In the clearing, the fully-armored Corviknight stood poised and ready, its eyes half-lidded, exuding an air of cold indifference.

  With its metallic body gleaming uhe sunlight, it looked just like a grim and aloof knight of death.

  It was undeniably cool.

  But deep down, what was Corviknight really thinking?

  “Damn, I look amazing.”

  Tilting its head slightly, Corviknight admired its own refle in the gss, once again marveling at its majesti uhe sunlight.

  It had lost t of how many times it had had this exact thought since evolving.

  Ever sis evolution, Corviknight’s narcissism had skyrocketed.

  To be fair, though, it was incredibly cool-looking.

  At least—until it opes mouth.

  The moment it spoke, all its cold and imposing aura would vanish into thin air.

  From Death Knight to ic Relief in an instant.

  Fortunately, Corviknight still had some sense of dignity and maintained a certain level of self-awareness about its image.

  Most of the time, it was careful to keep up appearances.

  Like right now—despite being pletely lost in its own narcissism, it was making sure not to let a.

  “Corviknight, I’ll be ting on you today.”

  Just as Corviknight was subtly admiring itself, Natsume and Mei emerged from the house.

  Immediately, Corviknight straightened up, masking its vanity and striking the most aloof pose it could manage.

  If a stranger were to see it at this moment, they might even ent on what a majestic bird it was.

  Unfortunately, Natsume and Mei kly what kind of Pokémon Corviknight truly was.

  Natsume aside, Mei had spent enough time around Corviknight to have an intimate uanding of its personality.

  Corviknight’s daily routine involved spouting an endless stream of trash talk and ung relentless psychological attacks on her Pokémon.

  At first, Servine had been easy to break—pletely defenseless against Corviknight’s verbal assault.

  But now, as a Serperior, it had grown much more posed.

  At the very least, it no longer lost its cool as easily.

  The worst Corviknight could provoke these days was an irritated flick of Serperior’s tail, smag it in the face.

  In fact, Mei’s eeam—except for the newly recruited gling—had built up a solid resistao Corviknight’s relerash talk.

  “Thanks for the hard work, Corviknight!”

  “Caw caw!”

  Mei, who had been walking beside Natsume, grinned as she cheerfully greeted Corviknight.

  Over time, she had grown quite close to the steel-pted bird.

  And as far as Corviknight was ed, Mei wasn’t bad at all.

  She had even provided it with a few sparring dummies—Pokémon it could insult freely as a form of stress relief.

  Not to mention, she often slipped it a few Pokéblocks as treats.

  What a good person!

  On the farm, aside from Natsume, if anyone dared to speak ill of Mei, Corviknight would immediately rise to her defense.

  Even if it ersian!

  Fet this whole "farm's sed-in-and" nonsense—Corviknight was the sed-in-and!

  As it suffered its 800th defeat under Persian’s cws, Corviknight reaffirmed this belief.

  "Alright, time to head out!"

  Seated atop Corviknight's broad back with Mei, Natsume lightly patted its feathers.

  With a powerful beat of its wings, Corviknight effortlessly stirred up a strong gust of wind. The grass below was swept into the air, and before it had eveled back down, Corviknight had already bee a mere spe the sky.

  "Lopuu."

  "Aiyi."

  At the farm's entrance, Lopunny and Indeedee's younger sister watched Natsume depart.

  Over the past few days, the newly arrived Pokémon had gradually adapted to farm life.

  sey had statioself he training grounds, ready to heal any Pokémon engaged in training.

  Audino had taken on a role simir to that of a caretaker, spending its days looking after the farm’s troublemakers.

  When it came to those mischievous little Pokémon, Natsume’s words might not always carry weight.

  But Audino’s? Absolutely.

  Because Audino would pin a troublemaker down and spank them.

  Indeedee’s older brother now served as something of a farm steward, taking over some of Slowking’s ma duties.

  Every day, he was busier than ever.

  As for Indeedee’s younger sister, she mostly pyed the role of a maid, tending to Natsume’s daily needs.

  Her responsibilities overpped somewhat with Lopunny’s.

  Yet, surprisingly, the two got along very well.

  For Lopunny, besides o, she now had another close friend.

  And for o?

  Well, it was another Pokémon on the farm that actually cared about liness!

  No one could truly uand how deeply moved o was when the female Indeedee suggested they together.

  Right then and there, o grasped her hand and decred solemnly: "From now on, your problems are my problems. If anything happens, e to me—I have some sway with Natsume!"

  Female Indeedee, being the expert versationalist she was, naturally pyed along and attentively fttered o.

  A true top-tier hype partner.

  Back to Natsume—

  Even though Corviknight was rger than the average of its kind, it was only just big enough for him ao sit fortably.

  As Corviknight took off, the sudden acceleration pushed their bodies backward.

  By the time they regaiheir bance, Mei had unsciously grabbed onto Natsume’s arm.

  The two sat very close together.

  Feeling the warmth beside them, both instinctively turheir heads away.

  A sed or two passed. Just as Natsume was about to speak, Corviknight's voiterrupted him.

  "Caw caw." [Sit tight. I'm speeding up.]

  Corviknight reveled in the joy of s freely through the sky.

  It pletely failed to notice how the two passengers on its back had just been pressed even clether.

  "Um..."

  Mei, who had nearly ended up in Natsume’s p, awkwardly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

  She opened her mouth, wanting to say something—

  But for a moment, she had no idea what to say.

  So, she ged the topic.

  "This time, I’ve prepared a lot for the petition."

  "I’ll definitely surprise you, Natsume."

  Her attempt at shifting the versation was a bit clumsy, but given the current situation, Natsume was more than happy to go along with it.

  "Is that so? Then I’ll look forward to it."

  After that, silence fell once more.

  Only the sound of the wind rushing past their ears remained.

  To be ho, Natsume had always sidered himself fairly socially adept. Maybe not an expert, but certainly not clueless.

  Most of the time, he simply didn’t speak because he didn’t see the o.

  But now?

  Yeah, he admitted it—his versation skills might actually not be that great.

  At least, not when it came to finding the right words in situations like this.

  "Natsume, Natsume! Wao turn on navigation, Roto?"

  Fortunately, just as the awkward silence was setting in, a hero arrived to save the moment.

  Rotom burst out of Natsume’s pocket, still in its phone form.

  "ht—Rotom, turn on navigation, please."

  If Rotom hadn’t reminded him, Natsume might have pletely fotten about navigation.

  At first, he had remembered t Rotom specifically for this reason.

  But after all the chaos with Corviknight, it had slipped his mind.

  "Roger, Roto!"

  With its ever-present grin, Rotom flew in front of Corviknight, projeg a map onto its s.

  And then—

  "You’re flying the wrong way, you dumb bird!"

  Thwack thwack thwack!

  "Caw!" [Stop hittiop hitting me!]

  Natsume lightly smacked Corviknight’s head with his fist.

  If it weren’t for the risk of a Bck Hawk Down sario, he holy would’ve given this bird a real wake-up call.

  With Rotom’s help, Corviknight finally got ba the right course.

  "Alright, start desding up ahead."

  As the outlines of buildings became visible in the distanatsume patted Corviknight’s head to signal the nding.

  Cities had strict regutions for flying Pokémon.

  To fly within city limits, one needed both a permit and special authorization.

  It was a hassle, really.

  Without the proper paperwetting chased down was entirely normal.

  Getting shot out of the sky wasn’t unheard of either.

  To avoid unnecessary trouble, Natsume would rather walk a little extra.

  "Caw!"

  Following the and, Corviknight swiftly desded.

  Having once lived iy with Natsume, it was already well aware of the rules.

  "Should we grab a bite first?"

  "Or head straight tistration?"

  After nding aurning Corviknight to its Poké Ball, Natsume turo Mei.

  "Let’s gister first."

  After thinking it over, Mei decided to take care istration first.

  Judging by the schedule, the tour wouldn’t st too long.

  Dinner could wait—after all, it’d make food victory celebration.

  Yes.

  Even before the petition started, Mei was already pnning the victory dinner.

  It couldn’t be helped.

  If she were peting alone, she’d be focused on strategies and tactics.

  But with Natsume here?

  The championship ractically guaranteed.

  A small-time tour having even one petitor of Natsume’s caliber was already unusual.

  Having two?

  The ces were close to zero.

  Lower than the odds of a Legendary Pokémon attag a city.

  At least, in Jadeleaf, that was the case.

  "Alright then."

  "Let’s get going."

  Tapping a Poké Ball, Natsume released Zorua and Togepi.

  "Suo!"

  A midair flip with a 360° spin!

  "Chagi!"

  A fwless nding—no spsh!

  The two little Pokémon dramatically leaped onto the ground, each striking an eborate pose.

  And, of course, they provided their own sound effects.

  "Cp cp cp!"

  Zorua struck a dramatic pose, bowing to the empty air around them as if graciously accepting the r appuse of an invisible audience.

  Togepi, ever the perfect partner, cpped enthusiastically in response, sh Zorua with praise.

  Truly, cssic Zorua!

  "Alright, you two, that's enough showing off."

  Natsume scooped them up, one in each arm, seg the restless duo in pce.

  "Suosuo!"

  "Chagi chagi!"

  Even in his arms, Zorua and Togepi wriggled in protest, unwilling to stay still.

  Natsume's Pokémon may have wao break free from his arms, but having experienced firsthand the chaos of mischievous Pokémon, he had no iion of letting these two troublemakers run wild.

  He had always disliked trainers who let their Pokémon roam unchecked, causing trouble wherever they went.

  And he certainly didn't want to bee one of them.

  That would be kind of ironic, wouldn't it?

  Being the kind of person you once despised.

  "It feels like it's been forever since I've been in such a bustling pce."

  The unique energy of the city hit him all at once.

  Ever sinheriting the farm, Natsume had spent most of his time there. Even when he left, it was usually just a short trip to the nearby town for supplies.

  The noise and liveliness of a city like this—yeah, it had been a while.

  "Feels like I've suddenly aged quite a bit."

  Scratg his head, Natsume wondered aloud.

  He was only een.

  Wasn't it a little dramatic to call himself old?

  Then again, even kids around fifteen or sixteen—heck, even some ten-year-olds—were out there pining about feeling old.

  So maybe it wasn't that big of a stretch?

  Besides, his mental age probably wasn't that young to begin with.

  "Natsume, you're still young! You're even youhan me by half a year," Mei chimed in, lightly poking him.

  At first, she'd always seen Natsume as a reliable seniure.

  Even though they were the same age, his presence just didn’t feel like that of a ret high school graduate.

  Then she found out not only were they peers—he was actually youhan her by six months.

  That realization gave her… well, a rather iing feeling.

  The dependable senior had suddenly turned into a younger little brother.

  And strangely enough, that was kind of exg.

  "Oh? Should I start calling you ‘big sis’ then?"

  "Of course! If Natsume calls me ‘big sis,’ I’ll be full of energy for the entire day!"

  "Alright then. I won’t."

  "Wait, no! Just say it once!"

  "Denied."

  "e on, I beg you! This is my one and only request in life!"

  "You said the same thing st time when you wanted extra food at dinner."

  Laughing and teasing each other along the way, they made their way to the tour venue.

  But as they walked, Natsume started to feel like… a lot of people were looking at him.

  Hmm...

  Probably just his imagination.

  It's not like he was famous or anything.

  Maybe they were just admiring how cute Zorua and Togepi were?

  "You two sure are attrag a lot of attention, huh?"

  Looking down at the little Pokémon in his arms, Natsume smiled.

  "Suo?" [What?]

  Zorua tilted its head in fusion.

  What are you talking about?

  I don’t see anyone looking at me.

  They're all looking at you.

  Zorua couldn’t uand Natsume’s mistake.

  That misuanding sted all the way until they arrived at the registration desk.

  "Excuse me, are you Mr. Natsume?"

  The woman handling sign-ups hesitated slightly as she asked after he finished signing in.

  "Hm?"

  "Yeah, that’s my name."

  Natsume paused for a moment.

  There were plenty of people with the sursu.

  And he wasn't the only person named Natsume in the world.

  Maybe she was asking about someone else with the same name?

  Thankfully, the receptionist quickly crified.

  "Are you the same Natsume who defeated the Legendary Pokémon?"

  "The one who took down Ting-Lu?"

  Her eyes sparkled as she looked at him.

  And for the first time in his life—both his past one and his current osume had the distinct experience of being reized by a stranger.

  "So it really is you!"

  "When I saw your name on the registration list, I thought it was just someoh the same name."

  "But when you came to sign in, you looked really familiar, and I just had to firm!"

  Now certain of his identity, the womaedly rambled on about his battle with Ting-Lu.

  For most people, entering a Legendary Pokémon was a on-a-lifetime experience.

  Let aloually defeating one.

  Ahe person standing in front of her—a guy who had just barely reached adulthood—had do alone.

  That was why Natsume had been trending online for a while.

  Though he had gone quiet retly, his name hadn't pletely faded from the spotlight.

  Behind him, aour partit stood frozen, staring at Natsume’s ba shock.

  Wait a minute…

  Wasn’t this the guy who had been all over the i retly?

  His name was… Natsume, right?

  The one who took down Ting-Lu?

  No way…

  Am I supposed to battle that Natsume?!