"No need." Natsuhiko waved his hand and said calmly, "Sensei, I'll go with this one."
Bagon snapped its head up.
With its back to Professor Oak, Bagon stopped pretending and stared straight at Natsuhiko.
Its gaze turned a bit fiercer, baring its teeth.
Tsk." Natsuhiko clicked his tongue.
This is how a Bagon‑type Pokémon is supposed to look.
It's going to evolve into a ferocious Salamence in the future—how could it possibly have no temper at all.
Refusing to let Professor Oak rub its head showed that it was still very proud inside.
It just didn't really trust Trainers from the outside world.
"Bagon's personality is actually a bit unlike yours..." Professor Oak gave one last reminder.
"No." Natsuhiko raised his hand, grinning. "It suits me perfectly."
Doesn't Natsuhiko also have two sides?
The side that hides his edge, and the vicious side beneath it.
So fitting. Just right.
Seeing Natsuhiko so sure, Professor Oak's expression paused for a moment. Then he picked up the notebook and showed a relaxed smile. "All right then, here's Bagon's Pokeball."
"Sensei." Natsuhiko didn't take it yet; he slowly reached his hand out toward Bagon's head.
The fierceness on Bagon's face became more and more obvious; on its exposed sharp teeth, thin wisps of flame were already starting to flicker.
It looked like if Natsuhiko dared to touch its head, it would absolutely chomp down in the next second.
"Hm?" Professor Oak looked down at his notes, waiting for Natsuhiko's next words.
Pa——
Natsuhiko's hand still ended up resting on Bagon's head, gently rubbing.
The flames in Bagon's mouth were already flaring up completely.
But in the end, it still didn't bite down.
Because.
A soft tentacle had somehow appeared in front of it at some unknown moment.
A soft, slime‑coated tentacle, and those eyes that used to be timid but were now strangely determined.
Goomy!
At some point, it had slipped between Natsuhiko and Bagon, and was now blocking in front of Natsuhiko, guarding against Bagon's attack.
Natsuhiko bared his white teeth and just kept rubbing Bagon's head with a squinty smile.
Bagon stared blankly at Goomy; the flames in its mouth had already faded away.
Goomy bit its lip; beneath the timidity was a stubborn streak.
This bizarre scene was something Professor Oak didn't see; he was just recording his notes, waiting for Natsuhiko to continue.
He waited for a long time and still didn't hear anything.
But he wasn't in a hurry.
He planned to write down everything he'd observed today.
Natsuhiko kept one hand pressed on Bagon's head; his other hand rested on top of Goomy's head.
Feeling the warmth coming from above its head, Goomy froze for a moment.
"Sensei, can you tell me where this Goomy came from?" Natsuhiko soothed the two little guys.
The Dratini beside them dumbly watched Bagon and Goomy.
These two—weren't one spaced‑out and the other timid just now?
How did they suddenly change like that?
"Goomy, huh?" Professor Oak flipped through his notes and said slowly, "Oh, supposedly it was found by one of the League's exploration squads."
An exploration squad?
That's also a department within the Central League that not many people know about.
Their duty is to search for the various Secret Realms and Alternate Spaces scattered throughout the Pokemon Realm and every region's nooks and crannies.
It's said that every member of an exploration squad is quite strong, and all of them are direct‑line elites of the League from very clean, prestigious families.
They're a fairly special department within the Central League, and their authority is likewise quite unusual.
"Sensei, can I have both of them?"
"What?"
Professor Oak thought he'd misheard.
He looked over at Natsuhiko.
His gaze went slightly unfocused.
He saw Natsuhiko stuffing an Energy Block into Bagon's mouth, and it quietly chewing away.
As for the Energy Block that fell to the floor, Goomy silently scooped it into its arms and curled up again.
Only the previously outgoing Dratini now looked a bit dazed.
"I remember Teacher Agatha promised me one condition—that I could pick one Pokémon worth no more than a hundred million." Natsuhiko crouched on the floor, talking as he fed the Pokémon.
This matter.
Professor Oak was aware of it.
Agatha had mentioned it to him.
Though he didn't know why Agatha had agreed to such a condition for Natsuhiko.
He hadn't asked much, and didn't dare to ask much.
Besides, it's not like Agatha doesn't have that kind of authority.
It's just that.
The value of a single Goomy would definitely not be under a hundred million.
Even if Goodra is the least favored among the Quasi-God Pokémon, it's still a Quasi-God Pokémon.
In short.
A hundred million isn't enough.
But this Goomy's personality... also kept its price from being too outrageous.
"Why?"
Professor Oak asked curiously.
"They remind me of a bit of my past." Natsuhiko said thoughtfully.
"Hm?"
Professor Oak glanced at the spaced‑out Bagon and the cowardly Goomy—what did that have to do with Natsuhiko's past?
If you're going to find an excuse, at least come up with a better one?
Honestly, if this were the old Natsuhiko, even if he really wanted two Pokémon, he wouldn't say it out loud.
First, he couldn't afford to raise them; second, he didn't have that kind of authority.
But now it was different.
With the Fairy Type officially revealed, Natsuhiko had already started frantically raking in money.
And his identity as a Doctor also barely squeezed him into the League's higher circles—though he was the kind with status but no actual power, and his influence was far inferior to elder‑level Doctors like Professor Oak.
But he felt that if he made this request.
The League wouldn't refuse.
Simply because what he was researching was the Fairy Type.