Fang Yuan wasn't really coveting the Moves Secret book of Wind Fist Flow Dojo.
Even if it were the original, at best it would make one a master-level Fighting Type Trainer.
He let Eevee listen in simply because he wanted to organize the information a second time and understand it himself, so it would be easier for the system to follow up on Monferno's training progress.
"The Timidness Trait paper has been published, huh."
While Fang Yuan was studying in Ice Plain City, the scholarly paper on the Timidness Trait he had submitted was finally published.
Thanks to Fang Yuan's status as an official Researcher, the review process for his submission was much faster this time around than it had been for his first submission.
Of course... perhaps it also had to do with the proliferation of Magikarp, which made it easier to verify.
Due to the publication of this paper, Fang Yuan's name... once again caused a stir in the academic world.
Just as the buzz about Fang Yuan and Solar Spirit had settled down, Fang Yuan suddenly made waves again!
Mo Da's Research Series department clearly had not anticipated that Fang Yuan would quietly cause a big commotion.
Fang Yuan had a feeling that if he were at school, he definitely wouldn't be able to attend classes and train in peace, as the academic atmosphere there was too intense, and the slightest event could spread for miles.
On the contrary, things were much quieter in Ice Plain City, where a bunch of muscle men were only focused on Fighting community news and were not so sensitive to the academic world's ripples. Only here could Fang Yuan continue to train his Pokemon in peace.
However, due to the publication of the paper, while Fang Yuan was keeping tabs on the happenings in Magic City, he received an interesting piece of news.
The Magic City Trainer Association had explored a relic mysterious place and had some successes; they were planning to hold an auction of items from this secret location in a month.
Having seen a series of rare items including the Key Stone at the auctions in Magic City, Fang Yuan coveted them, but due to the limits of his Researcher level, he couldn't obtain these items.
Therefore, the "auction" mentioned by Senior Lu Hai had always been an event that Fang Yuan was particularly looking forward to.
An auction is a form where a larger Trainer Association, having explored a secret location, sells some of the findings through bidding.
Generally speaking, there are only three types of people who can attend these auctions: Professional Trainers, official Researchers, and Professional-level Breeders.
Among them, Researchers were the most numerous because the auctions always feature odd and unusual items that only Researchers would be interested in studying.
So far, a large part of the list of items for this auction had been revealed, and Fang Yuan had seen it.
And when Fang Yuan saw one particular item on the list, without a second thought, he started to raise funds.
The item, a Life Orb. A device that enhances the power of moves at the cost of life energy, known as the "sinister device that trades life energy for power."
For the Life Orb, Fang Yuan thought it would be worth spending tens of millions, as money was easy to earn, but if he missed out on this item, he had no idea when it would appear again.
The Everstone and the Life Orb were the most important items for Eevee to master life energy, of course, it would be even better if he could have Arceus's Life Jewel or Tablet...
...
As Fang Yuan kept an eye on the auction in Magic City, time passed slowly, and soon enough, he had spent the required number of days learning at Wind Fist Flow Dojo.
Half a month's time passed quickly, almost in the blink of an eye. Fang Yuan sat inside the house, reflecting for a moment.
The last few days, Monferno had failed to successfully learn Close Combat, and beyond its fists, although Monferno had remarkable strength, its training of other body parts had not reached the level needed to learn Close Combat.
Fang Yuan had somewhat anticipated this, but it was a minor issue. At least Monferno had genuinely learned something from Monferno. So learning Close Combat could wait until he got back.
But before that...
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Someone knocked on Fang Yuan's door, and it turned out to be a dusty-looking Lv Liang.
As Fang Yuan opened the door, he saw this guy with a cropped haircut staring at him relentlessly.
"Are you leaving?" Lv Liang asked.
"The learning period is over, what else would I do?" Fang Yuan said. Fourteen days of learning time, neither long nor short, he had learned everything he needed to, and he was not keen on staying any longer, unless Senior Feng Yin was willing to teach him more.
Trainers shouldn't be tender-hearted everywhere.—Fang Yuan.
"The battle..." Lv Liang took a deep breath, wanting to finish the tie they had when he first came to the dojo.
Fang Yuan glanced at him and smiled, "Have you beaten those five dojos yet?"
A few days ago, Lv Liang, who had completed special training in the snow mountains, also started to challenge the other five dojos with his Iron Palm Warrior, just like Fang Yuan.
However, the Iron Palm Warrior obviously wasn't learning Qi Fist as quickly as the Fierce Fire Monkey, and still had not grasped the basics; as for the dojos, he had only successfully challenged two of them.
Lv Liang was stunned... What did Fang Yuan mean?
"I won, so by that calculation, you lost."
"That's not how it works!" Lv Liang said, his nose crooked in frustration, "And I'm almost there, too."
"By the look of it, you're not planning to go back now, are you?" Fang Yuan sized up Lv Liang and tsk-tsked.
Indeed, Lv Liang didn't plan to go back just yet. After half a month here without mastering Qi Fist, he felt somewhat regretful. Although he could continue to explore it on his own when he returned, Lv Liang still wanted to complete the challenge of the five dojos just like Fang Yuan.
So, he negotiated with Feng Yin to stay a few more days, and planned to ask for a few more days off from school.
But now that Fang Yuan was about to leave, Lv Liang was getting anxious.
Fang Yuan took his advantage and ran... Was he even human?
"Are we fighting or not." Lv Liang said.
Fang Yuan shrugged, not minding another battle with Lv Liang.
"Alright," Fang Yuan nodded.
And so, before Fang Yuan left, the two of them fought again, witnessed by Feng Yin.
But the result... was not as Lv Liang had hoped.
Although the Iron Palm Warrior's Gathering Energy Technique had improved and it had also learned Close Combat, facing the Fierce Fire Monkey who had mastered Qi Fist, the previous tie changed. However, it was the Fierce Fire Monkey that won with a slight advantage over the Iron Palm Warrior.
Of course, Lv Liang was not content with this outcome.
"I'll fight again once I'm back at Mo Da," he said, then left those words behind.
"Once the Iron Palm Warrior masters Qi Fist, by then the Fierce Fire Monkey will probably have also learned Close Combat," Feng Yin, who had witnessed Fang Yuan and Lv Liang's growth over the past half month, shook his head.
For the short term, Lv Liang's Iron Palm Warrior and Fang Yuan's Fierce Fire Monkey would be in a game of catch-up. But looking at the bigger picture, the Fierce Fire Monkey, which hadn't evolved yet, had the chance to see a substantial improvement in strength - an advantage the Iron Palm Warrior did not possess.
So, if Lv Liang wanted to surpass Fang Yuan in the cultivation of Combat-style elves, he had to put extra effort in.
As for Fang Yuan, his mood was very calm, or rather, very composed.
Since the Little Phoenix King Cup, he had always been the one chased by his peers, and to this day had not been surpassed. Lv Liang's stubbornness was obviously leading him down a pit, embarking on a road of no return.
...
The next day.
Ice Plain City Airport.
"I'll board the plane first then."
In the airport, Fang Yuan waved to Feng Yin and Cen Mingzhi, who had come to see him off.
Feng Yin silently nodded, while Cen Mingzhi shouted, "Welcome to visit us again!"
Heh... With this weather... I'm never coming back.
Fang Yuan rolled his eyes, "Unless your Ice Plain City gets a Big Mystery, then I might consider returning."