The annual Piplup Cup, held every summer, is a petition designed for rookie trainers.
Most of the partits are seniors and freshmen from the Pokémon Academy.
As an officially reized petition by the Association, achieving a high rank be beneficial when applying for a Junior Trainer Lise.
However, Natsume has no iion of being a trainer, so he naturally has no pns to participate in the petition.
The summer heat is intense.
Ihe rented apartment, a fan spins.
Natsume sits in front of his puter, editing his video to be uploaded.
Gastly, fag the fan, opens its mouth wide, its misty form swaying as the fan's breeze causes its voice to echo.
"Awoooooo~~~"
Regarding the "Gastly Breeding Guide," Gastly has already reached the practical se—"How to and Gastly in a Real Battle."
"Gastly's temperament is quite lively, often dispying ued behavior during battles..."
Gastly studies the book, nodding frequently.
"Gastly!" (That makes sense!)
"Therefore, rather than rigid training, it's better to cultivate Gastly's natural battle instincts..."
"Gastly?" (How do I cultivate that?)
"Different Gastly have different personalities, and their battle styles vary. Finding the most suitable approach is key."
"Gastly!" (Got it, got it!)
Gastly levitates in mid-air, grinning smugly, as if to say, "I've pletely figured it out."
In just two days, Gastly has not only mastered fuse Ray but has also bee profit in using Night Shade.
And the source of this knowledge?
Blue Oak's "Gastly Breeding Guide."
The book has been licked so much by Gastly that it's now tattered, with the text barely legible.
This is truly "digesting" the book!
Gng sideways at Natsume, Gastly notices that Natsume is still fully focused on his puter.
Gastly 't help but feel a bit dejected.
It spreads the book open on its face.
Gastly idly drifts in and out of the shadows.
The Moomoo Milk in the fridge is all gone, and the suspicious blue drink has also been drained.
The beled "Carbos" has visibly increased the speed of Gastly's bck mist.
Since Gastly naturally has the ability to blend into shadows, this has also enhas stealth capabilities.
Blowing bubbles, Gastly suddenly spots a line in the breeding guide and perks up.
"What to do when your Pokémon is feeling down."
"Gastly!" (What should I do?)
"One, use items and Pokémon food to increase your Pokémon's friendship."
"Gastly!" (We've eatehing at home Σ(°△°|||))
"Two, engage in activities like camping or piics with your Pokémon."
"Gastly!" (He doesn't even pay attention to me (╬▔皿▔))
"Three, motivate your Pokémon with a battle victory."
"Gastly!" (That's the one (?ω?))
Gastly shakes its head, deep in thought.
Suddenly, it remembers seeing a petition noti the phoerday.
Drifting over to Natsume, Gastly licks his cheek and blinks ily.
Gastly: (⊙?⊙)
"Oh," Natsume realizes. "Are you hungry? Take the phone and order some takeout!"
Successfully obtaining the phone, Gastly chuckles to itself, pleased with its pn.
"Gastly!"
"...What's wrong with you? Why are you ughing so creepily?"
Gastly grins, holding the phone in its mouth as it navigates the interface with its tongue.
Nessa's photo colle? Not this...
Elesa's runway show? Not this either...
What kind of weird stuff does this guy usually look at?!
Gastly looks puzzled, then its eyes light up.
[Piplup Cup Rookie Trainer petition: All aspiring trainers are io participate!]
Filling out the registration form requires Natsume's ID card.
After rummaging through the room, Gastly finally finds the ID card.
Using its fangs, Gastly painstakingly fills out the registration form. Half an hour ter, it lets out a long sigh of relief.
[Mr. Natsume, yistration has been approved. Your partit ID is: 3534]
[The preliminary rounds will begi Wednesday. Please be mindful of the time.]
Satisfied, Gastly nods, its eyes burning with determination.
I must win this petition for my trainer!
Finally finishing the video edit, Natsume stretches.
Turning his head, he sees Gastly diligently studying the breeding guide.
This gives Natsume a slightly strange feeling.
"Training myself?"
Without Natsume's intervention, Gastly has already mas diet, strategy, and training perfectly.
This makes Natsume feel a bit odd, as if he's somehow bee useless.
"System, you check what moves Gastly has mastered now?"
[Would you like to spend 500 BP Points to unlock VIP1 privileges: 'Pokédex'?]
[Yes/No]
"Yes," Natsume mutters. "Is there a V8 privilege too?"
[Remaining BP Points: 570]
[Target sear progress... Target firmed!]
[Gastly]
[Type: Ghost + Poison]
[Ability: Levitate]
[Mastered Moves: fuse Ray, Lick, Mean Look, Will-O-Wisp, Curse, Night Shade]
After reading the move list, Natsume's first rea is surprise.
Iy, there's no four-move limit, so the number of moves somewhat reflect a Pokémon's strength.
Of course, many of these moves might have been learned with the help of Blue Oak's breeding guide.
But this is still enough to shoatsume!
"So it's this strong?"
"A I caught it with just one Poké Ball!"
Natsume ss the move list again, clig his tongue in admiration.
"Dirty, so dirty!"
"Out of the six moves, five are status ditions. With moves like these, you're practically made to be my Pokémon!"
fuse Ray causes fusion, Lick paralyze, and Will-O-Wisp burn.
Mean Look prevents escape, and Curse tinuously drains the oppo's HP.
If you add Toxid Hypnosis to the mix...
That would be the ultimate bo!
Iy, status ditions stack.
This is why Natsume's "SubProtect Toxic" strategy is so infuriating.
Now, Natsume feels like he's discovered a whole new path to perfeg his annoying strategies.
"fusion, paralysis, burn, poison... these status ditions all be applied at once!"
Gastly, the god of dirty strategies!
Although Natsume has identified the breeding dire, he's too zy to actually do it.
Being a trainer just isn't worth it!
Isn't it better to make easy mohrough live streams?
His live stream subscription t has already reached 80,000. With a bit more effort, he achieve his goal of showing his face.
At this critical moment, the system issues a ask.
[Task: "I'm Not a Millioreamer"]
[Task Description: Upload a video with over a million views.]
[Task Reward: 1000 BP Points, Random Skill LV31, Random Purple Item1]
Natsume has already experiehe bes of system items.
Just the enhanced version of Carbos signifitly boosted Gastly's speed.
If he could get an item worth hundreds of thousands of Pokémon s, selling it would be a huge win!
The video Natsume just edited is the one he pns to upload.
"Professor Natsume's Battle Tutorial 04: Minimize Team."
If there's a strategy more annoying than SubProtect Toxic, it's undoubtedly the Minimize Team, represented by the pink demon, sey!
With Eviolite, sey's defenses are exceptional, and its evasion rate keeps increasing as it minimizes.
You 't hit it, and you 't outst it.
It's incredibly tanky while still dealing high damage—
How a Pokémon like sey be so awesome?!
Natsume smirks meaningfully.
Moving the cursor, he clicks the "Upload" button.
[Video uploading... Your new video has been released.]
[Click to view "Professor Natsume's Battle Tutorial 04: Minimize Team"!]
