The sed round of the Piplup Cup’s group stage had begun, and the media was buzzing with excitement.

  Every reporter had caught wind of the he Trainer of that Gastly was about to make an appearance!

  Outside the testarance, a crowd of reporters with their equipment in tow had gathered.

  Even the semi-finals in previous years hadn’t drawn this much attention.

  Thanks to the anizers’ marketing and hype, Gastly had bee one of the most talked-about dark horses of this tour!

  “Look, is that the guy?”

  “Yeah, yeah! That’s the oh the Gastly!”

  A tall, handsome young man in a white shirt, with a Poké Ball clipped to his waist and a faintly visible Gastly floating above his head, walked fidently toward the arena.

  Reporters rushed toward Natsume, cameras and micropho the ready.

  “Do you feel fident about this match?”

  “Why didn’t you participate in the previous rounds?”

  “What’s your expected ranking?”

  Natsume smiled politely at the cameras. “I’ll just do my best and hope for s.”

  Natsume’s actual thoughts: It’s so hot… I just want to go bad enjoy the AC!

  “Gastly!”

  Seeing Natsume drenched i, Gastly snickered quietly.

  Sucks to be you, huh? I’m a Ghost type—heat doesn’t bother me!

  The matchups had been decided. Natsume was set to face a third-year high school student from Nara Asuka High School.

  Students pursuing the Trainer path could apply for early admission to Pokémon Academy through petitions, interviews, and other means.

  But clearly, the high school student’s and skills were nowhere near Natsume’s level.

  During the battle, Natsume’s predis were so precise that it felt like he was toying with his oppo.

  “Why does it seem like Gastly knows every move Butterfree is going to make?”

  “It’s a differen strength. Butterfree ’t keep up with Gastly’s speed!”

  “No, it’s Natsume’s ands—they’re just too sharp!”

  Butterfree, its wings engulfed in Will-O-Wisp, let out a mournful cry as it plummeted from the sky.

  At the same time, the referee’s fg sighe end of the match.

  “Whoa, where did this dark horse e from?!”

  “I heard he’s from Tokyo Metropolitan Uy, but he’s not even a battle major!”

  “The matext door is over too!”

  In the adjat arena, Sakurako from Tokyo Metropolitan Uy had pletely dominated her oppo from Yokohama National Uy.

  Sakurako’s Granbull once again showcased the strength of a Fairy-type specialist family—

  In internal battles, I hold back; iernal battles, I go all out!

  “How did I win again…?”

  Natsume recalled Gastly, looking utterly puzzled.

  As he was leaving through the testarance, a figure suddenly blocked his path.

  The person was tall and nky, with a Poké Ball clipped to his shorts and aed expression.

  “Natsume-sensei?”

  The young man excimed, “I’m Kazuki, one of your followers! I even have a Level 10 badge in your live stream!”

  Natsume thought for a moment but couldn’t recall the name.

  Still, if he had a Level 10 badge, he must be a long-time fan.

  Natsume smiled warmly. “Oh, it’s you! Take your time, no rush.”

  “My live stream ID is ‘How Does Bulbasaur SubProtect Toxic,’” Kazuki said, scratg his head with a sheepish grin. “Thanks to your advice, it’s already evolved!”

  “Not bad, using a Starter Pokémon trio as your starter!” Natsume said, surprised. “Are you peting in this touroo?”

  “Yeah, I’ve already advao the Top 16!”

  Natsume paused, suddenly remembering that Yuuichi had mentiohis guy before.

  A freshman itle Department at Osaka Uy, Kazuki came from a family of seasoned Grass-type Trainers. He had already passed the school team sele in his first year.

  In terms of background and strength, Kazuki was on par with Sakurako, if not stronger!

  “That’s great! Keep it up in the rounds and aim for the championship!” Natsume patted Kazuki on the shoulder.

  “No, no, no!” Kazuki shook his head vigorously. “With you in the petition, I’ll be lucky to get sed pce.”

  “My Gastly might not eve your Bulbasaur!” Natsume said, half-ughing, half-exasperated.

  “Don’t joke around! If yht out your other Pokémon, everyone here bined wouldn’t stand a ce!”

  Kazuki had seen Natsume’s strategic prowess firsthand—even Sinnoh’s Grass-type Gym Leader wasn’t a match for him.

  If Natsume-sensei wasn’t a powerful Trainer, how could he have such impeccable strategic thinking?

  The only clusion was that Natsume-sensei had just caught a Gastly and happeo ehe Piplup Cup.

  Natsume-sensei, who usually looked down on begiours, had only joio level up Gastly.

  The fact that Natsume-sensei hadn’t participated in the first two rounds a Gastly battle on its oroof enough!

  “Just being in the same tour as you is an honor!” Kazuki bowed deeply.

  In a way, Kazuki’s reasoning wasirely off.

  A Trainer’s strength is a bination of their and skills and their Pokémon’s abilities.

  Could someone who could go toe-to-toe with a master Trainer like Natsume-sensei only have one Gastly?

  Absolutely not!

  Plus, Natsume-sensei was so young.

  Kazuki’s admiration for him was boundless.

  Someone like Natsume-sensei entering the Piplup Cup, even with a newly caught Gastly, was just unfair!

  Please, please, don’t let me faatsume-sensei!

  Natsume clicked his tongue.

  What you’re saying makes sense…

  But the problem is, I really don’t have any other Pokémon!

  “I only have one Gastly,” Natsume said after a moment.

  “You only brought one Gastly?” Kazuki’s eyes lit up.

  “Well… you could say that.”

  Natsume waved his hand wearily. “See you in the live stream tonight!”

  “Don’t worry, Natsume-sensei! I’ll definitely send you gifts!”

  Back at home, the chat group was buzzing about a new video on YouTube.

  Sihese big shots were all posting in Japanese, which stood out among the other followers, Natsume had created a separate group for them.

  The current members included: World Tour champion Red, Kanto champion and Viridian Gym Leader Blue Oak, Sinnoh’s Grass-type Gym Leader Gardenia, and the wielder of Viridian’s power, Yellow.

  There was also the cheerful old man who had lost to Natsume before a pestering him for rematches—Hoenric-type Leader, Wattson.

  And then there was Gold, the unemployed drifter.

  Well… Gold’s title was “The Hatcher,” whiatsume thought was one of the most impressive abilities in the special series.

  Any Pokémon hatched by Gold was guarao have at least 5 perfect IVs—a dream for any breeder!

  [Gold]: OMG, OMG! The top video on YouTube is insane!

  [Yellow]: (??ω??)? I saw it too, so cool!

  [Blue Oak]: Lu made a lot of mistakes. Otherwise, he could’ve won.

  [Wattson]: Hahaha, it made this old man want to stretch his legs a moving!

  [Red]: …

  Red, who typed too slowly, could only mao send a string of ellipses before retreating int mode.

  [Natsume-sense: What video?

  [Gold]: Just go watch it yourself! Get online early tonight so I crush you!

  [Natsume-sense: ?

  [Gardenia]: Ah, Miss thia is just too amazing…

  thia: ?

  Natsume scratched his head, fused, and opehe YouTube video.

  The top trending post was a newly uploaded battle video.

  “Sinnoh League Championship Challenge: thia VS Lu.”