Pokemon: My Strange Pokemons

Ethan never let his worries carry over to the next day.

The following morning, he woke up full of energy and got up early. Sipping on the MooMoo Milk that Pidgeotto had just delivered, Ethan ate breakfast while habitually opening his username page.

The video he uploaded last night was from his first attempt at making PokéBlocks a few days ago. Ethan had high hopes for the viewership numbers on this one.

Although his PokéBlocks weren't particularly impressive, the comical back-and-forth between Eevee and Feebas was bound to entertain. His camera had faithfully captured every moment of their antics.

Moreover, this was the first video where Ethan formally appeared on screen. With his good looks, surely it was worth at least a million views, right?

Ethan's guess wasn't far off—this video had indeed surpassed one million views.

In just twelve hours, it racked up 1.07 million views, outpacing the previous travel video he had uploaded.

But videos that go viral like this weren't common, and Ethan wasn't yet a famous content creator. His current follower count was just shy of 400,000.

During breakfast, he watched the video with its dense barrage of comments.

Amusing remarks on the screen made even his plain porridge taste better.

Ethan made a quick summary: one-third of the comments were about his looks, showering him with praise—even though it wasn't always clear if the commenters were serious or even human.

Another third focused on the back-and-forth scheming between his two Pokémon, which was easily the highlight of the video.

Ethan thought about it and decided he wouldn't lean too heavily into this direction in future videos. While it was certainly entertaining, these two Pokémon were the first ones he'd ever caught, and they'd be with him for a long time. He needed to find a way to improve their relationship instead of encouraging conflict.

But come to think of it, he didn't even know why they were bickering in the first place.

The final third of the comments were critiques of his PokéBlock-making skills.

"Great effort. Don't ever do it again!"

"Are you trying out every combination possible?"

"Breaking Bad, Pokémon edition!"

A series of exaggerated comments dampened Ethan's mood early in the morning.

What did they know? Experimenting is part of being a breeder—how could they call it poisoning? Ethan thought indignantly.

After finishing breakfast, it was nearly time to leave for school. Before turning off his phone, Ethan took one last glance at the comment section.

One unexpected comment stopped him in his tracks.

Iron Will: "I can see that you're very innovative with your approach to PokéBlock-making. Next month, the Global Pokémon Breeders' Association will host a seminar on PokéBlocks. If you're interested, feel free to reach out to me."

Starlight Shore: "Low EQ: Breaking Bad. High EQ: Innovative and creative. Iron Will, if you used this emotional intelligence on women, you'd be married by now!"

Yellow Rodent: "Iron Will, after failing to win over any women, has awakened to his true orientation and is making a move on Ethan? This can't happen!"

Ethan ignored the jokes and focused entirely on Iron Will's comment.

The Global Pokémon Breeders' Association! A seminar on PokéBlocks!

Wasn't this exactly the kind of advanced learning opportunity Ethan was looking for?

The seminar itself might not yield groundbreaking results, but it would undoubtedly gather the world's top breeders in one place.

Perhaps the methods of these experts could provide some inspiration for his research into beauty-enhancing PokéBlocks.

Either way, he couldn't miss this opportunity.

Ethan immediately sent Iron Will a private message:

"Hello, Mr. Iron Will. I'm very interested in the seminar you mentioned. It's not convenient to discuss this here. Could we add each other as friends and chat further? My Piplup ID is..."

He didn't sit idly waiting for a response. After sending the message, Ethan quickly got up and headed out.

If he didn't leave now, he'd be late for school.

It's well-known that the first day of school is mostly spent receiving textbooks, catching up with classmates after the break, and listening to the homeroom teacher's ramblings.

The second day, however, was when the real grind began.

Ethan hadn't expected that even in a world with Pokémon, he couldn't escape mathematics.

The reason Pokémon Trainers had to take math was supposedly because studies had shown that math could help train strategic thinking, enabling Trainers to make quicker and better decisions in battles.

Ethan wasn't sure if that was true, but as a student, he had no choice but to comply with the education system.

Eevee, meanwhile, slept inside the cubby under Ethan's desk. Although Ethan thought it couldn't be more uncomfortable than sleeping in a Poké Ball, Eevee seemed to have a psychological aversion to Poké Balls.

It was as if staying inside one for too long made her uneasy.

Having been a stray Pokémon for a while, Eevee likely had some past experiences that caused this.

Ethan didn't dwell on it and turned his attention back to the dry, tedious math lecture.

Although he didn't like math, Ethan knew that achieving his dream of becoming a laid-back Gym Leader meant getting into a prestigious university.

Without resources or connections but armed with a clear life plan, Ethan wouldn't pass up any chance to change his destiny.

Fortunately, high school math in this world was only designed to build logical thinking. Having endured the hellish difficulty of math in another world, Ethan handled it with ease.

When the bell rang, the classroom buzzed with chatter—not just because math was over, but because the next class was everyone's favorite: Pokémon Battle Class.

In this world, hundreds of Pokémon species have been discovered, each with unique characteristics and habits. Teaching Pokémon battles systematically is no simple task.

Since students' Pokémon also varied widely, schools had different ways of dividing classes: by egg group, by size, or, more commonly, by land, water, and air types.

Thanks to its abundant resources, Ethan's school, Ancient City High, wasn't stingy. Each type had its own dedicated teacher.

For the senior year, students attended battle classes in small groups divided by type—eighteen in total.

Due to the differences in types, class sizes varied. Rare types like Psychic, Ghost, Dragon, and Fairy had only a few students, and even combined, they didn't outnumber Ethan's Normal-Type class.

Ethan glanced at the crowded room full of Normal-type Pokémon: Meowth, Furret, Buneary, Happiny...

Huh? There was even a Doduo.

Wait a second, wasn't Doduo a Normal/Flying-type Pokémon? What was it doing here instead of with the Flying group?

In response to Ethan's confusion, Doduo's Trainer explained with a bitter expression, "Since Doduo can't fly, I was worried it would be teased by the other Flying-types, so we joined the Normal group instead."

Ethan nodded in understanding. Makes sense. Groudon would approve.

(To be continued)