Three days ter, while attending his elective css "Pokémon Battle Studies," Natsume received a notification from the System.

  [Ding—Mission "I'm Not a Millioreamer" pleted!]

  [Mission Description: Upload a video with over a million views.]

  [Mission Reward: 1000 BP Points, Random Skill LV31, Random Purple Item1]

  "Looks like the Minimize Team video has hit a million views," Natsume muttered to himself.

  "With that in mind, reag 100,000 subscribers on my live stream shouldn't be too far off, right?"

  Natsume's live stream subscriber t had been stuck at the 90,000 mark for a while.

  But with the ret surge from the video, it seemed like the day when Natsume-sensei would make his appearance wasn't far away!

  On the field, several pairs of students were engaged in amateurish Pokémon battles.

  Even though Natsume was a Finance major, he still had to take a fair number of Pokémoed courses.

  The elective "Pokémon Battle Studies" was worth four credits.

  It was more or less like a physical education css, where everyone just went through the motions.

  But Gastly seemed to be really into battling, having already defeated Kazuya's Slowpoke five or six times.

  Kazuya's cries echoed across the field: "Slowpoke! Wake up, Slowpoke!"

  Natsume sighed, "It's just Hypnosis, not a knockout. o yell so loud."

  "Ah... is that so?" Kazuya scratched his head.

  Yuuichi, standing nearby, marveled, "Damn, Natsume, you're already training yastly to this level right after catg it?"

  Natsume gave a weird look, "I swear I haven't trai at all. Would you believe me?"

  "You're kidding, right? You're almost as good as the Battle Department students!"

  In truth, Natsume had been too busy with his live streams to train Gastly properly.

  Gastly had mastered the new move "Hypnosis" all on its own, further refining its dirty tactics.

  "Sometimes I feel like I'm just dead weight," Natsume muttered to himself.

  "Does it even matter if I'm here or not?"

  Recalling Gastly, Natsume walked to the side of the field and checked the System.

  [Remaining BP Points: 1570]

  [Ding—The "Pokémon Care Studies" branch, Pokéblock Crafting Lv3, has been unlocked!]

  [Pokéblock Crafting Lv3: You ow craft high-quality Pokéblocks, with an ih knowledge of Berry types and characteristics. Success rate for crafting Pokéblocks increased by 60%. (Natsume-sensei's secret recipe: affordable and filling!)]

  [Random Purple Item*1: Fire Gem]

  [Fire Gem: tains abundant Fire-type energy, enhang a Pokémon's sensitivity to fmes and boosting the power of Fire-type moves. ]

  Looking at the rewards from the million-view mission, Natsume's expression was plicated.

  "This Random Skill isn't bad, sidering how expensive Pokéblocks are."

  "But this Fire Gem... I really want to sell it for cash!"

  The System didn't say these items couldn't be sold.

  But as an unknown seller, Natsume wasn't sure if it was worth the risk.

  After some thought, Natsume sighed.

  "Whatever, Gastly has already mastered Will-O-Wisp. Might as well let it py with this."

  Gastly could absorb energy from objects, and this energy-rich gem would be a great supplement for it.

  With the Fire Gem, Gastly might even improve its mastery of Will-O-Wisp.

  "...Why do I feel like I'm ing closer to being a Trainer?"

  "Wait, no. I shouldn't jinx it."

  "Besides, I 't afford to be a Trainer!"

  It had been a week sihe Worldline shift.

  Natsume had gained a deeper uanding of what it meant to be a Trainer.

  If there was ohing that stood out about the profession, it was the "Krypton Gold" aspect!

  How could you raise a pseudo-legendary without spending millions of Pokémon s?

  How could you afford ae Four-level Pokémon without dropping tens of millions of Pokémon s?

  To a certaient, the amount of "Krypton Gold" directly correted with a Pokémon's strength.

  Even with the System, Natsume wasn't fident he could afford a team of top-tier Pokémon.

  Natsume had once asked Red in the chat group about his monthly expenses for his Pokémon.

  [Natsume-sensei: Red, how much does it cost to maintain your team per month?]

  [The Battler: ...Snorx is the most expensive, around 2000,000 Pokémon s per month.]

  [Blue Oak: 2000,000 Pokémon s isn't too bad.]

  [Yellow: What?! (Σ(°△°|||)︴) My monthly allowance is only 2,000 Pokémon s!]

  [Blue Oak: Well, you only have Raticate and Butterfree. They're cheap to raise.]

  [Yellow: (○｀ 3′○)]

  [Natsume-sensei: 2000,000 Pokémon s for a whole team?]

  [The Battler: No, that's just for one Snorx.]

  Natsume immediately closed the chat group.

  Are you kiddihat's insane!

  Being in the same group as you rich folks is stressi!

  Putting down his phone, Red curiously asked Blue Oak, "Why did he ask that all of a sudden?"

  Blue Oak: "Probably trying to calcute how much it would cost to raise a Gengar."

  Red: "How much did Agatha spend on her Gengar?"

  Blue Oak: "Just 50 million Pokémon s. Not much."

  Red: "True."

  After css, Natsume returo his apartment.

  Aside from feeding Gastly the Fire Gem, he also po test out his new skill.

  [Pokéblock Crafting Lv3: You ow craft high-quality Pokéblocks, with an ih knowledge of Berry types and characteristics. Success rate for crafting Pokéblocks increased by 60%.]

  Pokéblocks provided essential nutrients for Pokémon, and some Trainers would choose specific Pokéblocks to enhance certain stats.

  For example, Petaya Berry Blocks could boost a Pokémon's Special Attack, while Oran Berry Blocks could increase speed.

  Pokéblocks signifitly improved the nutritional efficy of Berries, making them quite expensive.

  As everyone knew, Pokéblocks were categorized into four quality levels: low, medium, high, and perfect.

  "High-quality Pokéblocks should sell for at least 10,000 Pokémon s, right?" Natsume muttered.

  "Maybe I should buy some Berries, turn them into Pokéblocks, ahem for profit?"

  Before he could finish the thought, Natsume spped himself.

  "Get a grip!" he scolded himself. "The profit margin is so small, it's not even worth the effort!"

  "Ugh!"

  "Am I really the type to rely on my looks for money?!"

  In the end, to improve Gastly's diet, Natsume decided to buy a mae.

  A home-use Berry mixer was avaible online for 10,000 Pokémon s.

  After pg the order, Natsume was left with only 5,000 Pokémon s.

  "Ouch!" Natsume wi the expense.

  That evening, a Machamp from the local delivery service carried the bulky Berry mixer up to the sixth floor, startling the ndlord.

  The delivery guy said, "Sign here, please."

  Natsume twitched his lips, pointing at the waist-high mae. "Are you sure this is the home-use version?!"

  "It's the budget model," the delivery guy chuckled awkwardly. "You get what you pay for!"

  The more ied the mae, the more expe was. That was an undeniable truth.

  For 10,000 Pokémon s, this old-fashioned Berry blender was the best Natsume could afford.

  The deafening noise made the ndlord think Natsume was renovating.

  Half an hour ter...

  Natsume stared at the crystal-clear Pokéblock, swallowing hard.

  [Pokéblock Crafting Lv3判定—68! Crafting successful!]

  [Oran Berry Block (High-quality): A basic Pokéblock that restores a Pokémon's HP. (Taste the rainbow!)]

  The fvor of Oran Berries was plex—sweet, sour, bitter, and astri, all depending on luck—but their restorative effects were undeniable.

  Gastly extes long, crimson tongue, deftly scooping up the Pokéblod immediately closing its eyes in delight.

  "Gastly!"

  Gastly: (′▽`〃)

  The look of pure bliss on Gastly's face made Natsume curious.

  "Is it really that good?"

  He bit into a Pokéblock, and the sweet-and-sour taste exploded on his tongue.

  Natsume's mind fshed with images of golde fields, a girl with long hair and a straw hat, shyly turning around...

  Only to reveal Gastly's terrifying face.

  "Ahhh!"

  "Gastly!"

  Gastly happily flew circles around Natsume.

  "Alright, alright, stop pestering me. I'll make you another one!"

  Gastly: （?`▽′?)?