"Huh?"
Natsume murmured, his gaze falling on a green Pokémon next to Ash.
"Cocoon? Did Caterpie evolve?"
"Yeah, it evolved during the fight with Team Rocket just now."
Ash paused for a moment, then proudly scooped up the newly evolved Metapod at his feet and presented it to Natsume.
Natsume didn't say anything, merely furrowed his brow slightly and held his Rotom Phone, aiming it at Metapod.
**Metapod, Level 6, Ability: Shed Skin.**
Sure enough, Natsume raised an eyebrow.
If he remembered correctly, Caterpie evolves into Metapod at level 7, then into Butterfree at level 10.
Seeing Ash's unusually high-level Metapod, Natsume's eyes lit up.
"System, is this Metapod considered a special individual?"
**+1**
Feeling the extra coin added to his inventory, Natsume remained speechless.
"What's wrong, Natsume? Did something happen to Metapod?"
Seeing Natsume silent after scanning Metapod, the pride on Ash's face vanished, replaced by sincere concern.
"Did it get hurt in the battle just now?"
Misty also leaned in with a concerned expression. Though she disliked Bug-types, she couldn't ignore Caterpie and Ash's efforts.
"Nothing serious."
Natsume scratched his head and turned back to study the battle rule system in his mind.
Watching Natsume daydream as usual, Ash twitched at the corner of his mouth.
"It's getting late. Let's set up camp for the night; we should reach Viridian City by tomorrow."
Misty suggested.
"Sounds good!"
They busily started building a campfire and setting up sleeping bags, leaving Natsume standing vacant in the middle.
Naturally, it was because of a system notification.
*Ding!*
[SSS-Rank: Data Collection for Game-Rule Adaptation to Real-World Combat]
[Notice] Today's data collection complete. [Subject] Battle Arena [Reward] Scratch Card ×1 [Cooldown] 23h
A daily task, perhaps?
After receiving the system message, Natsume snapped back to attention.
This so-called SSS-Rank long-term project required Natsume to use the Battle Rule Module to bring wild Pokémon or Trainers into a game battle arena for one match.
Win or lose, he would receive a scratch card, but the gamified battle could only be used once per day.
"System, what's the purpose of collecting this data?"
Curious, Natsume asked.
As usual, the system did not reply.
Shrugging, he turned to see Ash and Misty had lit the campfire.
Two sleeping bags—one pink, one blue—were set up on either side, leaving a large open space in the middle, seemingly for him.
"Natsume, where's your sleeping bag? If you forgot, I've got a spare!"
Seeing Natsume, Ash waved and reached for the extra bag.
"No need."
Natsume tossed a small cube to the ground.
In the next moment, an inflatable tent expanded, filling the open space.
Ash and Misty exchanged looks of envy.
"Natsume, do you have more? I want one too."
Ash's eyes sparkled when he saw the inflatable tent and he immediately tried to crawl inside, but three seconds later, he stepped back, expressionless.
Misty, equally curious, peeked into the tent but also stepped back after three seconds, expressionless.
"Tonight I'll be working on my thesis all night. If nothing's urgent, try not to bother me."
Natsume said, then entered the tent.
With Natsume gone, Misty buried her face in her hands and muttered in exasperation:
"Who sets up that many dissection models in their sleeping area? That's terrifying. I'd have nightmares for sure."
"If I were sleeping in there, I'd definitely have nightmares."
Ash shivered, feeling certain he wouldn't get much sleep tonight.
Night soon fell.
The forest was quiet.
Only the occasional chirp of insects blended with the crackling of the campfire, creating an oddly comforting sense of security.
*Pika, pika*
By the fire, Pikachu was fast asleep, muttering something incomprehensible.
Nearby, Metapod sat on a log, silently staring at the sky.
The flickering firelight reflected off his green shell, and his small black eyes seemed filled with endless wonder for the world above.
*Click.*
A faint sound of footsteps came from behind—Natsume, holding something resembling a small blanket.
"Typical rookie mistake. Not enough travel experience—can't just leave Pokémon exposed like this."
Looking at the sleeping Pikachu and silent Metapod, Natsume gently draped the blanket over them.
*Pi—*
Sensing something, Pikachu shifted and tugged at the blanket, burrowing deeper into sleep.
Natsume moved his gaze from Pikachu to Metapod.
*Could a Pokémon's desire to evolve drive it to evolve ahead of its normal level?*
He quietly jotted the thought into his notebook.
The system didn't consider this pre-level-up Metapod a special individual, indicating it was an objective fact.
In Natsume's experience, research on the link between evolution desire and early evolution was almost nonexistent.
As a Pokémon researcher under twenty with the privilege of having Professor Oak as his mentor, papers he hadn't read were practically unpublished.
He also recalled Dawn's Piplup in his past life, which could suppress its own evolution.
Natsume's gaze grew distant as he remembered the *Diamond & Pearl* arc.
Exploring this direction could yield publishable results in a special journal.
After all, to realize his *Mecha Rotom* project, he needed a lab where he could fully experiment.
Such a *God-level* lab, along with a capable research team, required at least Pokémon Doctor-level credentials to get approval from the League.
To become a Pokémon Doctor, two requirements had to be met: one, endorsement from another Doctor—which Natsume could get from Professor Oak; and two, five research papers accepted by special journals.
Currently, aside from his previous Rotom study published in a special journal, the rest had been rejected.
"Ah, step by step."
Yawning, Natsume returned to his small sleeping area.
The night passed quietly.
The next morning.
*Pika…pi—*
Pikachu's terrified shriek tore through the air, so full of panic that Ash awoke immediately, sensing something was wrong.
"What's wrong, Pikachu?"
Ash jolted upright from his sleeping bag, turning toward Pikachu.
Wait—who covered Pikachu with a blanket?
No—it wasn't a blanket. It was a thick diagram.
A muscular and skeletal map of Pikachu.
Pikachu's terror came from this very diagram, a brutal face-to-face shock first thing in the morning.
"Is this from Natsume's tent?"
Misty glanced over as well.
"What are you two kids arguing about? Ever heard of respecting your elders?"
Natsume, in his blue-and-white striped *pajamas*, came out yelling.
Seeing Pikachu for a moment, he froze.
Right—he must have covered it with the wrong thing in the dark.