Pokémon：Trainer's Gambit Chapter 1 - 001: The Times Are Changing

"Ding ling ling—"

Natsu opened his groggy eyes, staring at the ceiling, and let out a long yawn.

"Just another ordinary day."

It was the weekend, and the Pikachu alarm clock on his bedside table showed it was already noon, but Natsu had just gotten up.

Heading to the bathroom, while waiting for the water to run, Natsu quickly ordered so takeout.

"Dodrio Express, Pelipper Fresh... Hah, the nas these shops co up with are getting more creative by the day."

Several new stores had nas inspired by Pokémon, which made Natsu feel a sense of familiarity.

Look, this is what you call the world's number one IP! (Tactical lean back)

Without giving it much thought, Natsu casually ordered a "29.9 Pokémon Coins Farfetch'd Combo (with free flatbread)" and set his phone aside to start washing his face.

"Splash—"

He cupped a handful of water and splashed it on his face.

The mirror reflected a tall, handso young man with classical Greek features.

His hair was disheveled, and the thick dark circles under his eyes only made his gaze seem more profound.

It made one sigh in admiration—even dark circles looked like natural eye bags on soone this good-looking.

It was truly relatable.

After finishing his morning routine, Natsu returned to his rented room and comfortably sank into his gaming chair.

He turned on his computer, entered the password "Sakurajima Mai," and the Pikachu screensaver lit up.

"Pikachu(?′?`?)~?!"

Natsu skillfully opened Nico Dou and started searching for today's video to watch while eating.

As a freshman at Tokyo tropolitan University and a part-ti gaming content creator on Nico Dou, Natsu's main content revolved around editing and comntating on Pokémon battles.

With his unique style and expertise, he had attracted nearly 100,000 followers.

Although Natsu himself was a high-ranking player in the competitive scene, having once reached as high as 7th in the world rankings, his luck was notoriously bad. He was even infamous for a "Hydro Pump triple MISS" mont.

This was why his audience often teased him about his "entertaining" gaplay.

Between streaming and making videos—

Natsu rented a place off-campus and only went to the university for classes.

"Huh?"

As Natsu browsed the hopage, he muttered, "Why are there so many Pokémon-related recomndations today?"

"Has Pokémon's popularity surged again?"

Out of the ten recomnded videos on the hopage, eight of them were related to Pokémon.

[Bear Grylls: Look what we found, a wild Caterpie]

[Trump X Gumshoos: Nobody knows Pokémon better than ]

[Suggested Edit: Splash]

[Huanong: My buddy's Berries are ripe, let's go pick so]

...

"Sothing's off about today's hopage."

"What's with the Caterpie? Six tis the protein of beef?"

"And Berries... surely they don't an Oran Berries or Sitrus Berries, right..."

Natsu scratched his head, utterly confused, and switched to the gaming section. His eyes suddenly widened.

The battle video he had uploaded last night had shot straight to the top of the gaming section!

Natsu gulped and shakily clicked on the video titled [Natsu-sensei Teaches Battling 03: SubProtect Toxic].

He took a deep breath.

"Sothing's off about today's hopage."

"What's with this Caterpie? Six tis the protein of beef?"

"And Berries... surely they don't an Oran Berries or Sitrus Berries, right..."

Natsu scratched his head, utterly confused, and switched to the gaming section. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

The battle video he had uploaded last night had shot straight to the top of the gaming section!

Natsu gulped and shakily clicked on the video titled [Natsu-sensei Teaches Battling 03: SubProtect Toxic].

He took a deep breath.

"1.2 million views!?"

What the hell, I'm freaking out!

"Cover letter notification."

"Learned sothing new, gonna try this against the Gym Leader now."

"Please, just be human for once!"

After staring in disbelief for a while, Natsu chuckled as he scrolled through the barrage of comnts, but a hint of doubt crept into his mind.

"SubProtect Toxic" is such a basic strategy, how did it suddenly blow up?

Did so big shot in the gaming community give a shoutout?

But I haven't been doing any behind-the-scenes deals lately.

Rubbing his chin, Natsu scrolled down to the comnts section.

In the comnts, a verified level 6 account with the ID "The Battler" had posted a detailed explanation of the "SubProtect Toxic" strategy.

[The Battler: "SubProtect Toxic" refers to a strategy where a Pokémon learns the moves "Toxic," "Substitute," and "Protect," and uses them as the core of its battle plan.

In battles, the Trainer needs to have exceptional adaptability to execute this strategy effectively.

The content creator has already explained the chanics of this strategy in great detail.

Grass-type and Poison-type Trainers have a natural advantage and should study this guide carefully.

Thank you to the content creator for such a high-quality tutorial!

PS: Seems like this was posted in the wrong section; it would fit better in the Battle section.]

After reading this lengthy comnt, a huge question mark popped up in Natsu's mind.

What's this "Battle section"?

Since when did Nico Dou have a "Battle" category?

The replies below included: "Master Ball catch!" "Holy crap, it's the real deal!" "Red, mom loves you!"

Scratching his head, Natsu gave "The Battler's" comnt a like and casually clicked on their profile.

In an instant, a cold sweat dripped down Natsu's forehead.

"Renowned content creator in the Battle section, champion of the 9th Indigo Plateau Conference, Pokémon Masters League Champion..."

Natsu stamred, barely able to get his words out.

"Red!?"

"You've got to be kidding . Red is the protagonist from the Pokémon Special manga, how is he a content creator on Nico Dou!?"

Clicking on Red's photo gallery, Natsu was t with the image of a cheerful young man in his early twenties.

He wore a red cap, a black tank top with a red vest, and a fluffy Pikachu perched on his shoulder.

If this was a cosplay, it was ten tis more accurate than Natsu had ever imagined!

And this real-life Pikachu was incredibly cute, just like the one from Pokémon Detective Pikachu!

Natsu was completely dumbfounded.

"Okay, don't panic. Stay calm, stay calm!"

"Here's what happened: I woke up this morning, found my video had gone viral, and a big shot showed up in the comnts."

"This big shot is a world champion, the protagonist of the Pokémon world, Red."

"Ha! Once you break it down like that, it all makes sense!"

"...Makes no sense at all!"

"Did I get transported to another world, or is this world just ssed up?"

"Did the tiline converge, and now Red is a content creator!?"

Natsu was trained to handle even the most absurd situations.

But this...

Just as Natsu's brain was about to short-circuit, his phone suddenly rang.

"Hello, your takeout is here. Please co to the window to pick it up."

"Oh, okay."

Natsu walked to the window, only to suddenly rember he was on the sixth floor.

You want to co to the window on the sixth floor? Are you planning to deliver it with a Pidgeotto or sothing!?

Suddenly, a shadow swooped by, and a large, brightly feathered bird with a majestic crest landed on the windowsill. Its long beak held a takeout bag, and it waved a wing at Natsu with a cheerful grin.

Natsu stood frozen like a statue.

The delivery guy shouted from downstairs.

"Don't forget to leave a good review!"

Natsu couldn't even rember how he took the takeout bag from the Pidgeotto's beak.

All he could recall was the sight outside his window: flocks of Pidgey flying across the sky, Oddish toddling around in the flowerbeds of the neighborhood, and a Rapidash galloping gracefully along the overpass.

His landlord was walking through the neighborhood, leading an orange-furred, black-striped Growlithe, and waved at Natsu with a smile.

"The Pokémon world... has rged with reality..."

Natsu stood there for a long ti, looking up at the sky, feeling his eyes grow moist.

Eighteen years... it's been eighteen long years.

I finally made it to this day!