That's why my chest feels tight.
Natsuhiko sighed with a wry smile.
However, seeing the Pokémon diligently training on their own, he couldn't help but feel a little sentimental.
They've all grown up...
"Eevee~~" Eevee felt the movement underneath and opened its bleary eyes.
Sitting up, it rubbed its eyes and even yawned.
"Eevee!"
That's when Eevee realized that Natsuhiko was awake, and it immediately squealed in surprise.
The Pokémon, hearing the commotion, all put down what they were doing and gathered around him.
Seeing their concerned eyes, Natsuhiko picked Eevee off his chest and ruffled its head.
"It's alright now."
The Pokémon all breathed a sigh of relief.
Though Natsuhiko's pale face hardly reassured them, at least he was awake.
"Alakazam..."
Alakazam hung its head as it approached Natsuhiko, full of guilt.
"Don't blame yourself. I was just too greedy."
Natsuhiko knew what Alakazam was blaming itself for, but it really wasn't Alakazam's fault.
He had gotten carried away, not expecting that these seemingly unimpressive psychic energies would be so overwhelming, beyond what a weak Superpower User like him could bear.
"Snorlax~~"
Suddenly, a noise came from beneath him.
Only then did Natsuhiko realize he had been sleeping on Snorlax's belly.
Who knows how long he'd been asleep?
But the Snorlax, who should've gotten hungry quickly, didn't complain once; it just quietly allowed Natsuhiko a more peaceful and comfortable resting place.
Now, as Natsuhiko woke, Snorlax bashfully knocked on its head with a finger.
It was hungry.
Natsuhiko remained silent.
Then he broke into a wide smile.
"Alright, dinner time!"
"Snorlax!!"
The Pokémon all laughed along with it.
It wasn't just Snorlax, actually—they were all hungry.
Even though he had inadvertently injured himself, it allowed Natsuhiko to see the independent side of the Pokémon, which made him quite happy.
The meal was quite cheerful.
Natsuhiko waking up was a relief for all the Pokémon.
As they left the small space Togekiss had created, Natsuhiko realized he had been asleep for an entire night plus a day.
Which meant...
Tomorrow was the end of their mission.
And he hadn't captured many Pokémon yet.
He couldn't hand over Pokémon like Bewear and Milotic to the Hunter Guild.
Pokémon that others couldn't take away, he had his ways.
He'd leave them with Dragapult, and the Hunter Guild wouldn't be able to trace them.
"Time is running out, but it should be enough."
The rest of the time would be when he started hunting the hunters from the Hunter Guild.
Not just to earn a sufficient number of points, but also to eliminate a few potential rivals early.
He recalled his Pokémon.
Then, with Bewear and Alakazam, he started the search for hunters.
In Natsuhiko's own words, which he found a bit overwrought...
The Hunt Begins!
...
...
The forest at night was quite dangerous.
But for experienced Pokémon Hunters, night was the best time to capture truly valuable Pokémon.
Indeed, it was.
A hunter named Sato was crouched in some shrubs at the moment, waiting for an Arbok he'd been tracking for some time.
Though not rare, this was a Gym Leader Level Arbok.
And Arbok, with its fierce disposition, not weak abilities, and poisonous nature, was quite popular on the Pokémon trade market.
Sato's aim wasn't to compete for the top three, but earning extra was always good.
If he got lucky, and others didn't make it, maybe he'd crack the top three.
After a while.
He finally saw that Arbok slowly slither out of its hole.
But before he could make a move.
The Ariados, known for its "Insomnia" trait, perched alertly on a treetop and sounded an alarm.
Its webs had been disturbed; someone was approaching!
Sato decisively abandoned his attempt to capture Arbok and immediately prepared to confront the newcomer.
As an experienced Hunter Guild hunter, he knew that in the wild, it was often humans, not Pokémon, who posed the greatest danger.
Buzz—
Suddenly, a spiral of milky sound waves blasted down from above, sweeping all the surrounding trees away in one go.
General Type Technique, Explosive Sound Wave!
Sato's expression turned suddenly grim.
"Ariados!"
The Ariados leaped straight down from the tree, positioning itself in front of Sato.
At the same time, a bright green Energy Shield emerged around it.
The technique "Defend" blocked this assault.
Looking toward the source of the attack.
In the dim night sky, there was a Noivern hovering in mid-air.
And on the back of Noivern, sat a sickly young man, the image of self-indulgence.
Sato gritted his teeth, "Is the killing already happening before the end time?"
He knew the final results would lead to this.
If it were just a normal hunting mission, there might be some mutual conflict, but it certainly wouldn't be much; there would still be some deterrence between parties.
But this mission, with the added bonus of securing a qualifying spot for the top three, had changed its nature.
In his view, the last day would become incredibly fierce.
Yet he didn't expect someone to be so impatient, starting their assault the night before the last day.
However.
Similar scenes were occurring in many places across the island.