Starting from Gen 5, every geion of Pokémon games has featured the Battle Restaurant meic.

  Trainers challehe Battle Restaurant to earn rewards and eveheir meal for free.

  Natsume thought this meic retty ridiculous.

  ers are supposed to be treated like royalty!

  I e here to enjoy a meal, and you wao battle?

  But in this parallel world, people are extremely passionate about Pokémon battles, with exhibition matches popping up everywhere.

  Even iaurants, you find Pokémon battles taking pce.

  In other words, Pokémon battles be quite the appetizer.

  Out of respect for the performers, Sakurako returo her seat first.

  Natsume, oher hand, watched the battle performan stage with great i.

  Si erforma naturally incorporated elements of Pokémon tests.

  The ethereal singing of Primarina plemehe dazzling water ss created by Floatzel, earning rounds of appuse.

  was the free meal challenge, where mahusiasts volunteered to battle on stage.

  Natsume rested his on his hand and g Gastly, who was lig a chocote soufflé. "You wanna give it a try?"

  "Gastly!" Gastly, with chocote smeared around its mouth, shook its head relutly.

  "We could save a thousand bucks or so," Natsume said with a hint ret. "Oh well, as long as you're happy."

  At that moment, amidst a round of appuse, Sakurako stepped onto the stage in her high heels.

  It was the same Granbull as before, but its presence was far more intimidating now.

  Sakurako, true to her strength as a member of Tokyo Metropolitan Uy's school team, defeated three challengers in a row.

  Amidst the cheers, Sakurako gracefully bowed and took her leave.

  "Let's go, Gastly. Time to head bad sleep," Natsume said, stretg zily.

  "Gastly~~~~" Gastly, noticeably rounder, y zily oable, not wanting to move.

  After tless battles at the Master level, Natsume had lost i in these low-level matches.

  Just sitting in the audience, he could clearly predict the moves both sides would make.

  And the results usually didn’t surprise him.

  Of course, sisume was thinking five steps ahead, if his oppo was only thinking oep ahead, he might still get a little nervous.

  In the System, o Natsume’s 【Cooking Lv1】, there was a transparent progress bar showing his proficy.

  【Cooking Lv1 (67/100)】

  Thanks to the star-rated meal, his proficy had increased slightly.

  Appreciating delicious cuisine was also a necessary step oh to being a top-tier chef.

  Even if he didn’t bee a Trainer, opening a small family restaurant by the roadside iure wouldn’t be a bad idea.

  When it was time to pay the bill, the waiter smiled and said, "Sir, your bill has already been taken care of."

  Natsume raised an eyebrow. "Really? That’s a nice surprise."

  "The young dy who participated itle earlier used her winnings to cover your meal."

  Sisume had no iion of joining the school team sele, Sakurako, who was lower in the rankings, could keep her spot oeam.

  This was her way of repaying Natsume for his earlier kindness.

  Quick-witted as ever, Natsume figured out the reasoning behind it and Sakurako, accepting the gesture without hesitation.

  Well, that saved him over a thousand Pokémon s!

  The night breeze blew gently as Natsume and Gastly walked through the brightly lit, bustling streets of Tokyo.

  The Top 16 matches of the Piplup Cup were set to begin this Saturday.

  Before that, Natsume decided to work overtime and finish editing 《Natsume-seeaches Battling 05: Perish Song Team》.

  After all, a video with millions of views would bring in a det amount of ad revenue.

  Natsume could also use the BP Points earned from the video’s influeo exge fastly’s "Protect" Teical Mae.

  With that, Gastly’s early-game "SubProtect Toxic" strategy would be plete.

  As for the dirtier strategies, they could wait until Gastly evolved.

  At that moment, Gastly floated unsteadily in the air, looking unfortable.

  "Gastly…"

  "I told you not to eat so much."

  Gastly: Σ(°△°|||)︴

  "Wait… don’t throw up on me!"

  Bae, Gastly zily floated up to the ceiling to sleep.

  After taking a shower, Natsume turned on his puter and started editing the Perish Song team video.

  He already had the footage—a Master-level battle against a powerhouse like Garp.

  It was easy to imagihe frenzy that would erupt in the gamiion of Nico Dou when the video was released.

  But one clip wasn’t enough. Natsume pondered for a moment before reopening the game.

  The ID "Cabbage Ice Cream" was still grayed out.

  Though he didn’t know who this big shot was, the ID had left a deep impression on Natsume.

  "She said she’d pay extra for sparring… so does that mean I earn even more?"

  Natsume muttered while rubbing his , then suddenly snapped out of it.

  "No, rofessional iy. Since I’ve already taken the money, I ’t ask for more!"

  In his friends list, only Gold was still online.

  As the protagonist of Pokémon Adventures: Gold & Silver, Gold was exceptionally skilled in wild, no-holds-barred battles.

  But his strategic skills in official battles were… well, let’s just say they left something to be desired.

  And Pokémon: Battle pced a heavy emphasis on and skills.

  Natsume, rah in the world, was essentially pying on a different level pared to Gold.

  Gold couldn’t win, but he kept pestering Natsume for matches.

  Talk about being addicted despite being bad at the game.

  Natsume’s lips curled into a smile. "This is the perfect material…"

  He opehe friends list a Gold a private message.

  【Natsume-sensei: You there? Get online.】

  【Gold: Just you wait, I’m ing!】

  Half an hour ter.

  【Gold: That one doesn’t t!】

  An hour ter.

  【Gold: I refuse to believe this!】

  Two hours ter.

  【Gold: …I’m done (bye emoji)】

  【Natsume-sehanks for your hard work. Even actors couldn’t deliver this kind of eai value.】

  Gold: ???

  I was seriously trying, okay!

  Your strategy’s just too dirty, what’s that got to do with me?

  Fuming, Gold couldn’t help but vent in the chat group.

  【Gold: The Perish Song strategy is way too dirty!】

  【Gold: You ’t even switch out, and defensive pys are useless against it!】

  【Blue Oak: Lorelei from the Sevii Isnds is really good at that strategy.】

  【Gold: Σ(°△°|||)︴】

  【Blue Oak: Red would know. He’s fought Lorelei before.】

  After ten minutes of silence, Red sent a message.

  【Red: The Perish Song strategy is pretty rare. It’s part of Lorelei’s alterrategy system.】

  【Red: Did you run into a Trainer using a Perish Song team?】

  【Gold: …No, it’s Natsume-sensei’s new video.】

  【Blue Oak: ?】

  Even someone as skilled as Blue Oak was taken aback.

  SubProtect Toxic, Minimize Team, Perish Song Team…

  Was this really the third strategy Natsume-sensei had e up with?

  These strategies were highly demanding in terms of and skills, but the rewards matched the risks.

  More importantly, all these strategies had ohing in on.

  They were dirty!

  Just what kind of Trainer was Natsume-seo have mastered so many advarategies?

  Red, however, wasn’t too surprised.

  After all, Natsume was someone he sidered a potential rival.

  "Natsume-sensei really is something else," Red said with a chuckle.

  Oher side, Natsume finished editing the footage and stretched with a satisfied grin.

  Clig the "Upload" button, a pyful smile appeared on his face.

  【Video uploading… Your new video has been released!】

  【Click to watatsume-seeaches Battling 05: Perish Song Team》!】

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