“A Fairy Affinity, huh?
Honestly, if I were her, I’d probably show it off in front of my sworn rival too.”
After hearing Hatsumi’s complaint, Suguru Natsume nodded as though he completely understood the other girl’s actions.
“Big Brother!”
Hatsumi stomped her foot and glared at him with an unhappy pout.
She had come to ask him for help—not to have him rub salt into her wounds!
A Fairy Affinity was one form of Type Affinity.
There were many other variations, including Fire Affinity, Grass Affinity, Water Affinity, and so on.
As the name suggested, a Type Affinity increased a person’s natural compatibility with Pokémon of the corresponding type.
It allowed those Pokémon to develop affection, trust, and recognition toward that person far more quickly.
In simple terms, it was a weakened version of a Type Heart.
A Type Heart possessed all the effects of a Type Affinity while also accelerating the growth of Pokémon belonging to the corresponding type—without producing any harmful side effects.
A Type Affinity, however, only improved compatibility.
Even so, it was still classified as a special ability.
Like Type Hearts, Type Affinities were divided into five grades:
Basic.
Intermediate.
Advanced.
Supreme.
And Perfect.
Although a Type Affinity had only one primary effect, it was still remarkably rare.
Among ten thousand Trainers, there might not even be a single person who awakened one.
That said, Type Affinity was still the easiest special ability to awaken.
Its hereditary nature was also considerably stronger than that of most other abilities.
The Natsume family’s Steel Heart could also be inherited through blood, but the probability was exceedingly low.
Among Suguru’s generation, he was currently the only member of the family who had awakened a Steel Heart.
Not one of his siblings or cousins had awakened even a Basic-grade Steel Heart.
However, Suguru had not merely awakened an ordinary one.
He possessed the highest possible grade—
The Perfect Steel Heart.
Throughout the Natsume family’s thousand-year history, only two people had ever awakened such an ability.
When quality reached such an overwhelming level, mere quantity could no longer compete against it.
“All right, all right.”
Seeing that his little sister was genuinely becoming angry, Suguru raised both hands in surrender.
“A Type Affinity doesn’t directly increase battle strength, so what are you worried about?”
He looked at her in confusion.
“Sure, you didn’t awaken a Perfect Steel Heart like your genius big brother.
In fact, you didn’t even awaken a Basic one.”
“But your natural talent is still… barely acceptable.”
“So why are you panicking over a mere Fairy Affinity?”
Hatsumi stared at him in disbelief.
She was now certain that her brother was deliberately stabbing her in the heart.
“Try saying that in front of Big Sis!
She didn’t awaken a Steel Heart either!”
The Natsume family operated under a strict hierarchy of bloodline suppression.
Or, to put it more simply—
Their eldest sister, Aya Natsume, possessed absolute authority over both Suguru and Hatsumi.
“Listen carefully, Hatsumi Natsume.”
Suguru placed both hands on his little sister’s cheeks and pulled them outward.
“I am now an official Trainer.”
“Give me a few years, and I shall suppress every enemy beneath the heavens.” Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“Naturally, that includes Aya Natsume.”
He stretched Hatsumi’s cheeks so far apart that even her back teeth were almost visible.
“Y-You’re… bwagging…”
Hatsumi repeatedly smacked his arms with her tiny hands, her eyes overflowing with defiance.
“Hmph.
You think I’m bragging?”
Suguru raised his chin arrogantly.
“Forget about Aya not being here.
Even if she were standing right behind me, I would still say exactly the same thing.”
His declaration was firm and decisive.
Unfortunately, the way he subtly glanced over his shoulder revealed that he was not nearly as fearless as he claimed.
Good.
She isn’t here.
Suguru secretly sighed in relief.
Thank goodness that melodramatic cliché didn’t happen.
“Big Brother, we’re running out of time!”
Hatsumi glanced at the clock and decided not to continue arguing with him.
“Hurry up and teach me some kind of one-hit finishing move!”
The main reason she had come to find Suguru was to ask whether he knew any technique that would guarantee her victory over Kasumi Yanagi.
When they arrived at the battle club that afternoon, Hatsumi intended to beat her archrival so badly that she would never dare show off in front of her again.
“A guaranteed finishing move?”
Suguru rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“I actually do know one.”
“What is it?!”
Hatsumi’s eyes immediately lit up with expectation.
“Well…”
Suguru deliberately dragged out the word.
“Come on!
Tell me already!”
“Hmm…”
“Please, Big Brother!”
“The secret technique is…”
Suguru stretched the silence as long as possible.
Hatsumi leaned closer, her bright eyes fixed intently upon him.
Then, just as her anticipation reached its peak, Suguru grinned.
“I’m not telling you.”
The moment those words left his mouth, he turned around and fled.
Before Hatsumi could even react, he had already disappeared through the front door.
“AAAAAH!
SUGURU NATSUME, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”
As Suguru stepped outside, his little sister’s furious scream echoed from inside the house.
He ignored it completely.
He had no interest in interfering in a battle between two little girls.
“Come to think of it, I wonder when Big Sis is coming home.”
Remembering Aya, Suguru took out his phone and called her.
It was currently summer vacation.
However, Aya was already a third-year student at the Imperial Capital Steel Academy and would soon begin her fourth year.
At her level, ordinary winter and summer vacations had practically ceased to exist.
Senior students often spent their breaks participating in field expeditions, completing internships, accepting Trainer missions, or accompanying professors on research assignments. The source of this chapter is g.com.
The call connected—
But all Suguru heard was a long series of unanswered tones.
“Is she out in the wilderness?”
He muttered to himself before ending the call.
This world was unimaginably vast.
Although human nations occupied considerable territories, roughly eighty percent of the planet remained covered by forests, lakes, mountains, deserts, and oceans.
Countless Pokémon lived within those untamed regions.
Many areas in the wilderness had no communication signal whatsoever.
In others, powerful Pokémon or strange natural phenomena caused severe electromagnetic interference.
Even satellite phones could become completely useless under such conditions.
Still, Suguru was not particularly worried about Aya’s safety.
Her own strength had already reached the Quasi-Elite tier.
That alone represented a level that ninety-nine percent of all Trainers would never reach in their entire lives.
Furthermore, Aya carried a protective Pokémon entrusted to her by their grandfather.
A Guardian Pokémon was somewhat similar to the personal guardians assigned to the sacred sons and daughters of powerful sects in the fantasy novels of Suguru’s previous life.
Under ordinary circumstances, it would not interfere with its charge’s journey.
Only when the protected individual faced genuine mortal danger would the Guardian Pokémon reveal itself.
Whenever descendants of great families ventured into the wilderness for training, they would almost always carry a protective Pokémon given to them by an elder.
The only difference was how powerful that Pokémon happened to be.
This world had prospered because of Pokémon.
Yet it had also become extraordinarily dangerous because of them.
Most Pokémon born and raised within cities possessed a natural fondness for humans.
Wild Pokémon were entirely different.
Even Grass-type Pokémon known for their gentle temperaments would drive away—or directly attack—strangers who entered their territory without permission.
And if someone wandered into the territory of a violent Ursaring, Nidoking, or another large predatory Pokémon…
They had better possess enough strength to defend themselves.
Otherwise, they—or their Pokémon—might become the creature’s next meal.
The wilderness did not provide packaged Pokémon food or neatly prepared Pokéblocks.
Some Pokémon survived by eating Berries, leaves, grass, and other plants.
However, there were also many carnivorous Pokémon.
And the meat they consumed naturally came from other Pokémon.
After leaving the house, Suguru made his way toward the rear garden.
This area was home to many of the Pokémon belonging to his grandfather and father that were not currently part of their active teams.
Suguru had always enjoyed spending time there.
The moment he arrived, several Steel-type Pokémon immediately gathered around him.
A Magneton.
A Klang.
And a Probopass.
All three surrounded Suguru with expressions that practically screamed—
Pet us.
Compared to the clingy Steel types, the other Pokémon in the garden behaved much more indifferently.
Most merely nodded in acknowledgment before returning to whatever they had been doing.
Pokémon generally possessed an extremely strong sense of personal boundaries.
Aside from their own Trainers, they might ignore everyone else completely.
That could include even their Trainer’s children.
Had Suguru not possessed the Perfect Steel Heart, these Steel-type Pokémon would never have behaved so affectionately toward him.
This was also why the Pokémon of a deceased Trainer were rarely inherited by that Trainer’s children or designated successors.
Otherwise, after several generations of inheritance, even an ordinary family might eventually accumulate enough high-level Pokémon to produce an Elite-tier Trainer.
Unfortunately, Pokémon were not possessions that could simply be passed from one owner to another.
If the successor lacked sufficient ability—or if the Pokémon’s bond with its deceased Trainer had not been especially deep—the Pokémon would usually choose to leave after its Trainer’s death.
No family name, legal document, or final request could force it to remain.