Chapter 3. Relax, It's Only a Trivial Fatal Wound for Pikachu
"Rumble!"
A bolt of lightning split the sky, and the weather turned suddenly overcast.
It looked like rain.
The girl pushing a bicycle glanced up at the sky with some worry, turned her head toward the unresponsive Natsume beside her, and asked again:
"Um, do you know where the nearest Pokémon Center is?"
Natsume still didn't answer.
His eyes were unfocused, as if he were thinking about something.
Seeing this, Misty was a little taken aback.
The young man in front of her looked fair and clean, with a rather kind face.
He didn't seem like the sort who would be hard to talk to, right?
"Um…"
At her third attempt, Natsume snapped back to himself.
"Whose kid is this?"
Natsume lowered his head, looking at the ten-year-old girl in front of him as if he didn't recognize Misty at all.
"…"
Misty was at a loss for words.
She hadn't expected the first thing out of Natsume's mouth to be that.
"Um, I just wanted to ask for directions, my name is Mi—wait!"
Misty was about to introduce herself, but Natsume held up a hand to stop her.
"Don't say your name yet."
"Huh?"
Wearing a very puzzled expression, Misty watched this strange young man pull out paper and pen.
Natsume studied Misty seriously, writing something on the paper without saying what it was.
Hmm, the girl's hair color is like Misty's, and her hairstyle is like Misty's.
Oh my gosh, even her looks are exactly like Misty's!
After a round of deduction, Natsume wrote down his conclusion on the paper.
The girl in front of him was Misty.
"System, I've cracked the identity of the girl in front of me.
She's one of the main cast.
Isn't this also a kind of research topic, a huge breakthrough?"
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for cracking a custom unranked topic.
Reward: one unit of paper currency.]
Feeling the extra one Pokémon Dollar in his bag, Natsume spread his hands.
Today's attempt to freeload had failed.
It seemed the system did not think much of topics he defined himself.
Over the past few years, Natsume had also tried custom-topic research in hopes of earning system rewards.
But clearly, his scientific nose wasn't very keen.
Aside from a few Rotom-development topics that were evaluated at B– and C–rank and had netted him some rewards, the rest—things like "Can Grass-type Pokémon produce and sell their own wares?" and "Can a Diglett trio pretend to be Dugtrio in a Pokémon battle?" which Natsume thought were wildly creative—were all rated by the system as unranked flop-tier topics.
The final reward for this kind of flop-tier topic was only one Pokémon Dollar.
"You're really weird.
What are you doing?"
Watching Natsume's face keep changing expression as he muttered to himself from time to time, Misty unconsciously took half a step back, looking at this strange young man with some fear.
Could he be possessed by a Ghost?
"Chu—"
All of a sudden, a fierce crackle of electricity came from the nearby trees, pulling all their attention that way.
"Could it be some kind of Pokémon?"
Staring in that direction, Misty murmured under her breath.
At Natsume's side, however, his face said something was seriously wrong.
He smacked his forehead—
Oh no!
Misty had run into him now and hadn't met Ash yet.
If the bicycle didn't come into play, Ash might not make it to the Pokémon Center in time with Pikachu.
What if Pikachu dies?!
A sharp sense of crisis surged up in Natsume's heart.
Pikachu wasn't just Ash's first Pokémon.
It was also an S-rank research subject!
"I know where the Pokémon Center is.
I'll take you there!"
Natsume quickly returned to normal.
He grabbed Misty's hand and sprinted toward the direction of that sound.
"Pikachu!"
On the forest path, countless Spearow had been scared off by the intense electricity, leaving behind Ash—charred all over—sobbing as he held the unconscious Pikachu.
To protect him, Pikachu and that flock of Spearow had fought each other to a standstill.
"Rumble!"
A peal of thunder shook the sky, and a fine drizzle began to fall.
In no time, it howled into a pouring rain.
"Plop!"
Warm raindrops smacked onto Pikachu's cheeks, and those red cheek sacs gave off faint sparks.
In a haze, Pikachu slowly cracked one eye open.
Vaguely, it heard Ash's choked voice:
"Pikachu, please hang in there.
I'll definitely get you to the Pokémon Center for treatment!"
Holding the barely conscious Pikachu, Ash pushed himself to his feet, ready to set off for the Pokémon Center on foot.
Just then, a shout from behind called out to him.
"Ash!"
It was Natsume's voice.
Ash turned, full of hope, and looked toward Natsume running over from not far away.
Natsume was a Pokémon researcher.
He would surely be able to tell how badly Pikachu was hurt, and maybe—just maybe—he had a Potion on him!
Filled with hope, Ash ran toward Natsume as well.
"A Potion?
Oh!
I forgot to bring one."
Faced with Ash's urgent question, Natsume froze for a beat, then scratched his head in embarrassment.
Hey, everyone's on their first journey sometime.
"Ah—then what do we do?
The Pokémon Center seems really far."
Visible disappointment spread across Ash's face.
Seeing this, Natsume could only pat his shoulder and offer comfort:
"Relax, Ash.
It's only a trivial fatal wound."
"Oh—only a tri… what do you mean, a trivial fatal wound?!"
Hearing Natsume's "comfort," Ash grew even more terrified.
"I'm sorry, Pikachu.
I didn't take good care of you."
Head bowed, Ash looked down at Pikachu in self-reproach.
"Pi—ka—pi."
Pikachu murmured faintly, as if responding to Ash.
Watching this sappy Ash–Pikachu moment, Natsume nodded in satisfaction from the side.
It looked like, going forward, the relationship between Ash and Pikachu was going to soften up quite a bit.
His research could finally get underway!
Ash hugged Pikachu and prepared to charge off headlong.
But once again, Natsume stopped him.
"I think this young lady would be happy to lend you her bicycle."
Following the direction of Natsume's finger, Ash blinked.
Only then did he notice that behind Natsume stood a girl pushing a bicycle toward them.
"Huh?
What?
Me?"
Seeing both of their gazes land on her, Misty stared blankly for a few seconds.
"Whatever the case, thank you!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Ash leaped onto Misty's bicycle in a life-or-death hurry and pedaled away like the wind.
Watching her bicycle get taken, Misty panicked.
"Hey, how are you any different from a thie—whap!"
Before Misty could finish, Natsume, without a shred of hesitation, smacked a thick wad of banknotes into her hand!
"Deposit!"
After delivering this one word with an air of overwhelming dominance, Natsume turned, had his Rotom Phone switch to airplane mode, and took off after Ash.
In a puff of smoke, both were gone.
Misty stood there under her umbrella, stupefied, as if the sudden series of events had left her a bit dazed.
Looking down, she stared curiously at the thick wad of bills in her hand.
They looked like ₽1,000 bills Pokédollars.
Wasn't that enough to buy several bicycles?
Growing suspicious, Misty counted them.
Very quickly, she froze.
In the wad Natsume had slapped into her hand, only the very top bill was ₽1,000 Pokédollars.
All the others were ₽1 bills Pokédollar!
Forget several bicycles—this wouldn't even cover a tire.
Through the curtain of rain, a red line flashed visibly across the girl's face.
Misty saw red.
"You two shameless robbers!
Stop right there!"
Misty tossed aside her umbrella like a ferocious Gyarados and sprinted through the rain, charging in the direction the two had gone.
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