Trainer's Gambit

"I'll just take a quick look."

That was Natsume's initial thought.

But the moment he opened the document, Natsume was instantly captivated by the vast sea of technical terms and breeding knowledge, diving deep into its contents.

It was like a Minotaur warrior who had just stepped out of the beginner village, clueless about the future, suddenly receiving a foolproof guide from a big shot in the strategy team.

From Gastly's diet and habits to move training, everything was meticulously detailed, even more so than an academic paper.

At the bottom of the paper, the sources were thoughtfully cited:

Samuel Oak, On the Feasibility of Incorporating Ghost Types into Companion Beast Studies;

Agatha, The Source of Fear—From Gastly to Gengar;

In the acknowledgments, Blue Oak mentioned that there seemed to be some history between Agatha, the Ghost-type Elite Four member of Kanto, and Blue Oak's grandfather, Samuel Oak.

Blue Oak had used Professor Samuel Oak's scientific research methods, combined with Agatha's empirical theories, to compile this breeding guide.

Blue Oak seemed to want to publish this paper under Samuel Oak's name, aiming to ease the tension between the two.

But in the end, it was left unfinished, and Natsume ended up benefiting from it.

"What a filial grandson."

Natsume was somewhat moved.

"Even if this were auctioned, this breeding method would fetch a hefty price!"

A breeding guide produced by the "Breeding Prodigy" Blue Oak would at least be of purple epic quality.

Though it might not compare to Giovanni's Giovanni's Techniques, for Ghost-type trainers, it was still a rare treasure.

"What a shame," Natsume sighed. "This thing isn't of much value to me."

"Some of the methodologies are similar to what I've speculated… Oh well, I'll just let Gastly play with it."

Natsume had little interest in breeding Pokémon.

But since it was just sitting there, he might as well let Gastly figure it out.

A red light flickered, and Gastly, a mass of black mist, blinked its large eyes, curiously surveying its new home.

"Stay here and don't wander off."

Natsume dodged Gastly's licking tongue. "I'm about to start my live stream!"

"Gastly?"

"Bored, huh? Well… here's a little book for you to read!"

Gastly looked at Natsume as if he were an idiot.

Who the hell makes a picture book without a single illustration, filled with tiny text and academic jargon?

"Huh? You can read?"

Natsume placed the freshly printed Gastly Breeding Method in front of Gastly.

"Then let me test you. How many ways of using Confuse Ray are mentioned in this paper?"

Confuse Ray was one of the moves Gastly could learn early on.

Blue Oak believed that Gastly, born from optical pollution, had a natural affinity for Confuse Ray.

Thus, Gastly's Confuse Ray had significant training potential—

Not that Natsume cared about training.

He couldn't let Gastly disturb the live stream, but he also couldn't keep it locked in a Poké Ball forever. Letting it learn something wouldn't hurt!

"Gastly!?"

Gastly was stumped by Natsume's question, its face turning pale as it floated listlessly in the air.

After a moment, Gastly perked up, pressing its bulging white eyes against the paper.

"Gastly!"

I'm going to master this paper today!

Natsume nodded in satisfaction.

"Oh, and there are berries in the cabinet. If you're hungry, just go in and grab some!"

After giving Gastly its instructions, Natsume sat down at his computer and opened the live stream platform.

"Huh? I already have 60,000 subscribers."

Natsume rubbed his chin. "In a few more weeks, I should be able to complete the mission."

[Mission: "I'm Really Not an Attractive Streamer!"]

[Mission Description: Reach the small goal of 100,000 subscribers.]

*[Mission Reward: 1000 BP points, random skill LV1, TM 'Substitute'1]

Natsume had asked before, is this so-called Substitute reliable?

The system replied, it's not about whether it's reliable or not, it's just… it's the kind of move that's dirty, the kind that can combo with other moves.

Natsume was a bit disappointed.

"I thought I might awaken something like Killer Queen or Star Platinum, but it's really just Substitute."

As he started the live stream, the hungry viewers flooded in.

"Food's here, food's here!"

"First time here, is this The Battler's live stream?"

"Natsume-sensei, do another tutorial on SubProtect Toxic!"

Natsume glanced at the chat messages. "Today, I'm going to show you something different."

He opened the team editor and dragged a dopey-looking Breloom into the team, instantly sparking a wave of question marks in the chat.

"What's the point of Breloom???"

"Its species strength isn't high, and its resistances are weak. It's not practical!"

"Venusaur would be better! Streamer, switch to another Pokémon!"

Natsume remained unfazed and clicked on the matchmaking interface.

"Oh no, Natsume-sensei is about to throw!"

In the virtual imaging, Natsume matched with a player from the Sinnoh region, their ID marked with official verification.

[Sinnoh Eterna City Gym Leader, Gardenia.]

"Holy crap, it's the Grass-type Gym Leader from Sinnoh!"

"She's a real Grass-type expert! Natsume-sensei using Breloom is like bringing a knife to a gunfight!"

"Wait, she's also leading with Breloom!?"

Clearly, Gardenia had used her personal image for her profile.

On the lush grassy field, a girl with orange, ear-length hair, wearing a green cape and brown shorts, revealing her navel, took out a Poké Ball.

A red light flickered, and two Breloom, one large and one small, appeared on the field.

It was obvious that Gardenia's Breloom was far better bred than Natsume's!

"It's over, we're doomed!"

"LOL, who actually thought Natsume-sensei could beat a Gym Leader?"

"It doesn't even have an Ability, and he dares to use it in battle!?"

In the virtual field, Gardenia's Breloom struck first.

With incredible speed, it dashed forward, its clawed fist hitting Natsume's Breloom in the abdomen at sonic speed, sending it flying three meters back!

"This is like planting rice in my mouth!"

"I told you not to use Breloom! Venusaur would've been so much better!"

With the situation looking dire, Natsume calmly commented:

"The opponent's Breloom probably has the Ability 'Technician.'"

"But my Breloom's Ability… is 'Poison Heal'!"

The Mach Punch landed a critical hit, but Natsume's Breloom didn't go down.

Trembling, Breloom let out a screech, its wounds visibly healing at an alarming rate!

"Holy crap, is this Breloom holding Leftovers? How is it healing so fast!?"

"It's a Toxic Orb! Natsume-sensei's Breloom is holding a Toxic Orb!"

The Poison Heal Ability allows a Pokémon to continuously recover HP when it's badly poisoned.

The Toxic Orb ensures the Pokémon is badly poisoned.

Combined, they create this near-bug-like recovery speed!

The two Breloom continued to exchange blows, but while one's HP kept dropping, the other's HP was recovering faster than it was losing.

The chat was flooded with question marks.

"???"

"Scary!"

"Are you even playing fair!?"

After nearly a hundred rounds, seeing no hope of victory, the tormented Gardenia chose to surrender.

Amidst the sea of question marks, the live stream's heat soared to 600,000.

"Natsume-sensei is inhuman!"

"What a freaking genius!"

"Is this the legendary 'All Poisons Return to the Source'!?"

In the virtual imaging, Natsume recalled his Breloom, a faint smile on his face.

"The poison of SubProtect Toxic isn't the poison of Toxic, it's the poison of Poison Heal!"

The screen was flooded with gifts, the subscriber count skyrocketed, and the system's BP points continued to rise.

"Listen to him, is that even human language?"

"Holy crap, even a Gym Leader surrendered?"

"Natsume-sensei is a legend!!"