatched opponents just to build her up left him a little embarrassed on reflection.
That said, after a genuine string of real battles, Eevee's actual strength had visibly leveled up. The thought that this only made future property damage more likely pulled a heavy sigh out of him.
"Luke, have you settled on Eevee's next moveset?" Whitman asked.
The available options included Dig, Shadow Ball, Sunny Day, among others — though the training manuals themselves ran expensive regardless of pick. Choosing Dig would likely leave Ms. Carter's building structurally questionable. Shadow Ball was already in motion thanks to Cynthia's training method — just a matter of time and money before Eevee mastered it regardless.
After weighing it, Luke settled on two cheaper but genuinely practical picks:
Reflect and Light Screen.
Both moves boosted a Pokémon's defensive durability directly, cutting down Eevee's injury risk substantially. In open combat these two moves functioned almost like divine protection — a perfect fit for Teacher Luke, professionally "too dirty to leave the house safely."
Luke exhaled. "Guess I don't have to worry about fans mailing me razor blades anymore."
There was, of course, a deeper motive behind the pick too — Haunter already understood both moves conceptually, meaning Luke wouldn't need to personally train either one from scratch.
"I really am a training genius," Luke murmured to himself. "Getting both Pokémon to master wall-support moves through this one exchange..."
He smacked his own forehead. "Teacher Luke, you're something else."
______________________________
That night, back in Metro City, Luke and Whitman stopped by the Combat Department and picked up the two move manuals. Luke printed out the Reflect and Light Screen training methods and handed them to Haunter with total seriousness.
"Kojie? Σ(っ°Д°;)っ" Haunter froze, then hurriedly accepted the new material.
"As the older sibling," Luke said, solemn, "it falls on you to set the example."
"I went through real trouble getting these two techniques for you. Don't let them go to waste."
Haunter stared, eyes welling up.
"Kojie! (;Д`)"Master went through all this effort just to become a proper Trainer for us... I have to train hard and master these as fast as possible.
______________________________
Late that night, while cooking dinner for the two of them, Luke squeezed in two ten-pulls.
[Common. Common. Common...]
Luke sighed, exasperated. "I really am cursed with bad luck."
[Whoa! A Legendary pull!]
He blinked, surprised. "Wait, twenty pulls and I actually land an Orange-tier item?"
[Items obtained: Peach Fruit ×4, Oran Berry ×5, Moomoo Milk ×4, Poké Ball ×3, Premium Potion ×3, Golden Razz Berry ×1]
The so-called "Legendary" pull turned out to be the Golden Razz Berry.
[Golden Razz Berry: Feeding this to a wild Pokémon dramatically improves capture odds. (Poké Ball, GO!)]
Luke had a vague memory of this exact berry — from the Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee! games, where it functioned as a near-guaranteed catch booster during standard encounters. For a dedicated collector like Crystal, this would've been practically a staple item.
Luke rubbed his chin, thinking. "With a few more of these, I could work out an entirely new Pokéblock."
At this point Luke had already converted nearly every Berry variety unlocked in the system store into Pokéblock form — beyond the standard fruits, that now included Ganlon Berry (bitter, boosts Defense), Petaya Berry (spicy, boosts Special Attack), and Salac Berry (sweet-tart, boosts Speed). Personally, though, Luke still preferred the peach flavor above all — easily the sweetest of the bunch.
Dinner that night: Berry salad and moomoo milk for the two of them, orange juice for Eevee. She stood on the table, tail wagging obediently — until she caught Luke watching and immediately turned away, tail going still.
"Vee!"
Across the room Haunter sat with its new manual, tongue extended, methodically licking through the fine print, taking mental notes as it went.
Even with proper hands now, some habits apparently never die.
"Kojie! (⊙~⊙)"*
A peaceful, quietly precious dinner. Right as they finished, Whitman called again.
"Luke, come by the Breeding House tomorrow to pick out your Pokémon!"
"Seriously, don't sweat it, my treat, ha!"
Luke sighed, resigned — though genuinely feeling more confident going in this time.
"Decided. Tomorrow, I'm finding the laziest one in the whole building."
Eevee and Haunter exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.
"Kojie?" — training tonight?
"Vee!" — let's go!