"Ding ling ling—"

  Natsume opened his groggy eyes, staring at the ceiling, a out a long yawn.

  "Just another ordinary day."

  It was the weekend, and the Pikachu arm clo his bedside table showed it was already noon, but Natsume had just gotten up.

  Heading to the bathroom, while waiting for the water to run, Natsume quickly ordered some takeout.

  "Dodrio Express, Pelipper Fresh... Hah, the hese shops e up with are getting more creative by the day."

  Several ores had names inspired by Pokémon, which made Natsume feel a sense of familiarity.

  Look, this is what you call the world's number one IP! (Tactical lean back)

  Without giving it much thought, Natsume casually ordered a "29.9 Pokémon s Farfetch'd bo (with free ftbread)" a his phone aside to start washing his face.

  "Spsh—"

  He cupped a handful of water and spshed it on his face.

  The mirror reflected a tall, handsome young man with cssical Greek features.

  His hair was disheveled, and the thick dark circles under his eyes only made his gaze seem more profound.

  It made one sigh in admiration—even dark circles looked like natural eye bags on someohis good-looking.

  It was truly retable.

  After finishing his m routine, Natsume returo his rented room and fortably sank into his gaming chair.

  He turned on his puter, ehe password "Sakurajima Mai," and the Pikachu ssaver lit up.

  "Pikachu(?′?`?)~?!"

  Natsume skillfully opened Nico Dou and started searg for today's video to watch while eating.

  As a freshman at Tokyo Metropolitan Uy and a part-time gaming tent creator on Nico Dou, Natsume's main tent revolved arouing and entating on Pokémon battles.

  With his uyle and expertise, he had attracted nearly 100,000 followers.

  Although Natsume himself was a high-ranking pyer in the petitive se, having once reached as high as 7th in the world rankings, his luck was notoriously bad. He was even infamous for a "Hydro Pump triple MISS" moment.

  This was why his audieen teased him about his "eaining" gamepy.

  Between streaming and making videos—

  Natsume rented a pce off-campus and only went to the uy for csses.

  "Huh?"

  As Natsume browsed the homepage, he muttered, "Why are there so many Pokémoed reendations today?"

  "Has Pokémon's popurity surged again?"

  Out of the ten reended videos on the homepage, eight of them were reted to Pokémon.

  【Bear Grylls: Look what we found, a wild Caterpie】

  【Trump X Gumshoos: Nobody knows Pokémoer than me】

  【Suggested Edit: Spsh】

  【Huanong: My buddy's Berries are ripe, let's go pie】

  ...

  "Something's off about today's homepage."

  "What's with the Caterpie? Six times the protein of beef?"

  "And Berries... surely they don't mean Oran Berries or Sitrus Berries, right..."

  Natsume scratched his head, utterly fused, and switched to the gamiion. His eyes suddenly widened.

  The battle video he had uploaded st night had shot straight to the top of the gamiion!

  Natsume gulped and shakily clicked on the video titled 【Natsume-seeaches Battling 03: SubProtect Toxic】.

  He took a deep breath.

  "Something's off about today's homepage."

  "What's with this Caterpie? Six times the protein of beef?"

  "And Berries... surely they don’t mean Oran Berries or Sitrus Berries, right..."

  Natsume scratched his head, utterly fused, and switched to the gamiion. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

  The battle video he had uploaded st night had shot straight to the top of the gamiion!

  Natsume gulped and shakily clicked on the video titled 【Natsume-seeaches Battling 03: SubProtect Toxic】.

  He took a deep breath.

  "1.2 million views!?"

  What the hell, I’m freaking out!

  "Cover letter notification."

  "Learned something new, gonna try this against the Gym Leader now."

  "Please, just be human for once!"

  After staring in disbelief for a while, Natsume chuckled as he scrolled through the barrage of ents, but a hint of doubt crept into his mind.

  "SubProtect Toxic" is such a basic strategy, how did it suddenly blow up?

  Did some big shot in the gaming unity give me a shoutout?

  But I haven’t been doing any behind-the-ses deals tely.

  Rubbing his , Natsume scrolled down to the ents se.

  In the ents, a verified level 6 at with the ID "The Battler" had posted a detailed expnation of the "SubProtect Toxic" strategy.

  【The Battler: "SubProtect Toxic" refers to a strategy where a Pokémon learns the moves "Toxic," "Substitute," and "Protect," and uses them as the core of its battle pn.

  In battles, the Trainer o have exceptional adaptability to execute this strategy effectively.

  The tent creator has already expihe meics of this strategy i detail.

  Grass-type and Poison-type Trainers have a natural advantage and should study this guide carefully.

  Thank you to the tent creator for such a high-quality tutorial!

  PS: Seems like this osted in the wroion; it would fit better itle se.】

  After reading this lengthy ent, a huge question mark popped up in Natsume’s mind.

  What’s this "Battle se"?

  Since when did Nico Dou have a "Battle" category?

  The replies below included: "Master Ball catch!" "Holy crap, it’s the real deal!" "Red, mom loves you!"

  Scratg his head, Natsume gave "The Battler’s" ent a like and casually clicked on their profile.

  In an instant, a cold sweat dripped down Natsume’s forehead.

  "Renowned tent creator itle se, champion of the 9th Indigo Pteau ference, Pokémon Masters League Champion..."

  Natsume stammered, barely able to get his words out.

  "Red!?"

  "You’ve got to be kidding me. Red is the protagonist from the Pokémon Special manga, how is he a tent creator on Nico Dou!?"

  Clig on Red’s photo gallery, Natsume was met with the image of a cheerful young man in his early twenties.

  He wore a red cap, a bck tank top with a red vest, and a fluffy Pikachu perched on his shoulder.

  If this was a cospy, it was ten times more accurate than Natsume had ever imagined!

  And this real-life Pikachu was incredibly cute, just like the one from Pokémoive Pikachu!

  Natsume was pletely dumbfounded.

  "Okay, don’t panic. Stay calm, stay calm!"

  "Here’s what happened: I woke up this m, found my video had gone viral, and a big shot showed up in the ents."

  "This big shot is a world champion, the protagonist of the Pokémon world, Red."

  "Ha! Once you break it down like that, it all makes sense!"

  "...Makes no se all!"

  "Did I get transported to another world, or is this world just messed up?"

  "Did the timeline verge, and now Red is a tent creator!?"

  Natsume was traio handle even the most absurd situations.

  But this...

  Just as Natsume’s brain was about to short-circuit, his phone suddenly rang.

  "Hello, your takeout is here. Please e to the window to pick it up."

  "Oh, okay."

  Natsume walked to the window, only to suddenly remember he was on the sixth floor.

  You wao e to the window on the sixth floor? Are you pnning to deliver it with a Pidgeotto or something!?

  Suddenly, a shadow swooped by, and a rge, brightly feathered bird with a majestic crest nded on the windowsill. Its long beak held a takeout bag, and it waved a wing at Natsume with a cheerful grin.

  Natsume stood frozen like a statue.

  The delivery guy shouted from downstairs.

  "Don’t fet to leave a good review!"

  Natsume couldn’t even remember how he took the takeout bag from the Pidgeotto’s beak.

  All he could recall was the sight outside his window: flocks of Pidgey flying across the sky, Oddish toddling around in the flowerbeds of the neighborhood, and a Rapidash galloping gracefully along the overpass.

  His ndlord was walking through the neighborhood, leading an e-furred, bck-striped Growlithe, and waved at Natsume with a smile.

  "The Pokémon world... has merged with reality..."

  Natsume stood there for a long time, looking up at the sky, feeling his eyes grow moist.

  Eighteen years... it’s beeeen long years.

  I finally made it to this day!