M sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting a soft glow on Mei’s fad bringing a hint hto the dimly lit room.

  “Mm…”

  Feeling the warmth on her skin, Mei groggily opened her eyes, still somewhat dazed.

  These past few days on the farm had given her a rare taste of a rexed daily life. The barbecue party a few nights ago had been especially enjoyable.

  Since being a Trainer, she hadn't experienced such leisure for a long time.

  Every m upon waking, she had to sider a whole list of things—her Pokémon’s training progress, the day's training pn, remaining funds, supplies needed before heading to the city, and various other tasks.

  Trainers were supposed to train while traveling.

  But in this fiercely petitive world, "training while traveling"?

  That was just a polite way of saying "interaining, just in different locations."

  Every day ent in a state of high tension, keeping herself in peak dition, engaging in battles, and even providing psychological support for her Pokémon.

  Yes, that was another essential skill for a Trainer.

  Which was why most Trainers were incredibly good at talking.

  Not necessarily with people—but definitely with Pokémon.

  “Life here is nice…”

  Mei rolled over, ing her arms around Serperior, who was curled up beside her, and buried her fa its soft, warm belly.

  Uypical snake-like Pokémon, Serperior’s body wasn’t cold or slimy.

  Instead, it carried a fresh, pnt-like warmth—probably because it was a Grass-type Pokémon.

  Feeling the smoothness of Serperior’s scales, Mei suddenly uood why Natsume liked to sleep while hugging his shiny Furret.

  Because it was just too fortable!

  That being said, Natsume had retly mentiohat he wasn’t doing that as muymore.

  Which was strange.

  Even in the summer heat, when the air ditioning was on full bst, he still hugged Furret while sleeping.

  Yet now, with autuming in and the nights growing cooler, he had stopped.

  Really weird.

  She’d have to ask him about it ter.

  As she was mulling over this, a soft hissing sound came from beside her.

  “Sssah?”

  Serperior opes eyes and g Mei, sensing her movements.

  Not waking up early again today?

  These past few days, Mei had been sleeping in quite a bit.

  “Just a little longer… Just a little bit…”

  Her voice was muffled as she pressed her face against Serperior’s belly.

  Ever since she became a Trairuly rexed days like these had been rare.

  All of her cssmates, as well as the Trainers she had entered, were relentlessly pushing themselves, as if something was stantly chasing them.

  This made Mei instinctively tense up, pushing herself to grow stronger.

  Traveling, special training, entering new panions, growing stronger, and challenging Gyms.

  After battles, reviewing strategies, replenishing supplies, traveling, training, fighting, growing stronger.

  Day after day of training could make one lose themselves.

  At some point, she even fot why she had set foot on this path in the first pce. The passion aement that once fueled her seemed to be wearing down bit by bit.

  Mei had shown signs of this before.

  Sometimes, she didn’t even uand why she was w so hard.

  Maybe it was just because everyone else was doing it, and she was unsciously swept along.

  But now, she felt much more at ease.

  "Mmm."

  Having spent the sed half of the night sleeping against the wall, Dewott stretched its stiff body.

  It stole a g Mei, and upon seeing that she hadn’t noticed, it carefully, ever so quietly, y down on the floor, pretending it had been in that position all along.

  Dewott thought sleeping against the wall looked really cool—super cool.

  But Mei never liked it when it slept that way.

  So, during the first half of the night, Dewott would sleep properly, lying down like it was supposed to. Then, in the sed half, it would secretly get up and switch to leaning against the wall.

  Muscle soreness?

  That was just another part of training!

  As long as Mei didn’t cat, it was fine.

  Just a few more minutes of rest, then it would head out for training.

  That was Dewott’s pn.

  Lately, though, it had been sidering whether it should just sleep normally.

  Waking up sore every m and then pushing through a full day of training... That ractically torture.

  "Pupu!"

  "Chuu!"

  pared to their two seniors, Pignite and Steenee were brimming with energy.

  Yes, in the past couple of days, Tepig had evolved into Pignite.

  Us previous small, Holnd pig-like form, Pignite now had a more imposing presence.

  It had grown in many ways, even showing a slight ge in willpower after evolving.

  Though it still had a zy streak, at least it no longer colpsed in despair after just a few minutes of training.

  Now, it actually pleted its training sessions properly. And, following Slowking’s advice, it even focused on strengthening its weaknesses.

  "Pupu!"

  Gng at the still-sleeping Mei, Pignite and Steenee, now quite used to this, quietly left the room, carefully shutting the door behind them.

  It was rare to see Mei so rexed. Letting her sleep in a little longer wouldn’t hurt.

  They could haheir m training on their own.

  About half an hour ter, Mei finally summoned enough willpower to free herself from the clutches of her b.

  Sun-dried bs had an almost magical grip.

  No matter who y ohey’d find themselves tightly bound.

  And since o was a ihusiast, it always made sure to air out the bs on sunny days.

  "M, Natsume."

  Still a little groggy, Mei came dowairs in her pink pajamas. But upon spotting Natsume, she immediately woke up.

  Not because of her own pajamas. No, strictly speaking, not because of what she was wearing.

  After staying here for several days, she had gradually rexed, no longer as self-scious as she had been at first.

  Sometimes, she even wandered around in her pajamas without a sed thought.

  Besides, her pajamas were quite modest—long-sleeved and full-length.

  Wearing them at home wasn’t a big deal.

  What woke her up was Natsume’s pajamas.

  "Natsume..."

  "What is it, Mei?"

  "You actually look... kinda cute right now."

  Mei covered her mouth, giggling as she looked at Natsume in his shark-patterned pajamas.

  Two nights ago, Natsume had mentioned wanting to buy some pajamas.

  So, with the guidance of the modern, fashion-sei, he ended up getting this.

  Well, to be fair, Natsume did have a soft spot for quirky pajamas.

  When he showed Mei his top picks, they included a dinosaur onesie, a green frog pajama set, and... a sleeping bag.

  Why was a sleeping bag among the pajama options?

  Simple—because Natsume liked it.

  That’s just how guys are.

  When buying things, they either prioritize practicality or pure amusement.

  And in this case, Natsume had clearly goh amusement.

  As long as it was wearable, that was good enough.

  "Really? I actually like this pajama set."

  Pulling at the hem of his pajamas and adjusting his apron, Natsume’s tone carried a hint of something hard to describe.

  This was the first time he had dressed like this in front of a girl.

  It felt... weird.

  But seeing that Mei didn’t seem to find it strange, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.

  In truth, he really did like this ridiculous little shark pajama set.

  "It actually looks pretty nice."

  "Natsume, you look really cute like this."

  Mei grinned, quickly sitting down at the table.

  It was quite a sight.

  Guys liked looking at pretty girls.

  But girls also enjoyed looking at handsome guys.

  Natsume simply smiled at Mei’s ent, not any particur response.

  There’s an old saying: If a girl says you’re handsome, she might just be being polite. But if guys say you’re handsome—bro, you really are.

  "Alright, alright, enough fttery."

  "Hurry up a, our beautiful, kind, gentle, elegant, generous, and siderate Mei."

  "Oh my god, stop! That’s so embarrassing!"

  This time, it was Mei’s turn to feel shy.

  For some reason, she felt a mix of embarrassment and an inexplicable urge—an urge to smaatsume.

  And so, she did.

  Her hand, no longer as delicate after all the training and traveling, lightly patted Natsume’s arm.

  Not in anger—more like a pyful gesture between close friends.

  But the moment her hand withdrew, she suddenly realized that, given their curreionship, that might not have beeirely appropriate.

  She quickly withdrew her hand and sat quietly at the table.

  Fortunately, Natsume remained as oblivious as ever, seemingly unfazed by her as.

  Mei let out a long sigh of relief.

  Thank goodness.

  If Natsume had reacted with surprise, she might’ve had to crawl into a hole and disappear.

  "Weird. I don’t usually act like this."

  Mei lightly patted her own cheeks, fused by her emotions.

  Somethi off about herself today.

  Her as, her feelings—none of it seemed like how she normally behaved.

  If this had happened any other day, she probably wouldn’t have reacted at all.

  She also wouldn’t have any physical tact with a guy.

  After all, Mei was a pletely inexperienced, hopeless romantic.

  Just a few months ago, she was still a lively, i high school girl.

  Wait... that phrasing sounded a little weird.

  "My face feels kinda hot."

  "Did I catch a cold st night?"

  Pressing the back of her hand to her cheek, feeling the warmth, Mei silently pondered.

  For modern people, whehey feel unwell—whether it’s a headache, stomachache, sore feet, ag waist, or even just general disfort—the default expnation is always:

  "Must’ve caught a chill from not c up properly st night."

  Of course, going to the hospital was still necessary.

  Pain has a way of humbling even the most stubborn people.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Notig Mei ag strangely, Natsume found it odd.

  What’s up with this kid?

  “It’s nothing, nothing.”

  Mei waved her hands repeatedly, w hard to trol her emotions before quickly ging the topic to brush past it.

  Good, Natsume didn’t notiything unusual.

  Watg him clear the dining table, Mei let out a sigh of relief again.

  It was really great that he hadn’t noticed anything.

  But what Mei didn’t realize was that Natsume’s gaze had been sweeping over her, lingering on her cheek for two full seds before he thoughtfully nodded, as if something had just clicked in his mind.

  It had beeioned before—Natsume ure-hearted boy whose siatus had sted as long as his lifespan.

  No dating experieno galgame experience.

  The only ued female he had the most tact with was his teacher.

  Whether his mind ure was debatable, but his body certainly was.

  However, that didn’t mean he was the typical dense protagonist.

  Many anime leads have a special kind of obliviousness, especially when it es to romahey hesitate and remain frustratingly unaware.

  Unfortunately, Natsume wasn’t like that.

  He was the type who gave love-strategy advice to his dormmates, the tactical mastermind behind their retionships.

  Even though this was his first time being so close to a girl himself,

  Basialysis was still within his skillset.

  Romance required braihis muatsume uood.

  About half an hour ter, both Natsume and Mei were ready to go, having ged into their outfits for the day.

  “The special training will st for awo or three days.”

  “After that, we’ll o report to the petition venue.”

  Dressed in his usual style, Natsume looked at Mei, who was sitting obediently on the sofa.

  Though calling it his "usual style" wasirely accurate—it was more like his ret usual style.

  In the past, he had been too zy to bother coordinating his outfits.

  As a result, his wardrobe had been a chaotic mix—either all bck or a random bination of cargo pants and sports T-shirts.

  But tely, there had been some ges.

  Under Mei’s suggestions, Natsume had started experimenting with different styles.

  Today, he wore a white mandarin-colr shirt yered with a beige wool cardigan, paired with pure bck suit pants.

  The overall look was rexed and casual.

  Mei approved of his top,

  But as for the pants, she thought a matg color scheme might be better.

  Unfortunately, Natsume still preferred bck pants.

  Maybe a pair of gold-rimmed gsses would plete the look?

  Mei had actually suggested he try a more trendy style before,

  But Natsume had firmly refused.

  When it came to clothing, he had his own principles.

  Fshy outfits were absolutely uable.

  Natsume preferred solid-colored clothes.

  At least for now.

  Ba his ibyou phase, he had loved shirts with cat motifs on the back.

  And jackets with mismatched colors on both sides.

  Mei had no particur ent on that.

  Sometimes, saying nothing was already saying a lot.

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Wheime es, we’ll be rivals.”

  Mei nodded firmly, eyes burning with determination.

  A fme called fighting spirit.

  She had said before that she couldn’t imagine winning against Natsume.

  Even if she sent out all her Pokémon at ohey’d be wiped out together—she had withat se many times retly.

  But!

  A true Trainer never gives up so easily.

  If she didn’t even dare to challenge him, then victory would never be possible.

  Besides, her Serperior and the others had been training incredibly hard.

  Even if she doubted herself, she had to trust in them.

  Last night, Mei had held Serperior close, chatting with her partners for a long time.

  They talked about their hopes for the future, about the uping battle.

  pared to her own uainty, her Pokémon were brimming with fidence.

  Whether they could win was uain, but they were eager to test the fruits of their training.

  Just training alone wasn’t enough to satisfy Pokémon who had already tasted victory.

  Though it might not sound o say—

  That moment when an oppo falls, when their dreams and goals are shattered—

  The exhiration and fulfillment from that moment are unparalleled.

  Once you’ve experie, you ’t help but crave more.

  Call it crushing someone else’s dreams, or whatever else.

  It didn’t matter.

  At the end of the day, battle is a cruel thing. No matter how many dreamers step forward, there will only ever be one champion.

  The rest will bee stepping stones beh the victor’s feet.

  Thus, the hunger for victory was pletely justified.

  There was nothing shameful about it.

  Every Trainer knew and believed in this truth.

  After a long talk with her Pokémon, Mei fell asleep feeling tent.

  She khe ces of winning were slim—probably impossible.

  But that was something to worry about after the fight.

  “Let’s go see how their training is going.”

  Natsume and Mei each mounted a Gogoat and headed toward the training grounds.

  Sure, telep there instantly with Gardevoir or Slowking would have been more ve.

  But life isn’t all about efficy, is it?

  If sightseeing was just about the view, you could just look it up on your phone.

  Yet people still choose to travel in person.

  Seeing a beautiful sight is the goal, but the jourself is just as important.

  “They’re probably already going at it full force.”

  Mei could already picture Serperior and the others training with burning iy.

  Aside from the more pyful trash-talk enduraraining,

  There lenty of serious practice too—

  Physical ditioning, move profiew battle teiques, move binations, simuted emergency responses in battle.

  They were training diligently in all aspects.

  Not just Mei’s Pokémon, but also the o Natsume’s farm.

  Take that shiny Furret, for example.

  Rather than helping Serperior and the others with special training,

  It was more like it had simply included them in its own daily routine.

  Whether they could keep up was another matter entirely.

  Upon arriving at the training grounds, they were met with an unsurprising se of inteion.

  Serperior was w hard to adjust to its evolved body.

  With the ge in size, its fighting style had naturally shifted as well.

  Its improved stats and new moves from evolution had opened up a range of new bat possibilities.

  Pignite was going through the same process.

  As their Trainer, Mei had spent the past few days refining battle strategies for them.

  She had sidered their evolved battle styles before,

  But those were just general guideliaken from online research.

  Every Pokémon was unique—no two fought exactly the same way.

  Personality, habits, physique, battle preferehese all pyed a role.

  So, the battle pns had to be adjusted accly, tailored to their natural growth and avaible moves.

  Mei had been pletely sed with all this.

  Normally, Slowking was very siderate and helped with everything,

  But in this case, he showed no iion of interfering.

  “I’m just a regur old Pokémon, man. Not my job to do a Trainer’s work.”

  That was Slowking’s official stan Coach Mode.

  Iy, he just didn’t want to get involved in such a hassle.

  At the end of the day, he wasn’t even Mei’s Pokémon.

  Jumping into arainer’s battle pnning seemed inappropriate,

  And it would probably lead to all kinds of future plications.

  After all, devising strategies for one’s own Pokémon was a deeply personal task.

  It required revealing all their strengths, weaknesses, and growth pns.

  Asking someone else to do it was essentially handing over all your battle data.

  Stepping into that spainvited? Yeah… probably not a great idea.

  Although there had been some subtle signs, Slowking still preferred not to get involved.

  Not just signs—so what if they actually got married?

  Marriage was he end, but rather a new beginning.

  The days ahead were long.

  Who knew what would happen?

  "Absol?"

  Just as Mei and Natsume were discussing the uping tour, Absol suddenly appeared before them, its face filled with unease and urgency.

  "Absol?"

  Natsume was a little surprised.

  In truth, ever since being captured, Absol had never been particurly close to him.

  It wasn’t that it disliked Natsume—it simply preferred being alone.

  Much like some people who don’t necessarily dislike their cssmates and get along just fih them, but when it es to gatherings, they'd rather skip and enjoy a quiet meal alone.

  Most of the time, Absol roamed the farm on its own, wandering around ied areas and putting on an aloof demeanor as it pondered life.

  It only showed up when Natsume specifically sought it out.

  Even duriimes, it preferred to find its own berries to eat.

  Taking into at the eating habits of certain Pokémon, Natsume had set aside a se of the berry grove as a self-service dining area for the Pokémon on the farm.

  The rest of the berries were sold outside—this portion would simply be for internal ption.

  That was the pn at the time.

  "Did something happen?"

  Croug down, Natsume gazed at Absol seriously.

  Even if this Pokémon had some personality quirks, it was still an Absol.

  And Absols never joked about things like this.

  "Absol," it murmured.

  Something is ing from the north.

  That prese feels familiar.

  It’s the Pokémon that destroyed the forest.

  L its head, Absol spoke in a hushed voice.

  No matter how much it might despise that creature, there was no denying its power.

  Right now, Absol was deeply uled.

  Gcell