The car continued deeper into the estate.
After driving for some distance, it finally arrived at the inner compound reserved for members of the Natsume family’s direct line.
The moment the chauffeur opened the door, Suguru Natsume stepped out and headed toward the mansion ahead.
His expression remained perfectly calm.
His footsteps, however, were noticeably faster than usual.
That was only natural.
After all—
Today was the day he could finally become a Pokémon Trainer.
Pokémon possessed terrifying power.
Even a Level Ten Pokémon could kill a fully grown adult without much difficulty.
For that matter, even a newly hatched Weedle could pierce straight through a person’s throat if it thrust its poisonous stinger with all its strength.
In any nation that valued public order, the very existence of Pokémon presented a serious challenge.
Suppose everyone were allowed to possess Pokémon without restriction.
All it would take was one person losing control and ordering their Pokémon to attack people in the middle of a crowded street.
Before the authorities could respond, dozens—or perhaps even hundreds—of casualties could occur.
One possible solution would be to strictly limit the number of registered Trainers.
However, doing so would also reduce the number of people pursuing the Trainer profession.
And the fewer Trainers a nation possessed, the lower its chances of producing powerful Elites and Champions.
No major nation could possibly accept that.
Thus, rather than limiting how many people could become Trainers, Japan had chosen to delay the age at which its citizens could officially register.
In Japan, students became eligible to register as Trainers upon entering their third year of high school.
Before then, they were required to study Pokémon biology, wilderness survival, Trainer law, emergency treatment, and various general academic subjects.
By the time students reached their third year, their minds were considered mature enough to understand the responsibilities that came with commanding a Pokémon.
As for those who dropped out of school or never attended high school—
That was not a problem.
Any citizen who had reached the age of eighteen could apply to become an officially registered Trainer.
Upon entering the mansion, Suguru immediately took out his phone and opened the Japan Trainer Association app.
Until today, the button labeled—
REGISTER AS A TRAINER
—had always been gray and unresponsive.
Now, however, it had turned blue.
He was finally eligible.
The registration system was controlled nationwide.
Even though Suguru was a direct descendant of one of Japan’s Eight Great Houses, there were certain rules that not even his family could ignore.
Following the instructions displayed on the screen, Suguru entered his personal information, verified his identity, and completed the application one step at a time.
Less than three minutes later—
His registration was complete.
At that exact moment, an electronic chime rang directly inside his mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host for becoming a registered Trainer.]
[Pokémon System successfully activated.]
[Pokémon Status function unlocked.]
[Mission System unlocked.]
[System Shop unlocked.]
[Please obtain your first Pokémon to activate the Mission Panel.]
“—What?!”
The system that had been stuck at ninety-nine percent ever since Suguru’s birth had suddenly completed its activation.
The unexpected voice startled him so badly that his phone slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor.
“Well, well.
Is becoming a Trainer really that exciting?”
Just as Suguru bent down to pick up his phone, an amused voice reached him from nearby.
Suguru raised his head.
“Grandfather.”
He immediately greeted the elderly man with unusual obedience.
The newcomer was Gendō Natsume.
He was the sixty-eighth head of the Natsume family, Japan’s current Steel-type Elite, and the number-one-ranked Trainer on the national Elite Rankings.
His strength had already reached the very peak of the Quasi-Champion tier.
The Natsume family was one of Japan’s oldest Steel-type lineages.
For generations, its members had primarily raised Steel-type Pokémon.
When it came to cultivating Steel types, no individual or organization within Japan could surpass the Natsume family.
Even on the global stage, their knowledge and methods ranked among the absolute best.
In the Trainer world, both Elite-tier and Quasi-Champion-tier Trainers were broadly considered members of the Elite class.
However, the title of Steel-type Elite carried a more specific meaning.
Once every five years, Japan held a national Type Challenge.
Trainers specializing in the same type gathered to compete against one another, and the victor of each category received the title of that type’s strongest Trainer in Japan.
By winning the Steel-type division, Gendō Natsume had proven himself to be the nation’s greatest Steel-type specialist.
The national Elite Rankings were determined through a separate competition known as the Elite Challenge Tournament, which was held once every eight years.
Only the top one hundred participants would have their names recorded on the official rankings.
Generally speaking, Trainers ranked between first and thirtieth had already reached the Quasi-Champion tier.
Even the Trainer ranked one hundredth possessed strength at least in the latter stages of the Elite tier.
At present, Japan had a little over one thousand officially registered Elite-tier Trainers.
That sounded like an enormous number.
However, Japan contained more than one thousand cities.
In other words, there was barely one Elite-tier Trainer for each city.
Gendō had two children.
His eldest child was his son, Senri Natsume.
His younger child was his daughter, Keina Natsume.
Senri had three children of his own—two daughters and one son.
His eldest daughter, Aya Natsume, was currently studying at the Imperial Capital Steel Academy.
She was four years older than Suguru, who was now seventeen.
His only son was Suguru.
His youngest daughter, Hatsumi Natsume, was four years younger than her brother and was currently preparing to enter middle school.
Suguru’s aunt, Keina, had never married.
She currently worked at the Imperial Rayquaza Research Institute and was regarded as one of the finest Pokémon researchers of her generation.
She was also the youngest recipient of the prestigious Arceus Prize in history.
The Natsume family had existed for more than a thousand years.
It was a true millennium-old great house.
Although there was no living Champion among the family’s current generation, the Natsume family had produced ten Champions throughout its long history.
On average, one Champion had emerged from the family every hundred years.
Furthermore, the Pokémon belonging to those Champions had not disappeared after their Trainers passed away.
They had remained within the Natsume estate, residing in a secluded location known only to the family’s highest-ranking members.
Should the Natsume family ever face complete destruction, those Champion-class Pokémon left behind by their ancestors would emerge to protect the family.
The other seven Great Houses possessed similar foundations.
Some might be slightly weaker than the Natsume family, but their overall power still far surpassed that of nearly every other lineage in Japan.
Gendō himself was currently considered the strongest Quasi-Champion in the nation.
He was also one of the Trainers most likely to break through and become Japan’s seventh living Champion.
And even though Suguru’s paternal family did not currently have a living Champion—
His maternal grandfather was one of Japan’s Six Champions.
The nation’s reigning Fire-type Champion.
“Grandfather, where’s my Beldum?”
The moment he saw Gendō, Suguru could no longer suppress his impatience.
The Natsume family was a Steel-type great house and possessed exceptional knowledge regarding the cultivation of Steel-type Pokémon.
Among the countless Steel types raised by the family, one evolutionary line stood above all others as the symbol of the Natsume name.
Metagross.
A pseudo-legendary Pokémon possessing both the Steel and Psychic types.
More importantly—
The Metagross lineage belonging to the Natsume family was Shiny.
Metagross reproduced through a unique process of division.
Because of that, the inheritance of its Shiny coloration was extraordinarily stable.
Whenever one of the family’s Shiny Metagross divided to reproduce, the Beldum born from it would inevitably be Shiny as well.
“I prepared it for you long ago.”
Gendō smiled as he took out a pale-silver Poké Ball.
Pop!
The Poké Ball opened.
A flash of light emerged from within before gathering in the air.
A moment later, a silver-white Beldum appeared before Suguru, silently floating at eye level.
Its metallic body gleamed beneath the lights of the mansion, while its single crimson eye observed him with quiet curiosity.
At the same time, a translucent screen automatically appeared within Suguru’s field of vision.
…
Pokémon Status
Name: Beldum
Type: Steel/Psychic
Level: 1
Aptitude: Quasi-Champion
Ability: Clear Body
Held Item: None
Gender: Genderless
Moves: Tackle
Technical Machines: None
Inherited Moves: None
Special Note:
Shiny Trait — Damage dealt is increased by 100%.
…
So this was the system’s Pokémon Status function.
Suguru’s eyes lit up.
This ability was far more useful than he had expected.
With a single glance, he could see every important piece of information about a Pokémon.
Its aptitude, level, type, ability, held item, moves, and even special traits were all displayed clearly before him.
There was no need for an expensive Aptitude Analyzer.
There was no need to rely on a breeder’s experience.
And there was no risk of being deceived by a dishonest seller.
Everything was laid bare before the system.
As for Beldum’s ability—
Clear Body was undoubtedly better than its Hidden Ability, Light Metal.
Light Metal reduced a Pokémon’s body weight by half, thereby improving its mobility and speed.
However, Beldum, Metang, and Metagross were naturally slow Pokémon.
Even if their speed increased somewhat, they still would not gain much of an advantage against Pokémon that truly specialized in speed.
Clear Body was different.
It prevented the Pokémon’s attributes from being lowered by an opponent’s moves or abilities.
Its value in actual battle was enormous.
For example, if Beldum encountered a Gyarados with the Intimidate ability, Clear Body would prevent its Attack from being reduced.
Likewise, when facing moves with additional stat-lowering effects, such as Superpower or Hammer Arm, Clear Body would protect it from suffering those negative effects.
For a Pokémon like Metagross, whose combat style relied heavily on overwhelming physical power and stable performance—
Clear Body was practically the perfect ability.