The King Engine?

"Of course. Today actually happens to be the Sunshine Gym's first day back in business. All challengers are welcome."

Qingyu smiled and nodded to Nemona.

Eevee's training hadn't been particularly intense. By a happy accident, it had instead become a warm-up for the first Gym battle.

"But before we battle, may I take a look at your Pokémon?"

Ever since humans in this world had begun taming "monsters" to battle two thousand years ago, Pokémon battles had been an indispensable part of human society.

After the modern Pokémon League was founded, it established a comprehensive tournament system centered on battles and Trainers.

Trainers old enough to participate earned Badges by challenging Gyms, qualifying for their regional tournaments, where a winner would ultimately emerge from the thrilling knockout rounds.

If that winner then passed the "Victory Road" trial guarded by the Elite Four and the Champion, they would become the center of everyone's attention-

The Champion!

From this, it was easy to see that Gyms had originally been established to identify outstanding Trainers.

Normally, a Gym should have several tiers of Pokémon teams to accommodate novice Trainers of different skill levels.

So Qingyu's question was standard procedure.

"Sure! I only have one Pokémon, and it's this little guy!"

With unmistakable excitement in her voice, Nemona took a Poké Ball from the pocket at her waist.

"Paw~"

A beam of red light shot out of the Poké Ball, and a little orange electric mouse soon appeared before Qingyu.

"Pawmi?"

Qingyu raised an eyebrow.

An electric mouse was a must-have tradition in every Pokémon generation. Starting with Pikachu, pretty much every generation's electric mouse had been quite cute.

The Paldea Region's Pawmi was fairly popular, too.

He remembered that Nemona did indeed have a Pawmi on her team, but he hadn't expected it to be this young lady's starter Pokémon.

That was just as well. If she'd brought a stronger Pokémon, Eevee might really have struggled to win.

As Qingyu focused on the bewildered little electric mouse at Nemona's feet, several lines of text soon appeared before his eyes.

[Pawmi (male)]

[Type: Electric]

[Ability: Iron Fist]

The system's Pokédex function activated automatically.

Compared to what he could see about his own Pokémon, the available information was pitifully sparse.

Still, knowing the opposing Pokémon's Ability before the battle was already extremely useful.

"Then this Gym battle will be one-on-one."

Qingyu spoke again.

"I'll be using Eevee. The challenger moves first, and whichever side loses the ability to battle first loses the match. Any objections?"

"Nope!"

Nemona nodded eagerly, clearly unable to wait for the battle ahead.

Qingyu soon led Nemona to the Battle Court.

Since he was currently the only person in the entire Gym, he had to serve as her opponent, the referee, and even the technician.

As for what being the technician involved...

After Qingyu operated the controls, the prominent large screen beside the arena wall lit up instantly, displaying his and Nemona's Trainer avatars on opposite sides.

The Pokémon world always had some strange yet inexplicably cool technology.

For instance, this standard Gym equipment could automatically import your avatar with a swipe of your Trainer ID card.

"That's so cool!"

Seeing that everything was ready, Nemona instinctively rubbed her hands together, poised for the battle to begin at any moment.

But before the Gym battle, the most important part still remained.

"Nemona, I can tell that you're a Trainer with a great passion for battling."

Once he stepped onto the Battle Court, Qingyu's expression immediately grew serious.

"But precisely because of that, before you set out on your journey, I want to make sure you and your Pokémon share the same feelings."

"Why not show me the answer in your heart through a battle?"

"Then let's begin!"

How could a Gym battle possibly start without the customary trash talk?

A smile tugged at Qingyu's lips. As his words fell, Eevee slowly walked out from behind him onto the Battle Court.

"Got it!"

Although she hadn't understood what Qingyu was talking about at all, Nemona obligingly nodded along.

Maybe this was what a dependable adult was like?

"Pawmi, charge in with Quick Attack!"

Gym battles generally gave the challenger the first move, and Qingyu had confirmed that before the match, so Nemona decisively issued the first command.

Pawmi's short little legs quickly started moving. After a brief burst of acceleration, he shot forward like a rocket.

Quick Attack was the most common priority move, with an extremely fast execution.

"Eevee, dodge it!"

As everyone knew, the Pokémon world had plenty of practical battle moves that weren't officially listed.

Miraculous techniques like "dodge it" and Endure were incredibly useful all-purpose solutions in actual combat.

As long as you shouted fast and loud enough, you needn't worry about your Pokémon failing to react in time.

Yet even after he gave the command, Eevee still didn't move.

Qingyu was dumbfounded.

Because of Eevee's performance over the past two days, he seemed to have unconsciously overlooked something crucial in an actual battle-

Eevee's nature and Ability had a devastating effect on combat.

Although training against a dummy had gone splendidly, Eevee had no actual battle experience, after all. Nervousness born of timidity was still inevitable in a first battle.

His earlier thinking had been a little too idealistic.

He might genuinely be highly skilled at theory and games, but in an actual battle, he was nothing more than a newbie.

He hadn't anticipated this situation at all.

Qingyu's mind immediately raced as he considered how to resolve the predicament before him.

Thump-

Thump-thump, thump-thump-thump-thump!

Just then, a deep, powerful heartbeat gradually became distinct. Like war drums being pounded with fervor, it rang out again and again, growing louder and more urgent with every strike.

An invisible, heavy pressure surrounded Qingyu, making even breathing somewhat difficult.

"This is..."

Qingyu froze for a moment and instinctively looked across the field.

He wasn't the only one. Nemona was clearly affected by the inexplicable sound as well, looking bewildered and at a loss.

But the one who felt it most keenly was Pawmi in the center of the battlefield.

His full-speed charge visibly slowed, as though some dangerous presence had set its sights on him. Soon, he stopped attacking altogether.

Instead, he stared warily at Eevee, who hadn't moved at all a short distance away.

Qingyu instinctively swallowed, looking at Eevee with mixed feelings.

Perhaps facing Pawmi's attack head-on had made Eevee too nervous. All four short legs were planted stiffly on the ground, and Eevee's weight had unconsciously shifted forward, creating the impression of being fully braced for battle.

If I didn't know what was really going on with Eevee, would I have been fooled too?

For a moment, Qingyu genuinely didn't know what expression to make.

So afraid of getting hurt that even the King Engine came out?

Haki-Bu, you little...

A flop's diary, April 24

Actually, while writing my previous book, I was already thinking about how Abilities and natures would affect Pokémon in real battles, and I experimented with it a little.

After all, in a real world, timid Pokémon might be more inclined to avoid battles, and Pokémon with Intimidate might simply be putting on a bluff.

Following that line of thought, what sort of chemistry would result from combining a nature and an Ability with their debuffs cranked all the way up-timidity and Anticipation?

Well! The result was exactly what appeared in this chapter!

Maybe being timid to the extreme really could make you scary to others instead, just like King (laughs).

To me, this was a really fun idea to explore. I don't think I've seen anyone put much effort into this aspect in previous Pokémon fiction, so it felt like uncovering a whole new treasure~