“Holy crap, Brother Natsume, you’re insane!” Kazuya shouted.

  Yuuichi swallowed hard, barely able to believe what he was seeing.

  Did Brother Natsume really just make it to the quarterfinals?

  The Piplup Cup might be a beginner-level tour, but it’s still an officially reized city-level event by the Association!

  Sis iion, no non-specialized testant had ever made it to the top eight.

  And now, Natsume had actually pulled off this incredible feat!?

  Thinking about this, Yuuichi, ired to bee a Trainer, couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy.

  But when he saw the Gastly that was so close to Natsume, Yuuichi shook his head.

  Brother Natsume must have put in a lot of effort, the kind that others don’t see.

  Instead of being jealous, it’s better to foproving myself.

  “Brother Natsume, you’re insane!” Yuuichi and Kazuya cheered together.

  The arena was buzzing with noise.

  A non-specialized Natsume had actually made it to the quarterfinals of the Piplup Cup?

  Just who is this Natsume guy?

  Kazuki, who had also advao the quarterfinals, watched the ech from the audieands and couldn’t help but feel impressed.

  “From the preliminary rounds, the growth speed of this Gastly has been insane,” Kazuki muttered. “As expected of Natsume-sensei. Even training Pokémon is like following a perfect manuscript.”

  At the sidelines, reporters who had been waiting eagerly rushed forward.

  “As a student from the Finance Department, how do you feel about making it to the quarterfinals?”

  “Cssmate Natsume, could you share your manuscript for breeding Gastly?”

  Hearing the reporters’ questions, Natsume pondered for a moment before answering seriously.

  “It’s all about love.”

  The reporters were stunned for a sed, then quickly lowered their heads to jot down notes in their notebooks.

  Meanwhile, Natsume waved to his two roommates in the audieands and headed toward the testant passage.

  Ihe testant passage.

  “Bro, you’re insane! You actually won!” Kazuya was still in shock.

  “It’s not a big deal.”

  Natsume sighed, thinking about having to wake up early agai weekend.

  “It’s all thanks to Gastly’s exceptional performaoday!”

  “Gastly!”

  Gastly floated above Natsume’s head, nodding proudly.

  “You’re also the first non-Pokémon studies testant to make it to the Piplup Cup quarterfinals!”

  Yuuichi swallowed hard.

  “Our css group chat is blowing up right now!”

  Natsume opened his phone, and the s was flooded with 99+ messages. Even his academic advisor and teachers had sent him messages.

  【Academic Advisor: Holy crap, you’re amazing!】

  【Teacher Shota from the Student Affairs Office: Remember t a copy of the Certificate of Honor week. You’ll for the schorship application.】

  【Professor Kenta from the Eics Department: gratutions, Natsume. (smiling emoji)】

  ……

  Natsume had always been on good terms with his teachers, so he replied to each of them before opening the css group chat.

  “Brother Natsume made it to the Piplup Cup quarterfinals!”

  “No way, seriously? Brother Natsume, you’re insane!”

  “I knew Natsume’s predi would win!”

  Natsume was a bit puzzled.

  Is making it to the quarterfinals of a beginner-level tour really that exg?

  But then again, it’s probably like a non-professional runner beating a track athlete.

  Feeling a bit exhausted, Natsume sighed quietly.

  You might not believe this, but…

  Gastly was the one who secretly signed me up for this!

  “Brother Natsume, it’s all thanks to you.”

  Kazuya nudged Natsume. “We got a lot of girls’ tafo!”

  Natsume: ?

  I’m over here battling, and you guys are out there flirting with girls?

  Yuuichi clicked his tongue in amazement. “When you waved at us, some girls immediately came over.”

  Natsume was surprised. “Really?”

  “There was one named Reina, who also advao the quarterfinals. She said she’s a follower of Natsume-sensei.”

  Yuuichi’s expression turrange. “Brother Natsume, is she one of your livestream fans?”

  Natsume looked up at the sky.

  Given his current influe would be weird if no nized him in a tour like this.

  But it’s fine if they do.

  Natsume isn’t some big celebrity who o hide from his followers.

  “I’ll introduce her to you.”

  Yuuichi fiddled with his phone. “She’s from Tokyo Metropolitan Uy’s affiliated high school, but she’s already been admitted to our uy.”

  “Kids these days really mature fast. You wouldn’t even think she’s a senior in high school!”

  Natsume ughed. “I’ll pass. Just remember to gather some intel orategy for me!”

  Yuuichi’s eyes lit up. “Got it!”

  Back at home, Natsume checked his system.

  【Remaining BP: 2050】

  This battle had earned him 200 BP points. While it wasn’t as much as posting a video, it was still a det gain.

  Thinking ba the battle, what surprised Natsume the most was how Gastly had swallowed Nidorino’s Poison Sting.

  But Gastly has a quadruple resistao poison, so Nidorino’s Poison Sting might as well have been a snack fastly.

  Plus, with Gastly’s current strength, it’s about time to start researg Toxic moves.

  Natsume rubbed his , looking worriedly at the lively Gastly.

  Last time, while training Will-O-Wisp, Gastly actally set the house on fire. If we’re training Toxic this time…

  Despite the risks, Gastly’s strength ’t just stay stagnant.

  After some thought, Natsume opehe system shop.

  【Would you like to spend 2000 BP to exge for ‘Poison Gem’?】

  While a 10x gacha might have a ce to directly pull a ‘Poison Gem,’ Natsume, with his non-gacha luck, decided to py it safe and exge directly.

  【Exge successful! Remaining BP: 50】

  The Poison Gem, like the Fire Gem, was filled with energy that Gastly could absorb directly.

  Sihe gem had a sturdy shell and wasn’t radioactive, Natsume didn’t have to worry about any poison leaking out.

  【Poison Gem: A dark purple gem taining highly toxic metallic elements, suitable for Poison-type Pokémon to e. (Just go for it, let’s do this!)】

  Taking out the Poison Gem, which looked like a mesmerizing amethyst, Natsume couldn’t help but marvel.

  “No woeven’s always digging for stones around the world. This thing really does look amazing!”

  Gastly stared eagerly at the Poison Gem in Natsume’s hand, drooling all over the pce.

  “Gastly (ˉ﹃ˉ)”

  Natsume hahe Poisoo Gastly. “Make sure you call me when you’re training. Don’t take any risks on your own!”

  Gastly’s eyes lit up as it happily grabbed the Poison Gem, lookiermined.

  “Gastly!” (Leave it to me!)

  Gastly, holding the Poison Gem in its mouth, floated unsteadily to the desk.

  Using its tongue, Gastly pulled open the drawer and carefully took out the 【Toxiuscript】, pg it on the desk befiving Natsume a goofy smile.

  Gastly: (?′?`?)

  Natsume couldn’t help but smile.

  The Piplup Cup quarterfinals would begi Wednesday.

  Before that, there would be some pre-event hype.

  Natsume calcuted the time and realized that the finals would likely cide with the end of his semester.

  “Time to get serious about studying,” Natsume sighed.

  “And the Piplup Cup too. Since I’ve made it this far, I should give it my all!”

  If yoing to do something, do it to the best of your ability.

  That was Natsume’s life motto.

  But just as Natsume pulled out his books, ready to study with Gastly, his phone buzzed.

  A message from a special ta Line.

  【Cabbage Ice Cream: Get online. Let’s py.】

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