As soon as Natsume’s live stream started, the chat exploded with messages.

  “Dinner’s ready, bros!”

  “Yo, why isn’t the streamer turning on the camera?”

  “Came from the Nico Dou video. SubProtect Toxic is straight-up dirty!”

  Natsume opened Pokémon: Battle while reading the chat.

  “Why isn’t the streamer turning on the camera?—I’ll only show my face when I hit 100,000 subscribers.”

  Instantly, a wave of question marks flooded the chat.

  “???”

  This streamer’s got some personality, huh?

  Sure, his voice is kinda nice, but are he for real?

  “Ten-year fan here, Natsume-sensei is definitely an attractive streamer!”

  “Wait, are there really people who follow Natsume-sensei just for his looks? No way, right?”

  “There’s a clip of Natsume-sensei on the forums. He only appeared for less than five seds, but he’s definitely on the level of a male god!”

  “Male god is too much. I’m just your average guy, barely at the level of a movie star.”

  Natsume said this without batting an eye.

  “Thanks to ‘When is Natsume-sensei’s new movie ing out?’ for the pne gift… It’s ing soon. I just o discuss the script with Diantha first.”

  “Thanks to ‘Natsume-sensei, please hug a female Machamp’ for the ten membership cards… Let’s not talk about female Machamps today.”

  “Today, I’ll tieag you all about Pokémon battles.”

  The chat’s requests were surprisingly unanimous.

  “Streamer, please do a SubProtect Toxic tutorial!”

  “My starter Pokémon is Bulbasaur. I need a detailed tutorial!”

  Natsume g the chat.

  “Thanks to ‘How does Bulbasaur use SubProtect Toxic?’ for the pne gift.”

  “If you afford a starter Pokémon, evolving it into Venusaur shouldn’t be a problem… So let’s talk about Venusaur’s strategic role.”

  Natsume opehe team editor and dragged Venusaur into the lineup.

  “Venusaur has a lot of pystyles. For example, in a sun team, it use Chlorophyll to boost its speed and deal damage.”

  “Or, on top of SubProtect Toxic, it learn Synthesis and Leech Seed to serve as a tank.”

  “Enough talk. Let me show you how it’s done.”

  Switg to the game s, Natsume matched with an iional pyer from the Johto League, with the ID “Wind-like Billiards Boy.”

  “Konnichiwa.”

  Natsume greeted in Japanese while log in Venusaur.

  His oppo’s first Pokémon hlosion named “Explosion Taro.”

  Kanto, Pallet Town

  A girl with an e ponytail gently patted her flushed cheeks and took a deep breath.

  “It’s fi’s just watg a movie together. He probably won’t think too much of it…”

  Mustering her ce, Yellow nervously rang the doorbell. A moment ter, a male voice came through the inter.

  “Oh, it’s you,” Red said with a ugh. “The door’s open. Just e up to the sed floor.”

  Go… go into Red’s house?

  Yellow felt her cheeks burning, but curiosity got the better of her.

  Shouldn’t he be training right now?

  Hesitantly pushing the door open, a figure leaped down from the sed floor and quickly jumped into Yellow’s arms.

  “Pikachu~~!”

  “Long time no see, Pikachu.”

  Yellow smiled warmly, gently petting Pikachu.

  “Pikachu!”

  Pikachu happily jumped down, scurried along the wall, and nimbly climbed up the stairs.

  Looking up, Yellow’s face turned bright red.

  At the top of the stairs, a young man with short bck hair aermined eyes caught Pikachu and pced him on his shoulder, saying with a smile:

  “Yellow, I found a really iing Traioday!”

  Inside Red’s room.

  The room was and tidy, with a et full of trophies, but the furnishings were simple—just a bed and a puter.

  “Make yourself at home!”

  As soon as he said it, Red awkwardly realized that the only chair was already occupied by him.

  “I-I’ll just sit on the bed…”

  Yellow said in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s.

  “That works too.”

  Red scratched his head, then suddenly his eyes lit up.

  “Oh, Yellow, e look at this!”

  Yellow leaned over, brushing the hair from her ear, and asked curiously, “Isn’t this the game you aly?”

  “Pokémon: Battle.”

  Red grinned. “It’s really simir to real battles. You have to give real-time ands through the microphone. I use it to rex when I’m tired from training.”

  “You… even when you’re resting, it’s all battles and battles.”

  Yellow’s cheeks flushed slightly.

  But Red didn’t notice, excitedly saying, “e watch this person’s live stream!”

  “This person’s uanding of Venusaur’s strategy is spot-on!”

  “Uhey’re a powerful Trainer in real life, there’s no way they could have this level of awareness.”

  “Ahh, I really want to battle them and exge tips on raising Venusaur!”

  “Pikachu~!”

  “Haha, Pikachu, you want to battle them tht?”

  Yellow curiously looked at the live stream.

  It was a cssic 6v6 battle, a Master Ball-tier match between “Natsume-sensei, Are You Serving Dioday?” and “Wind-like Billiards Boy.”

  Si was an iional stream, the ptform provided real-time subtitle transtions, allowing the two to uand Natsume-sensei’s entary.

  “How dare they send out Typhlosion! ‘Explosion Taro,’ huh? Watch me Toxic them to death!”

  Despite being at a type disadvantage, Venusaur used “Toxic + Protect” to slowly whittle down Typhlosion.

  After that, Venusaur went on to defeat Ambipom and Sunflora.

  From start to finish, the red team’s “Natsume-sensei” only used Venusaur, achieving a one-versus-three sweep.

  A flood of question marks filled the s.

  “I’m in shock. Beating Typhlosion at a type disadvantage and still at full health!?”

  “Natsume-sensei isn’t serving dinner anymore. My youth is over!”

  “Stop! This isn’t even a Pokémon battle anymore!”

  Yellow murmured, “This ID… could it be…”

  “Ah, it’s probably Gold,” Red said, coughing awkwardly. “I remember he loves pying this game too.”

  In the virtual simution, Venusaur’s Leech Seed formed vihat pierced into Togekiss’s body, tinuously draining its energy.

  Togekiss let out a cry of pain, fpping its wings, but the Air Ssh it unleashed was blocked by a shimmering barrier.

  From the stream, Natsume’s entary could be heard: “Protect or no Protect, they’re gonna explode!”

  “You repce Toxic with Leech Seed, but using both together is eveer!”

  Togekiss’s body turned purple from the poison, while the vines from Leech Seed tio torment it.

  Even if an attack mao nd ohe wound on Venusaur was smaller than a pinky finger, and Natsume had Venusaur use Synthesis…

  The chat was flooded with messages.

  “Please, just be human!”

  “Is this what SubProtect Toxic is? I’m in love!”

  “One-versus-four! Venusaur just swept four!”

  With a thud, Togekiss in the live stream fell from the sky.

  Meanwhile, Venusaur was not only full of energy but also ready for another Synthesis spa session…

  Yellow couldn’t help but softly praise, “The timing is just perfect!”

  “Yeah,” Red nodded. “Even Gold is no match for him.”

  Casual viewers enjoy the spectacle, but experts see the teique.

  Pokémon: Battle, as a real-time and simution, fully reflects a Trainer’s strategic prowess.

  Uhe average viewer, Red and Yellow, both powerful Trainers, saw something deeper—

  Behind the “SubProtect Toxic” strategy recise timing, which tested a Trainer’s and skills to the extreme.

  Ohing was certain: this streamer with the ID “Natsume-sensei, Are You Serving Dioday?” was definitely an experierainer.

  Maybe… even Gold wasn’t his match!

  “Now you know why I skipped training today,” Red said with a grin.

  “Watg other Trainers’ battles is an important part of training too!”

  Yellow wao retort that this was just a game!

  But even if it was a game, it was no less intehan a high-level Pokémon battle.

  With her curiosity burning, Yellow and Red both focused ily on the live stream.