The day's teaching duties concluded.
After school, Natsume received twenty neatly copied type charts from Giselle.
"Good, the handwriting's legible."
Natsume sighed nostalgically.
How ironic—I've become the very thing I used to despise.
"Natsume-sensei!"
Giselle mustered her courage as Natsume reached the doorway. "C-can I join the Inter-School Exchange Tournament?"
Natsume paused mid-step, waving without turning. "Depends on your performance."
Bathed in twilight, Giselle stood transfixed before bowing deeply.
"Thank you so much!"
On the way home, Gengar still wore a guilty expression.
"Don't sweat it."
Natsume patted its head.
"You were thinking of me."
Gengar ducked its head—then lit up with an idea bulb.
Need a side hustle!
Saffron City must need battle coaches!
As dusk fell, Erika texted for Natsume's impressions.
Erika: "How was your first official teaching day?"
Natsume: "Played cards with students all day. Exhausting."
Erika: "Huh?"
Kidding, Natsume thought.
They'd actually played Pokémon: Battle all afternoon.
With only Tuesday/Friday classes, his schedule allowed ample leisure—
lounging at home or exploring nearby.
Cynthia wouldn't return until weekend.
Though he'd never admit it, Natsume missed her terribly.
On the downtown-bound bus,
Natsume rested his head against rain-streaked windows.
Beside him, Gengar snoozed with drool dripping.
Earbuds in, Natsume spaced out until—
poke
Sylveon stood on his lap, ribbons extended.
"Shake hands?"
"Sylveon! (｀皿｀)??"
"Haha, alright alright—hug it is."
"Sylveon! o(｀^｀)o"
The fairy-type nuzzled his shoulder like a cat,
its bow bobbing as it drowsily succumbed to sleep.
After quietly recalling Gengar,
Natsume awkwardly unlocked his door while carrying Sylveon.
Left the lights on?
Two imposing figures loomed in the foyer.
"Lucario!"
"Garchomp!"
Holy—since when?!
In the living room,
a golden-haired beauty in black attire emerged wearing Bewear oven mitts,
holding a plate of ominous black sludge.
"You're early."
Cynthia's pale cheeks flushed as she coughed.
"I... could've perfected it given time."
"What is this?"
"Cake."
"You call this cake?!"
"I trained extensively."
Slumping into a chair, Cynthia sighed at the ceiling,
her usually sleek hair disheveled.
"Even took lessons with Diantha at Kalosian patisseries..."
Lucario and Garchomp's murderous glares demanded:
Eat. It.
Natsume gulped.
This wasn't about courage—
that next bite led straight to the afterlife!
After a shaky spoon attempt, he solemnly proposed:
"Let's open a Kalosian café together."
"I'll teach you properly—drive out those fraudulent bakeries."
Cynthia rested her chin on the table, golden locks cascading
as her mercury-like eyes gleamed.
"Would that take long?"
"Every day with you feels fleeting."
"That's quantum physics."
"Relativity, technically."
After contemplation, Cynthia straightened,
scooping a bite with delicate wrists peeking from black sleeves.
"Disgusting." She abandoned the spoon with finality.
Silence lingered as they reclined in amber chandelier light
until simultaneous laughter erupted.
"Then why force me to eat it?!" Natsume wailed.
"I worked hard on this!" Cynthia slammed the table.
"Don't shove it at Gengar! It's just a baby!"
"Gengar! (*⊙~⊙)"
Relax—Poison-type. Literally can't get poisoned.
...
During cleanup, Natsume learned
Cynthia's flight got delayed, enabling this surprise visit.
"Leaving again tomorrow?"
"Early flight."
Cynthia lounged on the sofa, stroking Glaceon and Sylveon.
"Champion duties never end..."
Her golden hair shimmered as she grinned.
"So when are you taking over as Sinnoh Champion?"
"Not sure about Champion..."
Natsume mused about emulating Chairman Rose's Galar takeover.
Why stop at teaching? Just buy the whole league.
Cynthia chuckled without pressing, yawning elegantly.
"Early day tomorrow... Goodni—"
"No gaming?"
She froze mid-step.
"Battles?" Her eyes sparkled. "Or cards?"
"Your pick."
"Gengar, coffee please~~"
"Gengar! [~(￣▽￣)~*]"
The revived ghost cheerfully obliged.
...
November 14th, Wednesday
Cynthia left early for the airport.
Natsume stayed home preparing lesson plans.
"Year-end tournament preparations... I really need to train these kids properly."
After some thought, Natsume mused,
"Maybe I should have Gengar be the coach?"
Though he was just thinking out loud.
Having served as an assistant coach at Tokyo Metropolitan University for so long, Natsume had his own well-established training methods.
As for the Pokémon Trading Card Game...
The Johto expansion pack had launched successfully,
showing clear improvements in both gameplay mechanics and rules.
Of course, the power level surpassed even the Kanto cards...
Each generation becoming more overpowered was inevitable for any card game.
Fortunately, the Pokémon Trading Card Game was just getting started—
with at least five more generations to expand into.
"After releasing the Galar expansion... we can always reprint the Kanto sets,"
Natsume stroked his chin.
"Maybe even a 'Kanto Let's Go!' edition. The possibilities are endless!"
Before he knew it, the morning had flown by.
It was Squirtle's turn to babysit Togepi today.
Worried about potential kidnappers, Squirtle was sweating bullets.
Finally, it placed Togepi inside an emptied fish tank and sighed in relief.
This is definitely the safest spot!
As Natsume got up to prepare lunch for the little ones, he noticed Gengar was missing.
"Out working another part-time job to help with expenses?"
He checked the special Pokédex's location on his phone—
and his expression instantly shifted.
According to the tracker...
Gengar's current location...
was none other than Sabrina's Saffron Gym!
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