Chapter 009:I Choose You!

Gardenia stared blankly at her fallen Breloom.

As a Grass-type expert, she knew Breloom's habits and battle strategies inside and out. Yet, her opponent's unexpected move had left her completely unprepared.

"Using a Toxic Orb to trigger Breloom's Poison Heal ability?" Gardenia muttered to herself. "What a bold idea!"

In reality, the Poison Heal strategy for Breloom wasn't unheard of, but it was usually a passive approach. The toxicity from the Toxic Orb placed a heavy burden on the Pokémon, and even the Poison Heal ability couldn't fully absorb it. That's why most Grass-type trainers opted for Breloom with the Technician ability, enhancing its close-combat prowess while maintaining Grass-type sustainability.

But the strategy employed by "Natsume-sensei" seemed to open a whole new world for Gardenia.

"What if the sustainability of Leech Seed could offset the toxicity of the Toxic Orb?" Gardenia's mind raced as she began to piece together the strategy in her head.

"Then, using Substitute to share the toxicity, Poison Heal could fully absorb the Toxic Orb's poison! Leech Seed, Toxic, Toxic Orb, Substitute... What a daring breeding method!"

A look of fervor spread across Gardenia's face. "This strategy could actually work in real battles!"

Her breathing quickened as she clicked on Natsume-sensei's profile, eager to learn more.

"Highest ranking... World number seven?!" Gardenia's eyes widened in shock.

She glanced at the fan group she had just joined, and her expression shifted.

"Mr. Red is here too! And Champion Blue Oak! Even they're followers of Natsume-sensei?!"

Gardenia felt a wave of unease. "Such a famous Grass-type master... Miss Erika must know him, right? Maybe I can seek his advice at this year's Type Expert Tournament..."

She opened her Poké Ball, the red light flickering. Gardenia looked at her other Breloom, the one with the Poison Heal ability, and carefully recalled the details of the recent battle.

"So, he wasn't just taunting me... That's the essence of the Poison Heal strategy, isn't it?"

Her eyes regained their determination as she clenched the Poké Ball tightly.

"I still have a lot to learn."

After ending the live stream, Natsume's subscriber count had reached 70,000. In just one night, he had earned nearly 2,000 Pokémon Coins in donations. While the exact amount of his earnings still needed to be calculated, it was enough for him to treat himself.

He grabbed a cold cola from the mini-fridge, popped it open with a hiss, and lazily leaned back in his gaming chair.

"System, check my remaining BP Points!"

[BP Points: 970]

Thanks to the great performance during the stream, Natsume had gained nearly 200 BP Points. It wouldn't be long before he could try another 10x gacha.

He walked into the next room, where Gastly was still floating intently over a breeding guide, studying it with the focus of a strict teacher. A small black mist-formed claw held an orange berry.

"Gastly!"

As if it had just read something brilliant, Gastly nodded in satisfaction and took a big bite of the berry, juice dripping everywhere.

Natsume couldn't help but give a weird look.

"Good guy, using academic papers as a snack?"

Hearing the noise, the black mist quickly closed up. Gastly turned its head in surprise, then immediately grinned widely, sticking out its tongue to lick Natsume.

"Gastly~!"

Natsume tried to pat Gastly's head, but his hand passed right through the black mist, leaving a cold, numbing sensation on his fingertips.

Suddenly, the System's emotionless voice echoed in his ears.

[Gastly, a gaseous lifeform. If surrounded by its gas, even an Indian elephant would collapse within ten minutes.]

Natsume's face twitched. "Damn it, why didn't you say that earlier?"

Fortunately, Gastly seemed to enjoy Natsume's touch and consciously controlled its toxins, swirling around Natsume's hand as a harmless mist.

Natsume let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Want some midnight snacks?"

Gastly's eyes widened like copper bells, blinking rapidly.

Gastly: (⊙?⊙)

"Here, take my phone and order whatever you want."

Natsume handed his phone to Gastly and picked up the breeding guide, now damp with saliva. He glanced at the notes on "Gastly's Breeding Guide" and exclaimed, "Little guy, you even took notes?!"

"Gastly!" Gastly held the phone in its mouth, proudly raising its head.

Earlier, Natsume had jokingly asked Gastly to mark down the usage of Confuse Ray. In less than two hours, the guide was filled with wet, sticky underlines—all Gastly's own annotations!

"You're a damn genius, aren't you?"

"Gastly~~(?′?`?)"

Natsume didn't mind much, placing the breeding guide back and chuckling.

"Stop grinning and go order some takeout!"

Move training wasn't something that could be mastered overnight. Expecting Gastly to learn Confuse Ray in just two hours was wishful thinking. But Natsume didn't have high expectations for Gastly anyway—his main goal was just to save on electricity...

"Gastly!"

Gastly carefully placed the phone on the table, its eyes gleaming as it stared at the array of delicious dishes on the screen. It slurped back its drool but couldn't help showing a perverted grin, licking the image of Farfetch'd on the menu.

Gastly: （ˉ﹃ˉ）

"Farfetch'd? We had that last time. Let's try something different."

Natsume rubbed his chin. "How about yakiniku? The lamb skewers from this place seem to have good reviews."

Gastly: (?ω?)

Gastly's eyes sparkled in agreement.

"Extra spicy, cumin, ice-cold beer... Perfect!"

Half an hour later, Natsume set up a table by the window. The cool evening breeze carried the aroma of the freshly grilled skewers, making his mouth water.

Gastly, sipping on Moomoo Milk, was red-faced from the spiciness but still eagerly licked the oily skewers.

"Slow down, no one's gonna steal it from you!"

"Gastly!"

Though a spectral entity, after devouring the skewers, the black mist around Gastly seemed to thicken slightly.

[Consumed 'Delicious-grade' Wooloo Lamb. Host gains 40 BP Points.]

[Remaining BP Points: 1010]

Natsume took a sip of the cold beer and smiled. "So, how did you end up here anyway? I read online that Gastly's habitats aren't usually in the city."

Gastly paused, tilting its head in silence for a moment before burying its face in the pile of lamb skewers.

"Don't want to talk about it? That's fine."

Natsume gently poked the black mist around Gastly, smiling. "We're family now."

As the evening breeze blew, Gastly suddenly looked up—its eyes wavy, overwhelmed with emotion.

"Gastly~?(;′Д｀?)!"

"Don't wipe your snot on my clothes! No, stop!"

Natsume narrowly escaped being engulfed by Gastly, almost experiencing the "suffocating African elephant" scenario.

He took out a suspicious blue drink labeled [Carbos (Enhanced Version)] from the cabinet, setting it aside as Gastly's breakfast for the next day. Natsume then settled Gastly on the ceiling, which served as its resting spot.

Admittedly, waking up to see a grinning ghost every morning gave Natsume a strange sense of security.

"Lights out, Gastly."

"Gastly!"

At Natsume's command, Gastly cut off the room's power supply. But even Natsume didn't notice that after he fell asleep, a faint fluorescence began to glow around Gastly, swirling like fireflies.

It was the move Natsume had asked Gastly to master earlier that day—

"Confuse Ray"!