Pokémon：Trainer's Gambit

After Brock joined the group, it was already late at night.

Just glancing at the group list sent a shiver down his spine.

"Did I just join a master-level contestant group?" Brock muttered with a serious expression. "This lineup is way too impressive."

Gold was currently squatting in the Pokémon Day Care, playing a game, with a particularly irritable Togekiss floating beside him.

"Togekiss!" (Can't you play properly, you idiot!)

"Ahhh, Togekiss, you're distracting me!"

Togekiss used Double-Edge to shove Gold aside, then called out the window. Ambipom immediately climbed in from the tree and carried the dazed Gold to bed.

Gold scratched his head, watching as Togekiss began teaching Pichu how to beat the level, and could only smile helplessly.

His phone buzzed, and Gold glanced at it, letting out a strange yelp.

"The squinty-eyed old man!"

Brock's eyelid twitched, and a vein popped on his temple.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Gold asked.

"I came to ask Mr. Natsume for some breeding advice," Brock replied honestly.

"Ah, you mean Natsume-sensei? That guy's probably asleep by now. You should talk to him tomorrow!"

Brock nodded silently, feeling a sense of awe as he looked at the list filled with master trainers.

"What kind of powerful Breeder is this...?" Brock murmured.

...

After adding Brock to the group, Natsume went to sleep.

It wasn't until early the next morning that the buzzing of his phone woke him up.

The topic of discussion in the group was about Natsume's "Night Kitchen" video from the previous night.

"I'm so hungry..." Yellow typed pitifully.

"I made breakfast at home. You can come over later," Red replied.

Yellow: "!!?"

Gold sounded particularly shocked: "What? That guy's a Breeder too?!"

"Infusing emotions into cooking and triggering a Pokémon's evolution is already an advanced breeding technique," Brock remarked.

Lorelei chimed in: "Siebold, the Water-type Elite Four member from Kalos, probably uses a similar method."

Blue Oak frowned.

He had always believed in the survival-of-the-fittest approach to evolution and had little interest in so-called emotions.

Emotions could cloud a Trainer's judgment and vision.

But there was no denying that Natsume-sensei's method seemed viable.

"Ah, Gastly evolved!" Green exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "And it hasn't even been two months yet!"

"Evolving Gastly in under two months is already incredibly rare," Brock said, stroking his chin seriously. "Mr. Natsume might very well be a Master-level Breeder!"

...

Natsume was utterly confused.

What Breeder? What are you all talking about?

Didn't Gastly evolve just to lick the plate better?

I'm not, I didn't, don't spread rumors!

Seeing how heated the discussion in the group was, Natsume couldn't bring himself to interrupt.

"Fine, as long as you're happy," Natsume sighed.

Closing the chat group, Natsume opened the management backend to check his follower count.

Overnight, his followers had grown to 1 million, just crossing the threshold.

At the same time, a System notification sounded.

[Achievement unlocked: 'Million-Follower Content Creator'!]

[Achievement reward: Premier Ball 1, Skill Level-Up Ticket 1]

The meager reward left Natsume feeling cold all over.

A million-follower achievement, and all I get is a Premier Ball?

"Explain! Why not a Master Ball?!"

"Did you skim my reward?!"

[Ding—To commemorate the Host's significant achievement, the System has issued a rare Premier Ball as a reward.]

In reality, Premier Balls weren't something you could just buy ten and get one free like in the games.

They were special Poké Balls issued in limited quantities by Poké Ball factories to commemorate various events.

In terms of collectible value, Premier Balls were absolutely priceless.

But Natsume wasn't foolish enough to trade System items.

"This thing's just going to collect dust."

As for the other reward, the Skill Level-Up Ticket, it was something Natsume had never seen before.

Curious, Natsume touched the small card, and it instantly crumbled into dust.

[Skill Level-Up Ticket successfully used!]

[Please choose a skill to upgrade: Cooking Lv2, Spirit Vision Lv1, Pokéblock Crafting Lv4]

From a cost-performance perspective, upgrading [Pokéblock Crafting] was definitely the better choice.

But Natsume wasn't a Trainer, and Lv4 was already sufficient...

After a fierce internal debate, Natsume sighed and ultimately chose [Pokéblock Crafting].

"Why do I feel like this is another strategy?" Natsume muttered.

[Ding—Skill level-up successful!]

[Pokéblock Crafting Lv5: With your deep understanding of Berries, you now have a certain probability of crafting perfect-quality Pokéblocks. (On par with a Contest Champion!)]

Even at Lv5, it wasn't a 100% guarantee of perfect quality, but the probability had increased from "low" to "certain."

Moreover, it would take a lot of practice to fully utilize the skill's potential.

While Natsume's skills weren't yet on par with Contest Champion Wallace, he could easily surpass top Coordinators like Fantina.

Since it was early in the morning, Natsume didn't want to disturb the neighbors with the noisy Berry Blender, so he decided not to test it out immediately.

But he could clearly feel the effects of the skill level-up.

"Lucky guy, you're in for a treat!"

Natsume went to the next room, ready to tease Haunter, but his eyes widened in surprise.

"Haunter!"

Haunter was currently practicing punches against the wall.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

Its two ghostly hands, which could detach from its body, were flying around the living room, disappearing into the walls and reappearing from the ceiling, making it impossible to predict where they'd show up next.

This was Haunter training its move, Shadow Punch!

"You're a Special Attacker," Natsume said, feeling a bit exasperated. "With your lousy Attack stat, what's the point of practicing punches?"

"Haunter?"

Haunter glanced at Natsume.

Are you telling me what to do?

"Fine, forget I said anything. As long as you're happy."

Natsume crossed his arms and watched Haunter practice for a while, coming to the following conclusions:

The ghostly hands couldn't go more than five meters away from Haunter, which, in Substitute terms, gave it a range of D.

While its precision was probably EX-level, Haunter's pitiful Attack stat meant its strength was laughably weak.

"Fine, keep practicing if you want," Natsume sighed. "I'll buy you a set of dumbbells someday."

"Haunter!" Haunter's eyes lit up, nodding vigorously.

Natsume rubbed his temples.

No matter how hard you try, Pokémon have their limits!

What, are you planning to turn into a mixed-attack Haunter with all this punching?

Though Natsume didn't think Haunter's punching practice was useful, he wasn't planning to pursue a battling career anyway.

Rather than discouraging it, he might as well let the guy figure things out on its own.

"I'm heading to class. You coming with me?" Natsume called out.

"Haunter!"

Haunter shook its head, striking a boxer's pose and throwing punches with a "huff, huff."

"Alright... just don't wreck the house!"

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