Chapter 16

Unexpectedly, upon realizing that the person on the other side of the lens was a human, the little fox excitedly joined in the interaction, and viewers' comments instantly flooded the screen.

"Wow, what a cute little Eevee!" "Eevee, Eevee, come right into Mama's arms!" "Who is this blue-haired dumpling? Please don't block the Eevee streamer's camera, thank you." "+1" "+1" "+1" "Well, you bunch of rascals, I'm going to ban you all in a second!" ……

After the interaction between Yagami Mizuki, Eevee, and the viewers, and Jiming's lingering bewilderment, the livestream finally drew to a close.

A delicious aroma quietly filled the air as Acheng and Audino walked over carrying three steaming trays.

"Lunch is here. You've been fussing all morning, so little Jiming and little Eevee must be hungry. Come try my and Audino's cooking."

Yagami Mizuki's eyes lit up as she excitedly lunged toward Acheng. "Acheng, Acheng! My...!" "Blue-haired dumpling, step aside and honestly eat your teriyaki chicken sandwich."

Acheng sidestepped smoothly, effortlessly dodging his "unreliable" mentor's flying tackle, and casually planted a foot right on Yagami Mizuki's head with a look of disdain.

"Hehehe, Acheng is still the best to me. My favorite teriyaki chicken sandwich, here I come!" ……

After eating her fill, Yagami Mizuki lazily leaned back against the chair, patted her stomach with satisfaction, and then snapped her fingers.

"Little Mings—"

She drew out her voice, her smile still as bright as sunshine. "Come shopping with me tomorrow."

Jiming was intently tackling the last piece of dessert on his plate. Hearing this, he paused, looked up at her, and asked, "Shopping?"

"Yeah, yeah~"

Yagami Mizuki casually waved her wrist. "Since you've officially become my apprentice, training naturally needs to be put on the schedule! We have to prepare some gear first, don't we?"

She blinked, her tone sly. "And you surely didn't think our training could be sustained on sheer passion alone, did you?"

Hearing this, Jiming instantly felt a bad premonition in his heart; his intuition told him this training was probably going to be problematic. Still, he nodded and asked sensibly, "What do we need to buy?"

Yagami Mizuki stretched lazily and said offhandedly, "You'll find out tomorrow~ Anyway, go home and pack your things for now, see you tomorrow morning!"

She stood up and waved at him, giving off a "I'm done speaking, you can leave now" vibe.

Jiming: "……?" "Wait, Master, what on earth should I bring?" The little apprentice asked with a helpless expression. "Oh, just bring whatever, everyday items and stuff?"

Yagami Mizuki smiled and leaned in close to him, waving her hands in an exaggerated manner. "You don't need to bring too much else either. I'll take you to buy all the important stuff tomorrow anyway. Just bring plenty of patience, and a lot of psychological preparation for the future hellish life~"

Jiming's mouth twitched slightly, and Eevee, who had been lying on its back with a full belly under the table, also alertly raised its head. Its Anticipation ability had been triggered, and it was shivering slightly.

At the bar counter, Acheng was leisurely wiping a glass. Hearing Yagami Mizuki's words, he couldn't help letting out a low chuckle. "Mizuki, don't scare your apprentice. After all, he's still a child."

Yagami Mizuki waved her hand dismissively, not caring in the least. "A beginner needs to train even harder! Right? Growth requires transformation through despair!" "……"

He couldn't help wondering... was becoming her apprentice a rash decision?

Helpless, Jiming nodded in compliance. "……Alright, Master, should I go back and get ready then?"

Yagami Mizuki nodded with satisfaction. "Mm-hmm, what a good, obedient apprentice! Tomorrow morning at eight. You're staying at the Pokémon Center, right? Let's meet at the center!"

Bidding farewell to his master and Boss Acheng, Jiming returned to the Pokémon Center as the setting sun dyed the center's glass windows an orange-red.

The Pokémon Center was still orderly as trainers bustled in and out, the restored Pokémon all wearing happy, satisfied smiles on their faces.

Jiming walked up to the front desk, where Nurse Joy was intently handling a trainer's request. Her Audino stood nearby, handing over medicine before skillfully adjusting the medical equipment in a smooth and efficient process.

After the previous trainer and their partner left, Nurse Joy finally had time to look up. Seeing Jiming approach, her face immediately broke into her customary gentle smile: "Little Jiming, you're back. How was your meeting with the boss?" "Pretty good, Nurse Joy," Jiming said, lifting Eevee onto the counter. "And I'd like to give Eevee another checkup." "Audino?" Audino tilted its head in apparent confusion, but still reached out to take Eevee and placed it on the examination table.

Continuing with her work, Nurse Joy casually asked while adjusting the medical equipment, "Little Eevee just had a checkup yesterday. What made you suddenly want to do another one?" "I found a master! For a while after this, I might be going out to train with her." "A master?!" "Audino?!"

Nurse Joy and Audino froze in unison, stopping what they were doing, exchanging a glance, and then staring intently at Jiming. "Little Jiming, this 'master' you mentioned... what's that about?" "The master I met over at Boss Acheng's place today is called Yagami Mizuki. She's super strong, and Boss Acheng even said he definitely couldn't beat her..."

Nurse Joy's brow furrowed slightly, a flicker of doubt passing through the depths of her eyes. That name... it sounded familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before. But for the moment, she couldn't place it.

Jiming didn't notice Nurse Joy's expression and kept talking about what had happened: blue hair... an illusion... Kyogre... Greninja's move combinations... the livestream...

——Blue hair, Greninja? Nurse Joy's gaze paused slightly. ……Long blue hair, Greninja, Water Pulse, Extrasensory, Haze……

These pieces of information quickly pieced themselves together in her mind, suddenly reminding her of something— In the internal records of the Joy family, such a trainer had indeed appeared once. Her exploits appeared sporadically in the family's internal archives, but the details were vague. Unlike Elite Four members or Champions who actively operated in the League's spotlight, Yagami Mizuki was more like a shadow drifting outside the mainstream. Her strength, whereabouts, and past experiences all seemed to have parts of them deliberately concealed.

——Although the reason was uncertain, it was clear that the Pokémon League knew of this trainer's existence and was intentionally covering up news about her. Afterward, her name was mentioned by high-ranking members of the family and classified as one of the special targets who were "harmless but not to be easily provoked."

And among her scarce profile data was vague evidence proving that she possessed a versatile and powerful Greninja. ——If the "Yagami Mizuki" Jiming spoke of was the same person in the family records...

She lowered her eyelids and cast an imperceptible glance at the boy in front of her—did Jiming really know what kind of existence the person he was apprenticing to truly was?

"So that's how it is," she said softly, showing no excessive surprise as her hands returned to operating the equipment. Data jumped across the screen while her tone remained steady. "Then how much do you actually know about your master?"

Jiming was slightly taken aback, then honestly shook his head. "...Not much, actually. She basically hasn't told me anything about herself."

Nurse Joy tapped her fingers against the instrument, her gaze darkening slightly. As expected.

Nurse Joy let out a soft breath, relaxed her fingers, and continued in a gentle tone, "Your master is indeed a very special person." Jiming acutely sensed the implication in her words. "Nurse Joy, it sounds like you know my master?" Nurse Joy smiled faintly. "I've only heard some things about her."

Without continuing that topic, she gently flipped through the screens of the instrument and said with a smile, "The results are out." Glancing at the data, she nodded. "Eevee has no abnormalities whatsoever. Its physical condition is great."

Jiming blinked, and Nurse Joy went on, "However... since you're going to be entering high-intensity training, you should prepare some of these..."

She turned around and rummaged through the counter for paper and a pen, then began rapidly jotting down one berry and medicine after another. Shuca Berry, Liechi Berry, Growth Booster, Max Revive, Experience Candy...

As Nurse Joy wrote the shopping list, she muttered under her breath: "This one is for stamina recovery... this is for nutritional supplement... and this one, you need to take yourself too, don't just think about Eevee."

Watching the list grow longer and longer, Jiming's expression gradually turned complicated. Beside him, Eevee looked at the densely packed characters, and its head was already starting to spin. "……Nurse Joy, isn't this a bit too much?" "What do you mean, too much?" Nurse Joy retorted mercilessly. "Since you're starting training, Eevee's recovery and nutrition have to keep up!" "And you need to watch out for yourself too. What will you do if you get sick? Judging by what you said, you're going out into the wild, right? What if you get hurt... Oh right! You need to bring clothes too! Audino!" "Audino!" Audino acknowledged, turning and heading into the back storage room. "Alright, little Jiming, leave the rest to us. You and little Eevee go back and adjust your mindsets."

Looking at the dazzling array of berries and nutritional supplements on the list, Eevee's tail trembled slightly. "Vee..." (???) *(If I eat all of this, am I going to turn into a Wigglytuff...?)*

Early the next morning, Jiming stood in the lobby of the Pokémon Center, looking at the backpack in front of him that was almost as tall as he was, with a subtle expression on his face. "……Nurse Joy, isn't this a bit too exaggerated?"

He looked down at the huge hiking backpack, which was stuffed to the brim with all sorts of berries, nutritional supplements, recovery items, and even a few sets of spare clothes—all of which were the "basic provisions" Nurse Joy and Audino had worked overtime to pack last night.

Even Eevee's nutritional meal plan had been prepared, spanning four full pages of a dietary plan that meticulously listed the proportions for every single meal. "Master said I didn't need to bring too much stuff, saying she'd take me to buy the important things..."

Nurse Joy stroked her cheek with a gentle smile. "Haha... I guess it is a little much. Last night when Audino and I were packing, we were worrying about this and that, and we accidentally..." "Audino..." Audino placed its hands on its hips with a look that said, "It's all for your own good."

Jiming sighed helplessly, while the Eevee in his arms also stared at the backpack, its fur practically standing on end and its tail shivering slightly.

Just then, a familiar voice drifted in from the entrance of the Pokémon Center— "Ooh—little Ming, up so early! Such a good boy!"

Jiming turned his head and saw Yagami Mizuki holding a Sunkern in one hand while feeding a Mt. Chimney Senbei into her mouth with the other, slowly walking in. Her blue-and-black gothic dress swayed slightly, and her face wore her usual bright smile.

"Are you ready? We have to go early, or else the things we want might take a long time to custom-order~"

Jiming glanced at Yagami Mizuki, then looked back at the piles of bags in front of him, and asked hesitatingly: "Um... Master, the things I have to bring are a bit much..."

Yagami Mizuki glanced over and raised an eyebrow. "My, why are you bringing so much? We aren't moving houses, you know."

Jiming immediately stalled, turning his head to look at Nurse Joy. The latter still maintained a gentle smile, while Audino tilted its head slightly, wearing an expression that asked, "How can you go training without packing all of these?" "Uh... these are what Nurse Joy prepared. She said these things would come in handy..." Jiming explained dryly.

Yagami Mizuki blinked, picked up the checklists and nutritional pairing guides from behind the pages, and let out a light chuckle. "As expected of the Joy family, truly professional. There are plenty of things in here that even I can learn a thing or two from."

But the very next second, she waved her hand dismissively. "However... none of these are needed." "……???" Jiming froze once more.

"Antidotes, Max Revives, Potions—none of them." Yagami Mizuki waved her hand carelessly, her tone as casual as if she were discussing the weather. Nurse Joy frowned slightly, quietly watching Yagami Mizuki. Jiming was baffled. "But out in the wild..."

Yagami Mizuki shrugged, smiling with utter ease. "Because you'll have something better."

A flash of green light burst from the Sunkern in her arms. The air in the lobby suddenly grew humid, and a wave of warm life energy spread outward, instantly filling the entire space with a vibrant sense of vitality. The other Pokémon in the Pokémon Center lobby all wore expressions of pure enjoyment on their faces. "Huh? Purrloin, you..." "Why is my Sewaddle suddenly trying to evolve?!" ……

Surprise surfaced on Nurse Joy's face. This powerful life energy was something even she had never witnessed before. This was definitely not just a simple "Healing Pulse" or "Aromatherapy"; it was completely on a different tier altogether.

Jiming stared blankly at the scene, while Eevee instinctively rubbed against the warm energy, squinting its eyes comfortably.

Yagami Mizuki gently blew away some senbei crumbs on her hand and said with a smile, "You see, some things are more useful than medicine, right?"

Nurse Joy didn't refute her, only gazing at her with a complex look in her eyes before finally letting out a soft sigh. "Miss Yagami Mizuki, I'll leave Jiming in your care."

Yagami Mizuki winked at her. "Of course~ Little Ming is my only apprentice, after all. Rest assured."

Jiming was still somewhat skeptical. "Then... do we really not need to bring these things?" "Of course."

Yagami Mizuki waved decisively. "Relax, I won't let you die." Jiming: "???"