-123- Apprentice Tongsi (Please Subscribe!)

“Heartflow Apprentice”? Tong Si felt that title sounded rather strange.

“Senior Sister... No, I suppose I should call you Martial Sister now?”

Tong Si scratched his cheek, finding the form of address rather awkward.

“Either is fine. Call me whatever you like.”

Shi Yuexin was not particular about it and did not mind whatever Tong Si chose to call her.

Even if he called her by her name, she really would not care.

“All right, Martial Sister... I wanted to ask, how exactly did I pass the assessment? And what was the assessment about?”

Tong Si was still rather baffled about how he had managed to join the Heartflow Dojo.

He had merely entered that room and meditated for a while, and that was enough to pass?

“The assessment was to remain calm in that room for two hours. Although you shouted loudly in the middle of it, you quieted down again soon enough.”

As she spoke, Shi Yuexin pointed toward the character “Silence,” which could be seen throughout the dojo.

“The guiding principle of the Heartflow Dojo is stillness. If you cannot calm your mind, there is no way to awaken your own psychic potential, much less reach the state of unity between human and Pokémon. If you wish to achieve a spiritual resonance with your Pokémon, the first thing you must do is learn to quiet your mind.”

“The assessment for our Heartflow Dojo is therefore very simple: remain alone in that room for two hours. As long as you can stay there quietly by yourself, you pass.”

Hearing Shi Yuexin’s explanation, Tong Si finally understood.

So that was how it worked?

No wonder Shi Yuexin had not told him the assessment beforehand and had simply led him into the room.

Apart from shouting twice in the middle, Tong Si had remained quiet for the rest of the time.

He had neither released his Pokémon to keep himself company nor fallen into a deep sleep.

For the most part, he had remained in a meditative state.

In truth, during the final hour, Tong Si had been reflecting on what Shi Yuexin had taught him about the heartflow over the past few days at the Heartflow Club.

It had looked like meditation, but he had actually been comprehending psychic power.

And that had happened to allow him to pass the assessment?

It really had been an unexpected result.

“Then, as an apprentice of the Heartflow Dojo, what do I need to do?” Tong Si asked.

“There is nothing in particular that you need to do. Once you become an apprentice, you may enter and leave the Heartflow Dojo freely. Aside from basic meditation and cultivating your understanding of heartflow, you may also have your Pokémon learn Psychic-type moves here. The dojo is filled with far richer Psychic-type energy than the Psychic room at the Pokémon Battle Club, making it much more suitable for learning Psychic-type moves.”

“Moreover, all Psychic-type move instruction at the Heartflow Dojo is free of charge. Whether it is studying heartflow or learning moves, neither costs anything. Of course, as a dojo apprentice, you must pay a yearly fee in League Coins to cover the dojo’s daily expenses.”

Shi Yuexin truthfully explained the dojo’s rules and arrangements to Tong Si.

She was also leaving the decision of whether to join the Heartflow Dojo entirely up to him.

Tong Si had passed the assessment, but whether he joined was his own choice.

The dojo would never force an apprentice to stay.

After thinking it over briefly, Tong Si chose to join the Heartflow Dojo without hesitation.

In any case, the Heartflow Dojo did not restrict anyone’s freedom.

It would not interfere with his plans to leave on his traveling study tour in a few days.

The sole rule of the Heartflow Dojo was that neither disciples nor apprentices could commit any serious violation of principle.

In other words, they could not break any laws established by the League.

Anyone who did so would be expelled immediately.

Tong Si could understand that.

It was not unique to the Heartflow Dojo. Most gyms and dojos would have the same rule.

Under other circumstances, the Heartflow Dojo would not take the initiative to expel an apprentice. An apprentice could choose to leave at any time, and the dojo would not stop them.

However, anyone who left the dojo was forbidden from publicizing anything related to it. Otherwise, they would bear the consequences.

Tong Si paid the required annual fee of two hundred thousand League Coins.

From that moment onward, he officially became an apprentice of the Heartflow Dojo.

“Two hundred thousand just to buy the title of Heartflow Dojo apprentice?”

Tong Si twisted his mouth, thinking that he absolutely could not let those two hundred thousand League Coins go to waste.

After receiving his apprentice card, Tong Si went to an empty room.

The Heartflow Dojo was enormous, with a great many vacant rooms.

Each room was filled with an exceptionally dense concentration of Psychic-type energy.

According to legend, the Heartflow Dojo possessed a massive meteorite from beyond the heavens that constantly emitted Psychic-type energy.

“Come on out, all three of you!”

Tong Si released Electabuzz, Eevee, and Shuckle.

Since they had come to a place so rich in Psychic-type energy, they naturally had to make good use of it.

“Try to comprehend the Psychic-type energy in this room. I think it should be able to increase the power of your Psychic-type moves. Especially you, Shuckle.”

Tong Si looked at Shuckle, which knew more Psychic-type moves than the other two Pokémon.

Even so, Shuckle’s use of Psychic-type moves was still rather mediocre.

Not only was each move painfully slow to cast, but it occasionally failed altogether.

That showed that Shuckle’s understanding of psychic power was still inadequate, and that it was not yet skilled enough at releasing Psychic-type moves.

“Shu...”

Shuckle tightly shut its eyes and began to sense the Psychic-type energy lingering in the room.

Before long, it felt as though the energy had filled its entire body.

Electabuzz sat down cross-legged where it stood. The only Psychic-type move it knew was Light Screen.

At that moment, a luminous shield appeared in front of it.

Compared with the Light Screen it usually created, the one today seemed somewhat larger.

As for Eevee, it scratched its ears and cheeks in confusion.

It understood the principle, but it did not know any Psychic-type moves. Why had Tong Si released it?

Tong Si looked at Eevee and suddenly realized that there seemed to be only two Psychic-type moves it could learn.

One was Rest, and the other was Stored Power.

If Eevee evolved into Espeon, it would be able to learn many Psychic-type moves.

“Eevee, try to comprehend the Psychic-type energy. It may prove useful someday.”

Tong Si gave Eevee a reminder.

As for Eevee’s various evolutionary forms, Tong Si felt that sooner or later he would have to let it experience each of them.

That naturally included Espeon.

Since that was the case, there was no harm in beginning its study of psychic power ahead of time.

“Vee~”

Following the example of the other two Pokémon, Eevee began absorbing the Psychic-type energy.

And surprisingly, it imitated them quite well.

At that moment, Shuckle suddenly began to drool.

Seeing this, Tong Si could not help smacking Shuckle lightly on the head.

Smack!

Had the little rascal actually fallen asleep?

“Shu-shuckle!”

Shuckle woke with a start.

“Shuckle, I told you to comprehend Psychic-type energy, not the move Rest!” Tong Si scolded.

“Shu... shuckle...”

Shuckle scratched its head, indicating that it was sorry.

The Psychic-type energy was simply too dull. It just could not absorb it properly!

...To be continued.