Everstone!
Fang Yuan was interested in this kind of magical stone.
Pokémon carrying this magical stone can easily suppress their natural evolution.
Several research papers have already shown that the Everstone might work by suppressing various energies within a Pokémon's body to inhibit evolution, but there are certain limitations.
The most famous experiment was when a researcher had a Six tails carry an Everstone and then attempted to evolve it with a Fire Stone. Although the initial attempt failed, when the researcher used a higher-quality Fire Stone for Six tails to absorb, the evolution succeeded.
The Everstone suppressed the influence of the low-quality Fire Stone on Six tails, but it couldn't suppress the influence of the high-quality Fire Stone, and then... the researcher conducted experiments with other types of Evolutionary Stones, and the results were the same—the highest-quality Evolutionary Stones could ignore the Everstone.
"Probably no one knows yet that when a Pokémon carrying an Everstone lays eggs, the offspring will inherit the regional form of the carrier. This conclusion could be very attractive to Breeders," Fang Yuan muttered to himself.
However, his purpose in buying the Everstone wasn't to research anything related to hatching eggs; he currently didn't have the energy for that.
For Fang Yuan, the Everstone was more like a tool to help Eevee master "Life Energy."
Pokémon evolution is the result of the action of various special energies and life energy, so the Everstone could be understood as an item that suppresses the elevation of life's hierarchy.
If Pokémon evolution is seen as a road, then carrying an Everstone for a Pokémon is like setting up a checkpoint boss on the road, needing to defeat the boss to continue on the path.
Therefore, the purpose of the Everstone's existence is similar to applying gravity to a Pokémon in training—wearing a training device—it's a means of suppression.
Fang Yuan had considered that if the Everstone also had a suppressive effect on life energy, could Eevee increase its perception of or control over life energy by repeatedly confronting it?
Considering only the highest-quality Evolutionary Stones could overcome the effect of the Everstone, it seemed very difficult for a Pokémon to break through the Everstone's restrictions on its own. However, Eevee had a special nature—it was too familiar with the evolutionary process. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. With its extensive experience, Eevee might be able to fight against the Everstone by itself. In Fang Yuan's plans, the Everstone was a whetstone to enhance Eevee's perception and control of life energy.
But these were still speculations... Nevertheless, all moves secret books, training techniques, and breeding concepts stemmed from theoretical guesses. Fang Yuan wanted Eevee to master life energy. Besides leveraging its advantage of free evolution, using tools was also an indispensable step. Pursuing the mastery of life energy that only Legendary Pokémon could possess was destined to be challenging.
"Now that I have the Everstone, the next tool to seek is the Life Orb!"
The Life Orb, a tool that boosts the power of moves at the cost of life energy, was known as an "evil tool that burns life in exchange for power." In the game, carrying a Life Orb and using a potion could recover from the side effects, but according to Fang Yuan's understanding, the real-life side effects of the Life Orb did consume life energy, which was difficult to recover. It required rare and expensive herbs like Revival Herb and Energy Root to replenish, or some top-tier Pokémon using healing techniques. Ordinary Trainers couldn't afford it at all, and because of the significant side effects, this tool was always taboo, with very strict management regulations.
This orb was also one of the few tools related to life energy that Fang Yuan could think of, but the Life Orb was even scarcer, priceless, and its manufacturing methods unknown. It only appeared in some relic-type secret locations and was now mostly used by top-tier Trainers or studied by advanced researchers.
There was also the Key Stone that could activate the life energy in the Super Stone, related to emotional energy, which was another target for Fang Yuan to acquire.
Fang Yuan's dream, besides being a Professional Trainer, was to train Eevee into a potential-filled girl who wouldn't lose to Pokémon that could undergo Super Evolution or to Legendary Pokémon, so mastering life energy was a crucial step.
...
The Everstone cost Fang Yuan a sum of money. Though cheaper than an Evolutionary Stone, it was still not cheap due to its rarity. Fang Yuan didn't feel the pinch, which only goes to show that money can make one capricious.
"What on earth are you doing..." After tossing the obtained Soft Sand to the Solar Spirit, Fang Yuan noticed it had come up with some tricks.
First, it used the "Sand Splash" move to create sand, then it integrated the expensive Soft Sand into it... All the sand, under the control of the Solar Spirit's Confusion, flowed rapidly, buzzing loudly as the Solar Spirit lifted its head...
Sand Splash + Confusion Amplification + Soft Sand Amplification, it seemed to be even more powerful...
"Magnemite!" The Trio Magnet Monsters thought it looked cool, but sadly, it couldn't control superpower or sand as delicately as the Solar Spirit did.
Chimchar by its side picked up a handful of sand from the ground, mimicking a throwing posture. It seemed to be a fighting move called Throw Sand, named after a hooligan's move in some game...
"All flash and no substance..." Fang Yuan muttered as he packed up, thinking about playing with sand. But for Eevee, figuring out how to be creative with flames was the correct focus.
And as for the Trio Magnet Monsters, what was there to envy? Once it mastered Electromagnetic Force to a greater extent, wouldn't controlling Iron Sand within a few dozen meters with Electromagnetic Force be cooler than what the Solar Spirit was doing?
As for Chimchar... no matter how much it practiced Throw Sand... it was a dead end...
Fang Yuan was packing up, today he was leaving the Heavenly Heart Dojo. Now that he had acquired the Immutable Stone and learned the Meditation Techniques of the dojo, there was nothing left to make him linger...
To see Fang Yuan off was Lu Hai, who had returned to the dojo from the isolated island due to the appearance of the Secret location, to help guard the entrance. Now that the dangerous elements of the Secret location were resolved, he had no tasks left either.
During this half a month, the Heavenly Heart Dojo obtained important intelligence; the Tianxin Stream Meditation Technique was very suitable for the Solar Spirit, amplifying its innate Predictive Ability. Fang Yuan benefited from this as well, as the Solar Spirit not only learned Exclusive Meditation but also laid the groundwork for learning the Future Sight move...
"What are your plans after returning?"
"To catch up on studies," Fang Yuan replied, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and walking towards the dock, talking with Lu Hai.
But after a period back at school, he would have to go to the Wind Fist Flow Dojo to learn again... Who knows what he might gain this time.
...
Magic City University, Research Department Dormitory.
Back at school, Fang Yuan returned and, after a long absence, opened the door, then flopped onto the bed like a salted fish to tally up his academic credits.
"Let's go check that out first." Without resting for too long, Fang Yuan couldn't wait to open the door and leave the dormitory once more.