There's an old saying: A wisp of smoke on the mountain, an immortal asds in prison.

  No matter which world you’re iing a forest on fire is a serious crime.

  And in the Pokémon world, even more so.

  While Ting-Lu hadly set the forest abze, it wasn’t far off.

  Wherever it went, destru followed. The ohriving woodnd had been reduced to ruins.

  tless Pokémon had been forced to flee, driven from their homes.

  Some were lucky—like the Absol and Bou groups—who happeo run into Natsume and found stability, making it through the ordeal without major losses.

  But others, less fortunate, suffered heavy casualties. Some might not have survived at all.

  Natsume had no fondness for Ting-Lu.

  Sure, he could capture it.

  But then what?

  Would he be adding an unstable force to his farm just for the sake of having it?

  Given Ting-Lu’s nature and their curreionship, calling it a tig time bomb would be putting it lightly.

  A massive body, an unfriendly temperament, and an innate ability to both be born from and incite fear in others—

  It was hard to imagine keeping something like that around.

  Maybe...

  He should just seal it away again?

  He couldly keep it as some pampered overlord on his farm, right?

  “Suo?”

  Zorua, sitting at Natsume’s feet, tilted its head in fusion.

  Wasn’t this the part where a Trainer should be excitedly throwing a Poké Ball after taking doowerful Pokémon?

  Especially one as rare as a Legendary like Ting-Lu?

  Zorua scrutinized Natsume for a moment before suddenly having a realization.

  Oh, I see! I get it now!

  Turning around, it rummaged through the fur on its bad, from who-knows-where, pulled out… a Poké Ball?

  “Suo suo.”

  Nudging Natsume’s foot, Zorua proudly pushed the Poké Ball toward him, its expression practically screaming: Praise me!

  “This is…?”

  Natsume looked at the Poké Ball, slightly startled.

  Unlike modern Poké Balls, which were sleek and high-tech, this one had a handcrafted feel—

  A solid, earthy brown, heavy with an antique aura, like one of those old-fashioned Apri Balls fed by a master craftsma left unpolished.

  “Suo suo.”

  I brought this from home.

  “…A local specialty?”

  “Suo.”

  Strictly speaking, yeah.

  Zorua’s family had a bunch of these lying around.

  With plenty of free time and not much else to do, they often picked up little hobbies—like colleg iing objects.

  This particur Poké Ball had been obtained from some master craftsman ages ago.

  It was said to surpass all other Poké Balls of its time, capable of capturing even weaker Legendary Pokémon.

  Zorua could vouch for that—it worked.

  “So, this is your way of making the decision for me?”

  Pig up the Poké Ball from the ground, Natsume chuckled.

  He’d been stuck debating whether or not to capture Ting-Lu, even sidering that his own Poké Balls might not be strong enough.

  But now, he had no excuse to hesitate.

  Whatever problems came —he’d deal with them ter.

  That was future Natsume’s problem, not his.

  Good luck, future me.

  With a sharp throw, he uhe Poké Ball, putting all his strength into it—almost as if venting his pent-up emotions.

  Despite it being a standard capture motion, the sheer force behind it caused the Poké Ball to whistle through the air.

  If it had been a Caterpie instead of Ting-Lu, the poor thing probably would’ve been knocked out cold on impact.

  Thud!

  Maybe it was just his imagination, but the Poké Ball seemed to make a rather distinct thud as it struck Ting-Lu’s head.

  Boung into the air, it released a crimson light that enveloped the massive Pokémon.

  As the light retracted, Ting-Lu’s colossal form was drawn inside.

  “No matter how many times I see it, this still feels like some crazy magic.”

  Even now, Natsume couldn’t fully grasp the sce behind Poké Ball teology.

  After all, he was just a simple farm owner who had never even goo college.

  The Poké Ball nded and began shaking violently.

  Even in an unscious state, a Legendary Pokémon could still resist capture with ease.

  But Natsume remained rexed.

  He wasn’t particurly desperate to capture Ting-Lu.

  If it worked, great. If not—well, that was Ting-Lu’s problem.

  Either way, another beatdown was iable.

  And whatever happened afterward? That roblem for ter.

  It wasn’t like getting captured would be the worst oute for Ting-Lu.

  “Wumah wumah.”

  Clutg its thorny club, Ogerpon hopped from side to side excitedly, like a boxer waiting for an opening to nd a finishing blow.

  If that thing broke out, she was ready to smack it right back down.

  If not—well, she’d save it for ime.

  She was still a little bummed about not nding the final hit herself.

  And holy?

  She wasn’t the only one.

  Slowking and the others felt the same.

  They’d already unleashed their final attacks, only for Persian to swoop in and steal the st hit.

  Sure, Persian might not have dealt the most damage—

  But it had definitely he finishing blow.

  But it was the ohat he final blow.

  Just like how in games, the broadcast never mentions who dealt the most damage—only who got the kill.

  "Beep~"

  Uhe watchful eyes of Natsume and his partners, the shaking Poké Ball finally came to a stop.

  "Ah, I caught Ting-Lu."

  Staring at the now-motionless Poké Ball on the ground, Natsume spoke in a ft, almost deyed realization.

  To be ho, even now, it still felt somewhat uo him.

  Even though he had already captured Ogerpon, a Mythical Pokémon, it never really acted like one.

  There was no air of dignity, no sense of grandeur—

  Just a plete bundle of adorableness.

  Even its bat power wasn’t as overwhelming as one might imagine.

  Maybe that had something to do with its lost masks?

  Yeah, he really o make retrieving those masks a priority.

  As these thoughts passed through his mind, Natsume bent doicked up the Poké Ball.

  After a brief two-sed hesitatiouro Slowking.

  "Slowking, could you help reinforce this a little?"

  He gestured in the air, trying his best to get his meaning across.

  He had heard that some Psychic-type Pokémon could use their powers to seal Poké Balls, preventing their oppos from releasing their Pokémon.

  "Yadon."

  Slowking nodded, indig that it was no big deal.

  A seal? That’s nothing.

  If there’s ohing we Psychic-types have plenty of, it’s tricks.

  Although, strictly speaking, I’m more of a Water-type…

  But pared to those twin siblings, Slowki he still had a little more authority in this field.

  "Buzz~"

  A fsh of blue light swept over the Poké Ball, f a faint, mysterious pattern.

  "Done."

  Satisfied, Natsume casually tossed the Poké Ball into Zorua’s arms.

  Zorua, now suddenly holding a Poké Ball, sat there in stunned silence.

  It looked down at the ball in its arms, then back up at Natsume—

  An expression of utter fusion.

  "’t be helped. This guy is a Legendary Pokémon, and ly the friendly type."

  "If it breaks free, things could get dangerous."

  "So, I’m ting on you."

  "Suosuo!"

  Hands csped together, Natsume pletely ignored Zorua’s protests.

  "Two bags of Pokéblocks."

  "ade."

  "Suo."

  Deal.

  With a crisp sp, Zorua's small paw smacked against Natsume’s hand.

  Its eyes were filled with an insatiable hunger.

  It didn’t care about much, but when it came to food—suddenly, it was wide awake!

  Hugging the Poké Ball tightly, Zorua’s face took on an uncharacteristically serious expression.

  I will suppress this Poké Ball!

  Even if I must single-handedly keep it sealed (scratch that).

  Ign Zorua’s inexplicable surge of enthusiasm, Natsume looked up toward the sky.

  A Pidgeot was cirg down.

  On its back was the park ranger from earlier—was his name Shouhei?

  Natsume wasirely sure.

  It had only been a short while, yet for some reason, it felt like days had passed.

  Even remembering the guy’s name had bee hazy.

  Natsume had always been a bit fetful.

  Ba school, he’d often fet whether he had eveen breakfast, let alone what he ate.

  Which, holy, robably pretty normal for most high school students.

  Sharp enough to solve math problems, yet clueless about what they did during break.

  "Natsume, it’s me."

  Jumping down from Pidgeot’s back, Shouhei called out loudly.

  His gaze swept across the battlefield, his expression turning to one of disbelief.

  A fight on this scale… The younger geion is seriously something else.

  No, at this point, age didn’t even matter.

  Strength like this wouldn’t be overlooked no matter where you went.

  "So, I came here because…"

  To prevent any misuandings, Shouhei quickly expined his purpose for ing.

  In short, he wao check if Natsume needed anything—treatment for his Pokémon, assistance, whatever it might be.

  As for Ting-Lu? Shouhei had no thoughts on that.

  Whetle started, he had already reported the situation to his superiors, including the fact that Ting-Lu had been captured.

  Natsume had made no effort to hide his identity, so his information had been pulled up almost immediately.

  While Shouhei had no personal opinions, it seemed his superiors had quite a favorable impression of this young man.

  He was surprised when Ting-Lu was actually caught—

  But in the heat of battle, there hadn’t been much time for shock.

  Now, the priority was to show goodwill.

  As much as it might sound bad, a lot of young people nowadays were paranoid.

  Especially when it came to the authorities.

  It felt like there was this widespread misception that the gover was out to get them.

  There was even a case of a Psychic Awakener who, after disc their powers, went into hiding for two months in the mountains, terrified that the moment they were exposed, the gover would dissect them.

  They sted purely on sheer stubbornness (or stupidity) until the police found them—after their parents reported them missing.

  What followed was a legendary parental beatdown.

  Word was, it was brutal.

  After that?

  Someone came over, registered them, and that was it.

  Truth be told, the League retty le about these things.

  Ba the old days, Ghost-type specialists were treated like publiemies.

  After all, some Ghost-types could grow stronger by feeding on human life force.

  But now?

  As long as you weren’t causing trouble, nobody cared if you were a hardchost-type fanatic.

  So when Shouhei’s superiors heard about Natsume catg Ting-Lu, their rea retty calm.

  I mean, a young Trainer used their own strength to defeat and capture a rampaging Legendary Pokémon—

  That’s a good thing, isn’t it?

  Proof that Jadeleaf’s younger geion was outstanding.

  If this were aimes, his deeds would be sung about.

  Nowadays?

  There’d be official reition and rewards, of course.

  Though, of course, the specifics would depend on further discussions.

  "In the ing days, we’ll work o the damaged enviro."

  "The endation process and rewards will be arranged as soon as possible."

  "There might be some public reition involved, but if you prefer to keep a low profile, we’ll respect that."

  Shouhei carefully veyed the stance of his superiors.

  After years as a ranger, even if he hadn’t initially wao get involved with this kind of stuff, he had iably picked up some experience.

  Over time, he had gone from a na?ve, self-important rookie to a proper middle-aged saryman.

  "I see. Thank you for the trouble."

  "No, no, it’s no trouble at all. Holy, we should be thanking you for solving such a huge problem for us."

  "Not really. I just hahe battle. There’s still a lot I ’t help with."

  "That’s what we rangers are here for."

  The versation flowed rather smoothly.

  Natsume’s attitude made Shouhei feel relieved.

  Good. Natsume might be young, but he wasn’t like those reckless, arrogant kids.

  Young hotheads who were full of themselves were the hardest to deal with.

  her of them mentioing-Lu.

  From the rangers’ perspective, Natsume had caught it, so that was that.

  A Trainer’s Pokémon was their own—no one had the right to take it.

  And if someoried? The erainer unity would unite against them.

  The i would probably explode, and some izens might even start a “Dust Release: Family Tree Severaeique.”

  As for Natsume?

  If Shouhei had brought it up, he wouldn’t have minded.

  He had already prepared himself for some bad-forth.

  But since Shouhei didn’t mention it, he wasn’t about to pin.

  And so, Ting-Lu naturally became his rightful prize.

  "By the way, regarding the crete rewards, we'd like to hear your thoughts oter, Mr. Natsume."

  After chatting for a while, Shouhei g the message on his phone.

  Receiving his instrus, he turo Natsume and asked.

  ‘That’s pretty effit.’

  Natsume was somewhat surprised, but he didn’t show it on his face. Instead, he gave the matter some serious thought.

  Gcell