Catch Feelings, Not Just Pokemon

"Hey, don't you two have anything better to do?"

On the way to Naranja Academy, Haru, who had once again been "apprehended," felt utterly drained.

It seemed that ever since he left the Zero Lab, Iono and Nemona had become his permanently attached "plug-ins."

No matter where he went, they followed. Gym challenges? They tagged along. Heading to Naranja Academy for "work"? Still tagging along.

If Haru hadn't put his foot down with a hard "no," they'd probably be following him home to sleep, too.

Unfortunately, this kind of "plug-in" wasn't the type he might be interested in. If it were another kind, well… he might be somewhat intrigued.

Just somewhat.

And with Sabrina still undergoing "re-education" back home, he really couldn't afford to bring anyone else back to his place right now.

"Nemona I can understand—she's a student and has a lot of free time. But you, Iono? What happened to your double life as a streamer and Gym Leader with a heavy workload?"

Iono scratched her head awkwardly and gave a sheepish smile.

"Streaming? Ehehe… yeah, about that…"

"I recently launched a new series—The Path to Becoming Paldea Champion."

"So... I don't need to stay cooped up at home grinding online battles. I can keep streaming and get stronger."

"You're challenging Gyms too?"

Now that caught Haru off guard.

From what he knew, Iono never really cared about Gyms or competing for the Champion title. What changed?

With a serious expression, Iono nodded.

"I realized I do need to get stronger. What happened in Alola taught me a lot."

"Power—it's the foundation of everything."

Without power, even a man can be snatched away by some awful woman.

Even worse, the man you like might be off "doing it" with a bunch of random women while you're left helplessly watching from behind a pane of glass.

At this point, Haru's whereabouts were no longer a secret. Lillie, all the way in Alola, could show up at any moment.

And trailing behind her was a certain crew of dangerous women like Lana…

No matter how embarrassing or how much of a "loser" she might seem, the truth was Lillie was a Trainer with a Legendary Pokémon under her command—she couldn't be underestimated.

Worse yet, no one knew how her personality might've changed over the past year.

If she was still the same soft-hearted girl, Iono figured she could probably crown her with a few more metaphorical "hats" like last time.

Maybe Lillie would even thank her afterward.

But if Lillie had started heading down the Lusamine route… that would be bad.

Really bad.

So, no matter how reluctant or how rough the road might be, Iono felt she had to walk this path.

A Legendary Pokémon wasn't impossible to beat…

She just hadn't expected that her grand resurgence would be… to fight for a man.

"I see. Not a bad idea. I'll take you to the Zero Lab sometime—it's got some solid Electric-types."

Although, if she really wanted to be Champion, she'd eventually need a well-balanced team.

"Oh? So you've finally found your fighting spirit? Great! Let's battle right now!" said Nemona, practically bouncing with excitement.

She didn't know what Iono was plotting, but seeing someone get fired up about battling? That was all she needed.

If the world were filled with battle maniacs like her, she'd be thrilled beyond belief.

"No. Especially not with you."

Having long since figured out Nemona's personality, Iono coldly shut her down.

She didn't want to be trapped in Nemona's endless battle loop. And besides, Iono could tell—Nemona was more interested in Haru anyway.

From multiple angles, Nemona was someone Iono needed to keep an eye on.

As the Electric-type Gym Leader stole another glance at Haru's profile, she made a quiet resolution.

The next time she saw Lillie, she'd be ready to beat her.

Losing to anyone else, fine. But Lillie? No way. If she lost to Lillie, there'd be no one else left to lose to.

C'mon, Iono. You've got this!

Show everyone the true strength of Electric-types! Victory is yours!

---

After a short detour, Haru's little party arrived at Naranja Academy's principal's office.

Per the earlier arrangement, Haru was supposed to meet a new transfer student today—someone named Liko.

While no one had said why exactly, Principal Clavell and even the Pokémon League seemed unusually interested in this "Liko."

But the moment Haru pushed open the door… he saw someone very familiar.

Someone he really wanted to see—but also dreaded seeing.

First off, Liko was there, pendant around her neck. Judging from the look of it, there was almost no doubt she was carrying a Terapagos.

But standing next to Liko…

Was a blonde girl.

"Li… Lillie?! What are you doing here? Where's Lusamine?"

Looking at the girl before him, Haru was instantly reminded of Sabrina chain-smoking a Dick Gen V yesterday, and felt a pang of guilt.

It seemed… he'd done some pretty questionable things while Lillie was away.

"I got news about you from my mother, so I asked Nebby to bring me here right away."

"As for her, she's still busy with official duties back in Alola."

Lillie's eyes were locked onto Haru, completely ignoring Iono and Nemona behind him.

As if, in this very moment, her entire world consisted of Haru alone.

Yes—she was lying.

Lusamine had never told her anything about Haru.

In fact, as Lillie later confirmed, her mother had planned to sneak off to Paldea herself—most likely to slap a great big metaphorical cuckold crown on Lillie's head.

Her actual source of info?

Her brother, Gladion—who had, over time, succumbed to a dangerous addiction: online streaming and… man-chasing obsession.

Post-crisis, the once-innocent Gladion had become far too idle.

And then he stumbled into "certain communities."

It turns out, buried deep in his room were white thigh-highs and a full "man-chasing" cosplay suit.

Unbeknownst to anyone, he had descended into crossdressing…

He actually missed Iono's original livestream—he was busy roleplaying Minami-chan in Monster Hunter 5.

But later, while digging through VODs, he stumbled upon a highlight clip from Bluegreen's channel.

One look was all it took.

Holy ↑ crap, was that the guy his sister had been obsessed with for a year? In his favorite streamer's video?!

What was he supposed to do? Should he tell Lillie?

If given the choice, he really didn't want his sister to find out about his little… hobby.

His instincts told him the moment she did, Lillie would look at him like trash.

Plus, Gladion had never liked Haru much to begin with. Even if Haru had helped him, the guy just rubbed him the wrong way.

But watching Lillie mope around every day—he couldn't take it anymore.

After wrestling with himself for hours, this once-dutiful brother decided to sacrifice his dignity for his sister's sake…

After receiving the tip, Lillie didn't rush straight to Paldea.

She went to Lusamine first and struck a deal.

Truth be told, Lillie had considered locking her mother up.

And she totally could've pulled it off, too.

But in the end, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She was too soft-hearted. She couldn't go through with something that cruel.

As a result, she had to swallow a bunch of humiliating terms as part of that deal.

But the moment she saw Haru again after a whole year—

She thought…

It was all worth it.

"…Mr. Haru."

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