When Sakaki's words came out, the Eevee froze in place as if struck by lightning. Sakaki spoke eloquently, sharing some tips on nurturing Pokémon with Su Sheng. It was just like how Su Sheng had trained athletes in his previous life. If you wanted to nurture a football player capable of competing in the World Cup, you would have to start preparing from the moment they learned to walk and couldn’t even speak yet. Yet now, the age of the Eevee was like that of a student who was about to take their college entrance exams tomorrow, and you say you want to train her to play in the World Cup? Is that realistic?

Okay, perhaps that example is a bit extreme. But Sakaki truly meant this. “That Eevee, at most, can only reach the level of the Elite Four; her potential is simply too low.” I wonder how many trainers would shed tears upon hearing Sakaki’s words. What does it mean that “at most she can reach the level of the Elite Four”? You should know that this is already a height that 99.99% of trainers could only dream of in their lifetime, right?

But it’s not surprising. After all, Sakaki is a champion-level trainer now, and in the future, he is expected to step almost fully into the realm above champions, known as the “master” level. It’s only natural for him to look down on a tier like the Elite Four. In Sakaki’s eyes, Su Sheng should not be limited to just the Elite Four tier either.

“What a ruthless statement, Uncle. You don’t expect me to abandon my Eevee, do you? I don’t care about the strength of Pokémon.” The Eevee, who had been lowering her head more and more due to Sakaki's words, regained a glimmer of light in her eyes upon hearing Su Sheng's disdainful tone. “Ha~ of course not. I’m just reminding you that there’s no need to invest too much energy in a Pokémon with such low potential.” Sakaki smiled lightly, “Just like how our gym leader will also train some Pokémon with average potential to deal with inexperienced challengers. When you get stronger Pokémon, that Eevee can be moved to the reserve team.”

It's no secret that gym leaders adjust their teams based on the strength of challengers. It’s just that the anime doesn’t explicitly show this. However, it was confirmed later in the games and special edition animations. Moreover, Sakaki’s words do make sense. Just like in competitive sports teams, strong players are starters, while weaker ones are substitutes. That’s the reality.

The Eevee buried her head deep again. Then Sakaki continued, “Just so happens, I have some high-potential Pokémon that have just been born. You could train them, like... a Dratini or something...”

Dratini!? Hearing that name made the Eevee's expression even worse. Although she was just a Pokémon and had lived in the human world since childhood, not knowing much about other Pokémon, she had learned from her previous owner and other people's gossip, or from television programs, about what kind of Pokémon Dratini was. A powerful dragon-type, it matures late, but once trained to its final form, it can surpass most Pokémon, being hailed as a “quasi-legendary” super strong Pokémon! The Eevee bit her lip hard. Such a Pokémon... would be more suited for such a perfect master, right?

“How about it? Do you want to give it a try? If it’s you, I believe you could train it into a Dragonite one day, and it wouldn’t be inferior to that group of dragon trainers from Smoke Ink City.” Sakaki's words felt like daggers, stabbing deep into the softest parts of the Eevee's heart. The Eevee imagined having such a Pokémon on the team in the future. Her master would then focus all his care on it. Every night, he would hold it to sleep, showing it loving smiles and even kissing its cheek... While she could only shrink in the corner, silently watching all of this unfold. And then lament to herself, “Clearly, I was here first...”

“Uncle Sakaki, it seems you look down on my Eevee a bit. How about we make a bet?” Su Sheng finally responded, causing the Eevee to lift her small head that was about to droop to the ground again. “Next battle, I’ll have her defeat your Pokémon, using this so-called ‘Eevee with low potential’ you mentioned.” Sakaki’s expression was full of disbelief, then he smiled, “Having goals is a good thing, but you also need to consider reality, young man. Every Pokémon has its limits...”

“So, you want to surpass Pokémon?” Su Sheng’s retort left Sakaki momentarily speechless. He recalled the “devolution” notion he had heard from Su Sheng ten days prior and saw the serious look in his eyes, devoid of any joking tone. Sakaki couldn’t help but feel that “this kid is serious.” At this moment, the Eevee’s expression was like Chopper rescued by Silvers Rayleigh, and she was already in tears.

Seeing Su Sheng suddenly get up from the beach, the Eevee hurried back inside and lay down again. “Don’t you want the Dratini?” Sakaki asked sideways. “More than that, I hope you, Uncle Sakaki, could sponsor me some money. I want to study Pokémon properly.” Su Sheng spread his hands, “Consider it an investment. I’ll definitely repay you in the future.”

“Wow~” Sakaki couldn’t help but show an expression of anticipation, “I hope it won’t disappoint me.” Su Sheng smiled back, “Don’t worry, this will be the most satisfying investment of your life.” In his previous life, he learned so many things beside Beigepang. How could he not create something? He wasn’t the kind of useless protagonist who wrote millions of words without any growth.

...

The next morning, as Su Sheng opened his eyes on the sofa, he found the Eevee lying next to his pillow. Coincidentally, the Eevee opened her blood-red eyes at that moment. “Heh~ Did you get into the wrong bed when you got up to go to the bathroom last night?” Su Sheng ruffled her short but surprisingly nice-feeling black fur. Hmm, although it wasn’t as fluffy as a Flareon’s, it was still very smooth.

“I’m going out to buy some things. If all goes well, I should be able to find a way to help you devolve back into an Eevee soon. You just wait at home, okay?” Su Sheng got up, placed the Eevee back on the bed, lightly scratched her chin, washed up briefly, and quickly left.

The Eevee, who had been watching Su Sheng’s back the whole time, looked like she wanted to say something. She really wanted to tell Su Sheng that she no longer cared about her current appearance. Su Sheng had said many times that she looked beautiful like this, and the Eevee had fully accepted her current self, feeling proud of her state now. However... just when the Eevee wanted to express her feelings to Su Sheng, she suddenly remembered Sakaki's words from last night—that the Eevee's potential is too low.

If her master completes his research and helps her return to her Eevee form, will that give her a second chance to grow and break through the bottleneck caused by age? No, she couldn’t be eager for quick success. What she needed to do now was to first reach the limit of her current identity. Set a small goal and aim to reach the Elite level first.