While she might not be extremely wealthy, but compared to ordinary people, she is definitely a super rich woman!
As long as she didn't splurge recklessly on Pokémon-related luxuries, her fortune could easily last a lifetime.
"Wait a minute, Sister Lee. I don't want Pokécoins, nor do I need any other conditions. I want to learn psychic ability!"
Shaking his head, Nathan said with a mix of exasperation and amusement.
He was clearly a devoted and loyal man—so why did this beautiful woman keep having such… indecent thoughts about him?
But then again, he could understand.
A stunning widow like Serene Lee would probably stir up feelings in most—if not all—the young men who came to challenge her gym.
Not only was she wealthy, but she was also drop-dead gorgeous.
"Oh, psychic ability? That's a small matter. As long as you have the talent, I guarantee you'll learn it here!"
Serene froze for a moment, a faint blush flashing across her pretty face before she quickly returned to her usual calm and nonchalant demeanor.
The more beautiful a woman, the better she is at lying.
The ancients did not deceive me!
Sighing inwardly, Nathan outwardly smiled calmly. "Then, we have a deal."
To be honest, Nathan didn't think much of the psychic ability in this world.
Even someone like Serene struggled to hold her own against powerful Pokémon—
Let alone using powers like in the anime from his past life, where people could shrink others or even overpower Pokémon with psychic strength.
Those powers were more impressive than the Psychic-type Pokémon themselves!
But then he checked the system shop.
Basic psychic abilities cost a whopping 200 million.
Psychic abilities on the level of someone like Sabrina? At least a billion!
Not to mention the incredibly rare Aura abilities—that was a whole other level.
So, as a broke man with no funds, Nathan could only start training with Serene first.
Maybe, just maybe, he could save a few hundred million that way.
Interestingly,
even the system's so-called basic psychic abilities were stronger than Serene's.
Floating in the air, stopping bullets—those were standard operations.
And best of all, the system could allow Nathan to master them regardless of talent.
Otherwise, given how stingy the system usually was, there's no way the price would be so high.
…
That afternoon.
Wendy split up with Dyson, Anna, and Nathan to handle separate tasks.
She went off to choose a studio, buy equipment, and find a place to stay.
Meanwhile, Nathan followed Serene to the gym to test his psychic potential.
Ideally, he hoped to learn something by the end of the day.
If not, a day or two of delay wasn't a big deal.
The Spring City and the secret realm weren't going anywhere—they weren't avalanching mountains or anything.
That said,
Nathan was still shocked when he finally saw how the psychic potential test was conducted.
"Meditation? Seriously?"
He couldn't help but feel a bit disillusioned.
…
Staring at the bizarre and ancient-looking mental imagery diagrams in front of him, Nathan couldn't help but feel a little speechless.
He had assumed that, if nothing else, Serene would at least use psychic ability to assess his aptitude.
But no such luck.
Instead, Serene just smiled and said cheerfully,
"I don't know why you're making that face, but hurry up and meditate!"
"As long as you can solidify one of these images in your mind, it means you have talent!"
Looking at the ten or more age-worn visualization diagrams in front of him, Nathan finally understood why the psychics in this world were so weak.
Turns out Serene and others treated psychic ability as a form of mental or kinetic energy.
Some might even believe it to be magic.
But in reality, according to the system store, psychic power was something extremely simple.
At its core, it was just like a person's physical strength—you could grow it just by training the body.
Doing elderly-style Tai Chi every day was basically useless!
Still, Nathan obediently began his meditation.
He knew Serene was on the wrong track, but everything had to start somewhere.
Even if it was just a tiny spark of psychic power, it was something he could work with.
The so-called "meditation" here
was simply repeatedly imprinting an image into your mind—not necessarily clearly—and continuously deepening the memory.
Talented individuals could finish in half a day.
Average people might take a day or a week.
But for those who were incompatible with psychic ability, no amount of effort could help—it was like hitting a brick wall.
Just like how Nathan was with math in his previous life.
A person under pressure could accomplish anything… except math.
If you couldn't do it, then you just couldn't—putting a knife to your throat wouldn't help.
"Tsk tsk, you're entering the zone so quickly? Guess I shouldn't disturb you then."
Seeing Nathan sitting cross-legged, half-asleep in deep focus, Serene smiled even more.
She quietly left the room and went off to teach her students in the dojo.
Just as Nathan suspected,
this world's version of psychic ability—fused with local culture—had definitely gone astray.
Aside from practicing on wooden dummies, Serene's teachings focused mostly on how to meditate.
If this were a cultivation or magical world, she'd be a great teacher.
But here? If Nathan saw this, he'd definitely want to run!
Even without this issue, Nathan had no plans to stay longer than a day.
Back in Spring City, Grass-type Pokémon were still waiting for him.
He also hadn't forgotten about the Dark Spirit organization.
…
Time slowly passed. The sky grew dim.
By late night, when Nathan opened his eyes again, a faint glimmer of light flashed through them.
"So, this is psychic energy, huh?"
Staring at a strand of hair floating in the air, Nathan grinned.
He could feel it—that unique power extending through his body and soul.
Like learning to crawl, then run… It was an incredible sensation.
"Now that the seed has sprouted, I don't need the visualization diagrams anymore."
Rubbing his forehead, Nathan dispersed the psychic energy holding up the strand of hair.
Maybe it was just his imagination,
but he felt those diagrams were only good for awakening basic powers—nothing more.
They might strengthen someone's willpower, sure, but Nathan didn't need that kind of abstract nonsense right now.
So, in the deep of night,
he began working to erase the mental images etched into his mind.
When it comes to memories, it's usually hard to control them consciously.
Whether you're trying to remember or forget—it's a struggle.
But Nathan had already brushed up against the threshold of mastery,
and before the sun rose, he finally erased all the meditation images from his mind.
…
"Looks like things went well for you."
Serene smiled softly as she saw Nathan waking up, a facial mask still plastered on her face.
In Serene's view, psychic power was akin to martial arts.
The best time to train was from early childhood.
But since Nathan wanted to learn, she wouldn't stop him.
All in all, it had taken one afternoon and one night—his talent was barely passable.
She figured it was more of a novelty for him than anything else.
But Nathan's thoughts were on a completely different level.
Now that he'd gotten even a sliver of psychic power, he bought a spoon and got on a plane.
Fun fact: he'd already booked the ticket yesterday afternoon.
Sitting in the soft seat, Nathan stared intently at the spoon in front of him.
Psychic Power Training 101!
Move the spoon. Bend the spoon. And… he couldn't remember the rest.
Still, Nathan wasn't too worried.
If needed, he could always buy training methods from the system store.
If only he weren't so poor, he wouldn't have to grind so hard just to save a few hundred million…
"Even in the Pokémon world, a billion is no small amount!"
Shaking his head, Nathan sighed with emotion.
Compared to the ordinary world,
money in the Trainer and Pokémon industries almost didn't feel like real money anymore—
It was starting to feel as devalued as yen.
But the truth was, Pokécoins hadn't depreciated.
It's just that Pokémon, as an entirely new force in this world—one powerful enough to determine the outcome of wars…