Pokémon: Who told him to come out of Pallet Town!

Chapter 8: Viridian Forest

Natsume did not find anything resembling an electric ball inside Pikachu's stomach.

That might be ruled out.

Then only possibility two remains.

The more Natsume thought about it, the more confident he felt that his Pokémon doctoral dissertation was going to be a success.

Soon, he will be Professor Natsume, on par with Professor Oak!

"Coo coo—"

"Oh? Are you hungry? Let's go eat."

Natsume took Pikachu off the machine.

Pikachu: "???"

Isn't the sound of hunger coming from you?

Pikachu looked at Natsume with a helpless expression.

The topic of Pikachu will be temporarily put on hold.

The most important thing now is to fill our stomachs.

Anyway, it's not time to verify the second hypothesis yet.

When Ash, the master of type reversal, gets beaten up by Brock and takes Pikachu to the power plant for special training, he'll be able to see it.

No rush, Xianbu is in a hurry.

Land at the Pokémon Center.

Ash won't receive a banner for driving away Team Rocket, but a big meal is definitely in order.

To express his gratitude, Joey prepared a sumptuous dinner for the three of them.

At the dinner party, two ten-year-old children were showcasing their dreams:

"I... hiccup! I'm going to become the world's number one Pokémon Master!"

"...Okay, then I'm going to become the world's number one Water-type Pokémon Master!"

"Hmm? Water type?" Ash squinted at Misty, then waved his hand and said:

"But you don't seem like a trainer who uses Water-type Pokémon at all."

"Then what do I look like?"

Xiaoxia squinted and asked with a puzzled look.

"Like a fighting game—ah!"

Due to unforeseen circumstances, a large bump appeared on Xiaozhi's head.

Natsume, watching Ash wailing and clutching his head, shook his head.

These two kids are such wimps, they get like this after just a little bit of carbonated drink, unlike him, who always drinks baijiu (Chinese liquor).

Shaking his head calmly, Natsume picked up the milk in his hand and drank it all in one gulp.

"By the way, Natsume-kun, what's your dream?"

Ash, holding a glass of sparkling water, looked curiously at Natsume.

"Me? Hiccup!" Natsume hiccuped, paused slightly, and then slammed the cup in his hand heavily onto the table.

"Bang!"

In an instant, all eyes turned to him.

Natsume, mimicking Ash and Misty's chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) behavior, loudly proclaimed:

"Of course I want to become the world's number one Pokémon Master and Water-type Pokémon Trainer!"

"Alright, I didn't expect that your ambitions are the same as mine and Xiaoxia's, Natsume-nii. I won't easily admit it—ah!"

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Zhi's ear was grabbed.

"He's playing us for fools! Can't you tell what he's up to?"

Xiaoxia used a loud roar.

"tease?"

Ash realized what was happening, and immediately turned to look at Natsume, asking very seriously:

"So, Natsume-nii, what's your dream?"

"dream?"

Natsume seemed to be truly drunk, looking completely dazed.

"Of course...of course, I'm going home—"

Natsume gave a vague and insincere answer.

The system promised him that if he created a Pokémon with base stats exceeding the world's limits, it would open a portal between his home and the Pokémon world.

There's no way around it; Natsume wasn't alone before he traveled to Sinnoh. He still had his parents there!

The other party must be frantic with worry because they can't find him!

"go home?"

What kind of dream is that?

Xiao Zhi stroked his chin, completely bewildered.

However, it seems that Natsume's house is in Sinnoh, which is quite far away.

Just as Ash was wondering what was going on, he heard Misty's exclamation and the sound of something falling heavily to the ground.

Turning around, I saw it was Natsume, who had collapsed unconscious.

"Oh dear, Mr. Natsume, I forgot to tell you, you can't drink milk after gas poisoning!"

Joey rushed over in a flurry, and seeing Natsume lying on the ground, she was greatly surprised by Natsume's "fragility".

While it's not recommended to drink milk after gas poisoning, it shouldn't cause fainting, right?

After a period of commotion, nothing more was said that night...

the next day.

On the path of Viridian Forest.

"Hmph! Come on, Oddish, want to try some?"

"Isn't that great? I knew it, cow dung is the best for growing grass!"

"walk!?"

The wild walking grass froze for a moment, then vomited all over Natsume before running away like the wind.

Sure enough, don't eat food from wild trainers!

"Come here, little Rada..."

Natsume was distracted for a moment and then disappeared from sight.

Behind her, Xiaoxia squinted, looking quite displeased.

"Seriously, why is he so hard to kill?"

After fainting twice, Natsume had become, in Kasumi's eyes, a cockroach with tenacious vitality.

Every time you slip him under your slippers, you think he's dead, but the next day he's lively and energetic again.

"Although Natsume-nii often gets injured, he always manages to escape danger."

Nearby, Ash walked over, stroking his chin, and said in a slightly nostalgic tone.

In his memory, Natsume-san was always fragile but difficult to kill.

"Pikachu!"

On his shoulder, Pikachu's voice of approval came.

He also remembered this research institute; the incubator there seemed to be the one he built.

Although you can sometimes see him lying around in various corners of the research institute.

Small problems like the stinger of a unicorn beetle, certain allergenic pollen, or being startled by a Gardevoir with a large root... could all cause Natsume to "lie dead" for an entire day.

"Skin!"

Suddenly, Pikachu on my shoulder seemed to have spotted something and looked warily at a clump of grass.

Judging from the swaying of the grass, it's definitely not Natsume inside.

"Hmm, Pikachu, did you find something?"

"Skin!"

Before Pikachu could even run over, Misty's Bug Premonition activated.

"Ahhhhh!"

With a scream, a green caterpillar appeared in their field of vision.

"Okay, I'm going to catch my first Pokémon!"

Ash was extremely excited when he discovered it was a Pokémon.

"Are you kidding me? Trying to subdue something like that!"

Xiaoxia used an even louder roar.

"Mind your own business, go, Poké Ball!"

Ash put his hat on backwards and threw the Poké Ball he was holding.

"Do you even know that you have to battle before you can catch a Pokémon?"

Xiaoxia covered her face.

"I know, but Natsume-nii said we can throw a ball before a battle, so it'll be easier if we catch it. Oh, and he even gave this kind of thing a name."

"What's your name? — One-Ball Superman."

Xiao Zhi explained to Xiao Xia in a very serious manner.

"What kind of twisted logic is that?"

Xiaoxia looked puzzled, but Xiaozhi's words seemed to make sense.

Under tense gazes, the green caterpillar was collected into the red and white ball, flashing only briefly before settling down.

"Alright, come out here, Caterpie, say hello to everyone."

"Take it back!"

Xiaoxia was intimidated and retaliated with a loud roar.

"What? It's so cute! I can't stand it. Women are so annoying."

"Doesn't look like Natsume-nii... Hmm? Where's Natsume-nii?"

Ash reluctantly recalled Caterpie and was about to share it with Natsume when he couldn't find him.

Turning around, I saw Natsume lying peacefully on the ground in the grass not far away, his face covered in purple-green, indicating that he had been dead for a while.

Nearby, a shameful and indignant Weedle retracted its poison stinger, and after sensing Ash's gaze, it fled as fast as it could.

Xiao Zhi: "..."

Well, men can be quite annoying too.