Chapter 69

As the saying goes, a person's hairline is often seen as a reflection of their strength.

On the second day, Damien, who was just a step away from becoming a top expert, arrived at Luke's house with his computer.

"Take a look... What do you think of this design for the startup interface?"

"So fast?" Luke was slightly surprised.

"Yeah... I didn't sleep at all last night!"

Damien pointed to the dark circles under his eyes that had turned blue.

While they were discussing, Eevee curiously observed the pink creature in front of it.

With a chubby body, curled ears, lifeless eyes, and a long pink tail, it opened its large mouth, appearing to have a question mark floating above its forehead.

"Stay?" Slowpoke's eyes seemed vacant.

"Vui~?" Eevee tilted its head and playfully waved its paw in front of Slowpoke.

"Stay..."

Slowpoke remained indifferent, let out a long yawn, squinted its eyes, and comfortably drifted into sleep.

"Ei... Vui~ (*･ω-q)"

In the slightly chilly room, Eevee rubbed its sleepy eyes and nimbly hopped onto Luke's knees.

"What's the matter?"

Luke was momentarily taken aback while writing code, then smiled and caressed Eevee's fluffy fur.

"If you're sleepy, go to bed. I'll call you when it's time for dinner."

"Vui~ ..."

Eevee nodded cleverly, gently wagging its tail, and drifted into a cute slumber.

With a smile, Damien said, "Eevee, you're such a good one!"

As Luke stroked Eevee's furry tail, he glanced at the sofa which bore the marks of Eevee's claws.

"Yes... Cute," Luke said with a wry smile.

The art materials were sourced from Smeargles at the Magic City Academy of Fine Arts.

These Smeargles were professionally trained, and even their hand-drawn illustrations were skillful. Creating Q-version Pokémon art posed no difficulty for them.

It was rumored that these Academy of Fine Arts students had a heightened sense of crisis...

No matter how hard they worked, they might not be able to match up to Pokémon!

Of course, there were also students who adopted a different approach.

Since they couldn't surpass Pokémon, they decided to raise a Smeargle themselves...

As the sun began to set, Eevee's soft grunts suddenly ceased. It opened its eyes and looked around the room.

The sun's rays streamed in through the window, casting a gentle halo on Luke's earnestly working profile.

"Vui~!" Eevee tugged at a bell to indicate its hunger.

But Luke merely patted its head. "Just wait a little longer, I'm almost done!"

Eevee nimbly hopped down from Luke's knee and made its way to the living room. Slowpoke lay under the air conditioner, a blissful expression on its face as drool pooled at the corner of its mouth.

Eevee circled Slowpoke three times, sniffed, and inched closer to the pink tail.

With shining eyes, Eevee opened its mouth wide and took a bite.

In the silence of the room, three seconds later, Slowpoke's eyes blinked open. "Stay?"

Slowpoke stared at the innocent-looking Eevee, perplexed as it chewed on its own tail.

Hmm...

I thought... I caught a fish...

Slowpoke yawned, ready to drift back into slumber, when suddenly, pain jolted through its tail, causing its eyes to widen.

"Stay!!"

...

Luke considered inviting Damien to stay for dinner.

However, Damien jokingly remarked that if he stayed, the dinner might include braised Slowpoke tail.

Fortunately, Slowpoke possessed the Regenerator Ability, and the tooth marks on its tail would disappear after a while.

Slowpoke waved goodbye with a forgetful smile, indicating it had enjoyed the day.

"Jie jie~ (¯﹃¯)"

Haunter wiped its drool and stared at the fading Slowpoke.

Luke looked bemused. "Next time you visit... both of you, be careful."

"I don't know... I thought maybe it was a food delivery!"

"Vui~!"

Eevee was the first to react, wagging its tail and letting out a charming yawn.

"Huh? Your long memory is impressive, not cute..."

Saying this, Luke rubbed his eyes and yawned, "Why do I suddenly feel so sleepy?"

Before he could finish speaking, Luke's head drooped backward.

Just in time, Haunter caught Luke by the shoulder.

"Jie jie~?" Haunter looked at Eevee with confusion.

Eevee playfully stuck out its tongue and lightly licked the dark circles under Luke's eyes.

Then it turned its head away, as if saying, "It's not my fault."

Over the past two days, Luke had been engrossed in writing code for the new game's production, leading to some serious sleep deprivation.

Eevee thought to itself that this might be a way for Luke to earn money for their living expenses.

However, proper rest was still necessary.

Eevee's [Yawn] Ability should allow its owner to get a good night's sleep.

"Jie jie~! (ノ￣▽￣)"

Haunter also chimed in, saying that it had unlocked a new Ability of its own.

Understood, next time I'll use [Hypnosis] to put him into a deep slumber!

With that, Haunter gently guided Luke to the bed, covered him with a blanket, and then floated above him with a pale expression.

Eevee and Haunter exchanged glances, their smiles reflecting the success of their plan.

"Jie jie~?" (Time to train?)

"Vui~..." (I'm so hungry...)

Haunter's face turned slightly pale as it hovered above Luke's head.

They would have to wait until Luke woke up.

...

After this restful sleep, Luke felt incredibly refreshed upon waking up.

He was just a bit disoriented from the deep sleep.

As he opened his eyes, he was greeted by Haunter, who had a pitiful expression on its face.

"Jie jie~ !ﾍ(;´Д｀ﾍ)"

With a reluctant smile, Luke said, "Alright, I get it. Let's go train, just for you two!"

Getting out of bed, Luke scratched his head and cast a slightly suspicious look at Haunter.

He had a strange feeling, as if he'd been hit with Conan's tranquilizer dart...

However, Haunter couldn't be the culprit. Its Hypnosis Ability emits a blue light, which was not present.

So, Luke turned his gaze to Eevee, who was curled up in the corner.

Though it seemed asleep, it was unmistakably aware of Luke's eyes on it. It stiffened but kept its eyes closed.

Adjusting his nonexistent glasses, Luke contemplated.

There could be only one truth!

Eevee had learned [Yawn] from Slowpoke in secret over the course of the afternoon!

[Yawn: Induces drowsiness, causing the target to fall into a deep sleep state, resulting in deep sleep on the next turn.]

As Luke observed the new move in the system list, he sighed in both surprise and amusement.

Learning a move in just one afternoon and mastering it so quickly...

The efficiency of this learning process was remarkably high!

If Eevee couldn't wake up from its own move, wouldn't it catch a cold?

Luke couldn't help but think, even wild Pokémon could pose a threat, let alone one's own Pokémon.

Being a Trainer was truly hazardous!

"Wait a minute... Yawn isn't an Inherited Ability, so why did it appear directly in the list?"

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Luke examined the list more closely, and his expression suddenly lit up with excitement.

In Eevee's move list, there were more [Mimic] moves that allowed it to mimic opponents' moves.

Thanks to [Mimic], Eevee was able to quickly learn Slowpoke's Yawn.

Adding Eevee's natural ability to Mimic, it could swiftly master [Yawn].

Using Mimic would undoubtedly be faster than traditional learning.

"I can learn Slowpoke's moves so rapidly..."

Luke marveled at this development.

"Uchiha Gengar, forget about it."

"Could it be that... Eevee, you're also familiar with ninjutsu?!"