The eyes of the entire arena were fixed on the handsome young Trainer.
A student from the Finance Department of Tokyo Metropolitan University had crushed a group of geniuses and made it to the finals of the Piplup Cup?
The audience stands fell silent for a moment before erupting into thunderous cheers.
"Natsume is amazing!!"
"Haunter, go for it!"
On the Judges' Panel, Shoya couldn't help but nod slightly.
Advancing to the finals without showing any arrogance—this guy truly has the demeanor of a master!
But in reality, Natsume was wearing a puzzled expression.
"This doesn't make sense… why are they so weak?"
Natsume's original purpose for participating in the competition was simply to ensure Haunter had no regrets.
Although most of the BP Exchange items ended up in Haunter's stomach, and he had received guidance from the big shots in the group chat…
But I haven't been training much at all!
And now I've made it to the finals?!
"This year's rookies aren't up to par," Natsume muttered.
Despite losing the semifinals, Reina showed no signs of disappointment. In fact, she seemed completely fine with it.
Being able to battle Natsume-sensei, the Strategy Master, was already a dream come true for her!
"Natsume-sensei, let's take a photo later!" Reina said, her eyes sparkling.
"I also want to ask you about your specific training methods!"
Natsume's expression turned strange.
What are my training methods again?
Wait… do I even have training methods?
I didn't know that!
"Well… I'll share them in a live stream soon."
"Great! I'll send you gifts as soon as I get back!" Reina smiled sweetly.
The semifinals were over.
The news of Natsume advancing to the top four shook the entire Trainer community in Tokyo.
The "Strategy Master" rumors spreading wildly online, combined with Haunter's rapid growth, made people question Natsume's true strength.
Could a rookie Trainer really be as incredible as the internet claimed?
But the more people dug into Natsume-sensei's background, the more mysterious the truth became.
Many Gym Leaders praised his strategies, and even Koga of the Elite Four shared his videos.
According to rumors, he even had a personal connection with the World Champion, Red…
Inside the Tokyo City Pokémon Association.
President Shoya put down the documents, his expression complicated.
"Could he… be the illegitimate child of some big shot?"
It was clear that he had come to the Piplup Cup to train his Pokémon.
But Natsume's background was so ordinary that it seemed almost too normal—
He was just like any other freshman from the Finance Department at Tokyo Metropolitan University!
The more ordinary his background appeared, the more Shoya's heart raced.
How could a freshman with no connections possibly have ties to the World Champion?
There must be some unspeakable reason why Natsume's records were so flawless.
"I can't investigate this any further."
Shoya wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"I'll just treat him like a regular contestant and not dig deeper…"
Meanwhile.
Natsume had no idea he was being seen as a hidden big shot.
Rejecting the barrage of interview requests from the media, Natsume anxiously rushed home.
"Eevee learned Bite, right…"
Natsume muttered, his hands and feet cold.
"It shouldn't be a problem. It's been acting pretty normal these past few days."
Despite trying to reassure himself, Natsume had already prepared for the worst.
"As long as it didn't destroy the house, everything's fine…"
According to the "Schrödinger's Cat" theory.
Whether a Husky destroys the house or not can only be known the moment you open the door.
Before opening the door, the Husky exists in a quantum state of both destroying and not destroying the house.
In a way, Eevee, being a fox, is also a canine…
Carefully pushing the door open.
Natsume looked around and let out a long sigh of relief.
The room was intact, the walls were clean and white, and the air was filled with the scent of lavender—just as it was when he left.
"See, I was overthinking it."
Natsume chuckled. "Eevee's so cute. There's no way it would destroy the house."
"Haunter?"
Haunter scratched its head, noticing that Eevee was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was a trail of paw prints leading outside.
The prints disappeared at the cat flap under the door.
Haunter rubbed its chin like a detective, nodding thoughtfully.
"Huh, where's Eevee?" Natsume was slightly puzzled.
"Haunter!"
Haunter pointed at the cat flap under the door.
Natsume's face changed. "Did this guy run away?!"
The previous tenant's Meowth used to go out for walks on its own and would return by mealtime, so the tenant had installed a small cat flap.
But Eevee might not know its way around here!
"Let's go, Haunter. We'll look around nearby."
Natsume sighed and was about to head out when his phone buzzed.
A message from his landlord, Misaki-neesan, came through, her tone unusually stiff.
"Natsume, do you have time right now? Please come to the Pokémon Center on Line 3."
Normally, the landlord wouldn't address Natsume by his full name, so he knew something was up.
Just as he was about to reply, the landlord sent another picture.
It was a Growlithe, bandaged up and teary-eyed.
"The security guard said it seems Eevee beat up the Growlithe…"
Natsume was stunned.
Suddenly, there was a rustling sound at the door.
A bruised and battered Eevee crawled in from outside, baring its teeth and flicking its ears, then smiled at Natsume.
"Eevee!"
...
The incident happened while Natsume was busy with the Fan Tournament.
Eevee was curled up in a ball, rolling around on the bed, when it suddenly sat up, its eyes gleaming with alertness.
It slipped out through the cat flap under the door.
Eevee made its way through the hallway to the neighborhood, beginning to patrol the area.
This was a good habit Eevee had maintained since its time in the mountains.
With its Anticipation Ability, Eevee would inspect its territory to identify potential threats.
But unlike other Eevee's Anticipation…
Natsume's Eevee seemed to have a unique understanding of its Ability.
Suddenly, Eevee's ears twitched, and it quickly darted into the bushes.
Two young boys walked by the flower bed.
"My Nidoran would never lose to you!"
"Wanna try? My Caterpie just evolved into Metapod!"
Just as Nidoran and Metapod were about to clash, a Quick Attack shot out from the bushes.
Eevee took down both weakened opponents, wagging its tail as it strutted away.
If Natsume's System were here, it would have let out a sarcastic shout.
[Eevee's experience points are increasing!]
The two boys left behind looked at each other and burst into tears.
"Mom, there's an Eevee!"
The neighborhood was home to many stray Wild Meowth, and the residents were constantly annoyed but couldn't do much about them.
Eevee was wandering around when it suddenly crouched low, its ears twitching.
Anticipation Ability triggered!
Eevee bared its teeth and, instead of retreating, charged toward the group of Meowth.
In Eevee's eyes, a fiery determination burned.
I need to keep honing my battle skills—
I have to become even stronger!
"Meow!!"
The Meowth let out shrill cries, scattering in panic.
Eevee licked the blood dripping from its brow and smirked disdainfully.
"Eevee!"
[Eevee's experience points have significantly increased!]
Just as Eevee was catching its breath, a passing Growlithe stood nearby, curiously wagging its tail.
Growlithe tilted its head, then suddenly froze as if locked onto by a predator.
A sense of danger washed over Growlithe, and it broke into a nervous sweat, letting out an awkward bark.
"Growlithe!" (I'm just passing by!)
Eevee turned its head, licked its lips, and gave Growlithe a friendly smile.
"Eevee~!"
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