After finishing his analysis, Peter shook his head with a faint smile.
In his hands, Copycat held a tactical value far beyond any of Buneary's other moves.
With it, her combat flexibility increased exponentially.
The moment Peter saw the opponent's move pool, he immediately recognized the danger of that terrifying Screech + Hone Claws + Last Resort one-shot combo.
If that sequence had gone off successfully,
even if Buneary had two lives, it wouldn't have been enough.
That was why Teeter Dance had never been the real plan—
it was nothing more than bait.
Its sole purpose was to force the opponent into revealing their interruption move,
then use Copycat to completely shatter their offensive rhythm.
And once the distance was closed,
a Buneary armed with multiple Fighting-type moves
would possess absolute dominance over a Normal-type like Rattata.
That was Peter's victory equation.
"Mi-chuu~!"
The little rabbit hopped happily into Peter's arms, visibly thrilled.
This was the first time she had ever defeated a truly powerful opponent on her own.
Peter smiled, gently rubbing her head, then immediately allocated the newly gained Physical Attack aptitude point to her.
Without hesitation, he launched the next simulated battle.
-----
Sinnoh League Headquarters – Elite Four Residential Area
The Fire-type Elite Four member Flint woke up rubbing his wild, flame-red hair.
He poured himself a glass of water, stepped into the courtyard, glanced at the sky—and sighed deeply.
"Yo! Why the long face this early in the morning?"
Flint turned his head.
In the neighboring courtyard, Lucian, the Psychic-type Elite Four member, was reclining on a lounge chair, basking in the sunlight.
"It's nothing… just had a weird dream," Flint muttered irritably, scratching his head again.
"Damn annoying."
"Oh?" Lucian chuckled.
"For you to be this bothered… don't tell me you dreamed about getting crushed by Cynthia again?"
Flint grimaced.
"If it were Cynthia, I'd be fine with it. The problem is—
I got completely outplayed by some unknown kid."
"Seriously… felt like my brain got stepped on."
"Tch. As expected—anyone who plays tactics has a dirty heart."
-----
Peter ran three more simulations after that.
The trainers he matched against were fairly average, lacking the intensity of the first battle.
Only one of them was a higher-level opponent, rewarding him with one Speed aptitude point, which he immediately assigned to Buneary.
When Peter finally woke up, it was already 10 a.m.
He released Buneary, fed her two Pokéblocks, then began packing up his tent.
Just as he finished—
Ring ring ring.
The crisp sound of a video call echoed.
Seeing the caller ID, Peter smiled and answered.
A pink-haired, pink-eyed girl appeared on the screen, her face filled with barely concealed anticipation.
"Why'd you suddenly call me?" Peter asked with a grin.
"Ah—! I was just checking if you were slacking off!"
Whitney hurriedly explained.
"And besides… I mean… can't I call you just because?"
"Of course you can," Peter laughed.
"Perfect timing—let me show you my starter Pokémon."
He lifted Buneary into view.
"Wah! It's a Buneary!" Whitney's eyes sparkled.
"So cute~!"
Then, grinning mischievously, she added,
"Hey Peter, why don't you give her to me?
With a partner this cute, opponents would surrender before I even battle!"
Before Peter could respond—
"Mi-chuu~! (No!)"
Buneary wrapped both arms tightly around Peter's arm.
Peter laughed and patted her head.
"Relax. I won't give you to anyone."
Whitney frowned, clearly jealous.
"Hey, Peter—don't tell me you caught a Buneary just to attract girls so you can get married? I've heard some people in Sinnoh actually use that strategy to date!"
Peter's face twitched.
"…Do I look like that kind of person?!"
"Heh, you never know~"
Whitney crossed her arms, her curves impossible to ignore.
Peter swallowed, then suddenly spoke seriously:
"Don't worry. If we're talking about who I'd marry… I already decided that long ago."
"Huh?! What?! Already decided? Who?!" Whitney demanded.
Peter panicked—and immediately hung up.
"…Whew."
He exhaled deeply, barely calming his racing heart.
If that conversation continued, he really might've said something irreversible.
…
[Ding! New Main Quest Available. Please check the quest panel.]
[Main Quest: The Second Member]
Objective: Capture a suitable second partner Pokémon.
Reward: Random held item ×1.
…
"Here it is!" Peter grinned.
A Pokémon without a held item was like a battle without a soul!
He was already looking forward to all kinds of devious equipment.
Normally speaking, even negative held items could be exploited by Buneary.
After all, Klutz made her immune to their effects,
and with a move like Switcheroo, she could've dumped them onto opponents instead.
Unfortunately, battles in this world followed anime-style rules—
aside from Mega Stones, held items were practically nonexistent.
And Buneary hadn't inherited Switcheroo anyway, so that wicked strategy was off the table.
After packing everything up, Peter placed Buneary on his shoulder, took out his notebook, and began planning his next capture.
Whitney's plane tickets still had a few days left before expiration—
enough time for one more region hop.
Even though he planned to challenge the Sinnoh League,
there was nothing stopping him from visiting another region first.
"What about… Alola?" Peter mused.
"Going after the Bear God himself?"
The image of the anime's absurdly overpowered Bewear flashed through his mind, making his heart race.
Then he shook his head.
At his current strength, he probably wouldn't survive a single punch.
Besides, Normal + Fighting overlapped with Mega Lopunny—
terrible team balance.
Snorlax was strong, but its role overlapped too much with Slaking,
and feeding that bottomless stomach would bankrupt him.
Hisuian Zoroark?
That required time travel—meaning Celebi or Dialga.
And without protagonist-level plot armor,
convincing a Legendary was basically impossible.
Ursaring was decent—Sinnoh had them—but evolving into Ursaluna required a special item.
And honestly…
Each evolution made the line uglier.
Strength aside, the aesthetics were unacceptable.
Pass.
"Maybe a local hairstyle bird?"
Peter glanced at a Starly flying overhead, then shook his head.
"Too many physical attackers already."
"Mega Pidgeot could work…"
"But if I can only Mega Evolve once, that conflicts."
He scribbled furiously, listing strong and beloved Normal-types.
Then—
His eyes lit up.
Snap.
Peter closed the notebook decisively.
"It's you."
"Next stop—Paldea!"
"Mi-chuu!"