Pokémon：Trainer's Gambit

They say a man's strength is reflected in his hairline.

Kazuya, who was just half a step away from becoming a true master of baldness, arrived at Natsume's house the next day, clutching his computer.

"Take a look... is this startup screen design okay?"

"That fast?" Natsume was slightly surprised.

"Of course... I didn't sleep a wink last night!"

Kazuya pointed to the dark circles under his eyes.

As the two discussed the project, Eevee curiously eyed the pink creature in front of it.

A chubby body, curled ears, a vacant stare, and a long pink tail.

It opened its mouth wide, as if a giant question mark floated above its head.

"Slowpoke?" Slowpoke's eyes were blank.

"Eevee?" Eevee tilted its head, waving a paw in front of Slowpoke's face.

"Slowpoke..."

Slowpoke remained unfazed, letting out a long yawn before closing its eyes and comfortably falling asleep.

"Eevee(*?ω-q)"

In the cool room, Eevee rubbed its sleepy eyes and nimbly jumped onto Natsume's lap.

"What's up?"

Natsume, who was busy coding, paused for a moment before smiling and stroking Eevee's fluffy fur.

"If you're sleepy, go ahead and nap. I'll wake you up when it's time to eat."

"Eevee..."

Eevee obediently nodded, its tail swaying gently as it drifted off into a cute little nap.

Kazuya chuckled. "Your Eevee is really well-behaved!"

Natsume, while smoothing out Eevee's fluffy tail, glanced at the deep claw marks on the couch.

"Yeah... it's adorable," Natsume said, nodding stiffly.

The art assets had been outsourced to a group of Smeargle from Tokyo's art academy.

These Smeargle had undergone professional training and could even handle drawing tablets with ease, so chibi-style Pokémon designs were no challenge for them.

Rumor had it that the art students were starting to feel a strong sense of crisis...

If they didn't study harder, they might not even be able to compete with Pokémon!

Of course, some students had found an alternative solution.

If you can't beat them, just raise a Smeargle...

As the sun set, Eevee's soft snoring suddenly stopped, and it opened its eyes to look around.

The evening sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a faint glow on Natsume's focused profile as he worked.

"Eevee!" Eevee tugged on a bell, signaling that it was hungry.

But Natsume just patted its head. "Hold on a bit longer, almost done!"

Eevee nimbly jumped down from his lap.

In the living room, the dopey Slowpoke was lying under the air conditioner, drooling as it continued to nap.

The little one circled Slowpoke three times, sniffing around, and gradually got closer to its pink tail.

Eevee's eyes lit up, and it opened its mouth wide, chomping down on the tail.

In the silent room.

Three seconds later, Slowpoke opened its eyes in confusion. "Slowpoke?"

It saw an Eevee staring innocently back at it, chewing on its tail.

Oh...

I thought... I caught a fish...

Slowpoke let out a yawn, about to go back to sleep, when a sudden pain made its eyes shoot open.

"Slowpoke!!"

...

Natsume had planned to invite Kazuya to stay for dinner.

But Kazuya insisted that if he stayed, dinner might end up being braised Slowpoke tail.

Fortunately, Slowpoke's ability was Regenerator, and the bite marks on its tail disappeared after a while.

The forgetful Slowpoke even waved cheerfully at Eevee, indicating it had had a pleasant day.

"Haunter（ˉ﹃ˉ）"

Haunter wiped its drool, staring longingly at the slowly retreating Slowpoke.

Natsume gave them a strange look. "Next time we have guests... you two need to behave."

"Otherwise, people might think we're serving takeout right at the door!"

"Eevee!"

Eevee responded first, wagging its tail and letting out an adorable yawn.

"Huh? I told you to remember this, not to act cute..."

As he spoke, Natsume rubbed his eyes. "Why am I suddenly so sleepy?"

Before he could finish, Natsume fell straight backward.

Haunter quickly caught him by the shoulders.

"Haunter?" Haunter looked at Eevee in confusion.

Eevee stuck out its tongue, gently licking Natsume's dark circles.

Then it turned its head away, pretending it had nothing to do with it.

For the past two days, Natsume had been working tirelessly on the new game, coding late into the night.

Eevee figured this was probably to earn a living for them.

But... proper rest was still necessary.

This[Yawn]should let the Trainer get some good sleep.

"Haunter!(ノ￣▽￣)"

Haunter also indicated that it had unlocked a new move.

Got it, next time I'll use[Hypnosis]to put him to sleep!

Haunter propped Natsume up and tossed him onto the bed, pulling the blanket over him.

Exchanging a glance with Eevee, the two Pokémon shared a conspiratorial smile.

"Haunter?" (Training?)

"Eevee..." (So hungry...)

Haunter also looked pale, floating weakly above Natsume's head.

They'd just have to wait until this guy woke up.

...

Natsume woke up feeling refreshed.

Though he vaguely felt a bit chilly.

Opening his eyes, he was met with Haunter's resentful face.

"Haunter!?(;′Д｀?)"

Natsume sighed with a smile. "Alright, alright, I get it. I'll make you two something to eat!"

After getting up, Natsume scratched his head, casting a suspicious glance at Haunter.

He had a feeling he'd been hit with something like Conan's tranquilizer dart...

The culprit probably wasn't Haunter, since its Hypnosis would leave a blue glow.

So, Natsume turned his gaze to Eevee, curled up in its cat bed.

Though it appeared to be asleep, Eevee clearly sensed Natsume's stare, stiffening slightly but keeping its eyes shut.

Natsume adjusted his imaginary glasses.

There's only one truth!

In just one afternoon, it had secretly learned[Yawn]from Slowpoke!

[Yawn: Induces drowsiness, causing the target to fall asleep on the next turn.]

Looking at the new move in the system list, Natsume couldn't help but sigh.

Not only did it learn the move in one afternoon, but it also started using it right away...

This learning efficiency is seriously impressive!

What if I hadn't woken up? That would've been bad!

Not only do I have to watch out for wild Pokémon, but I also have to be wary of my own...

Being a Trainer is way too dangerous!

"Wait... isn't Yawn an inherited move? How did it just appear in the list?"

Natsume stroked his chin, taking a closer look at the list, his expression turning interesting.

In Eevee's move list, there was now[Copycat], a move that allowed it to mimic its opponent.

Thanks to[Copycat], Eevee had been able to quickly imitate Slowpoke's Yawn.

Combined with Eevee's natural ability to learn[Yawn], it made sense that it picked it up faster than traditional learning.

"To master Slowpoke's move so quickly..."

Natsume sighed.

"First, we have Uchiha Gengar."

"Now... are you the copycat ninja, Hatake Eevee?!"

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