Chapter 9. Team Rocket
Fortunately, after the lesson from last time, he had prepared a lot of medicine.
Ash Ketchum gratefully unzipped his backpack and took out a bottle of Antidote.
He had prepared some for Pokémon use and some for himself.
Very soon, after two bottles of Antidote, Natsume regained consciousness.
"Honestly, why are you so hard to kill."
At the side, Misty's faint voice came, and she looked at Natsume in puzzlement.
In Viridian Forest, getting yourself poisoned usually means you provoked Beedrill.
And it would have to be a swarm of Beedrill.
But clearly, Natsume was built different.
He provoked Weedle, and nearly got taken out one-on-one.
"It camped me in the grass!"
That was the first thing Natsume said when he woke up.
"All right, got it, let's keep moving."
"Pika."
Ash and Pikachu covered their faces in perfect sync.
Natsume sprang to his feet with a kip-up.
He looked like nothing had happened, brimming with energy.
He glanced left and right, spotted a Bellsprout, and in a blink he vanished from the pair's sight again.
"Sigh, take a few bottles of medicine with you!"
Ash's anxious shout came from behind.
"Relax, I've got some in my pack!"
Natsume's voice drifted back from afar.
Ever since he added a Game Rules battle module, Natsume had stocked up early on all kinds of medicine.
Although they were all meant for Pokémon, with a little mixing and adjusting he could make them usable for people.
Right now, Natsume had something more urgent to do.
As he recalled, there didn't seem to be any special Pokémon worth noting in Ash and Misty's journey through Viridian Forest.
Pokémon researchers have to publish a journal article every year.
And it just so happened Natsume hadn't submitted this year's article yet.
Taking advantage of this trip through Viridian Forest, Natsume planned to put together a "Viridian Forest Plant Pokémon Resource Survey."
He'd pad out this year first, then worry about the rest later.
It was estimated they would leave Viridian Forest and reach Pewter City in about a week.
He had a week to pad out a year's worth of survey results.
Natsume thought this was quite the challenge—just right for someone like him.
"Rotom, get ready to record!"
"Roto!"
A nimble figure—Rotom, with its little lightning wings spread—began darting through the bushes.
After padding out each year, the Pokémon League would send him a hefty research grant.
Natsume was extra serious.
This grant concerned his next Rotom project.
There was no helping it—although the outlook for innovative Rotom battle forms was very promising, the items he needed to buy were all rather expensive.
Not to mention that Natsume's next Rotom project was to research a motorbike Rotom.
During his previous research into Rotom's electric-toy forms, Natsume had discovered an interesting phenomenon.
When Rotom possessed electric toys with different performance and build quality, the base stat totals it exhibited were different.
Similarly, even Rotom's inherent appliance forms—like Mow Rotom and Wash Rotom—would display different base stat levels and variation depending on the lawn mower's performance or the washing machine's performance.
At the lab, Natsume had tried letting his Rotom possess all kinds of appliances.
The highest–base stat Rotom he had created was a computer Rotom fused with the Pokémon transfer control center computer at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
That computer's performance was extremely strong, a hundred times that of a top ordinary consumer PC, and after Rotom fused with it, it became Electric/Psychic.
Its base stat total surpassed a pseudo-legendary by 30 points and surpassed the various Rotom forms in the games by 100 points, reaching a terrifying 630.
Mewtwo's is only 680.
But the supercomputer's physical size was simply too large.
Once Rotom possessed it, it couldn't move at all, and it wasn't suitable for battling.
And if he walked off with that thing, Professor Oak would probably have him wanted across the entire region.
Even so, it was still a successful discovery.
Not finding a portable high-performance machine now doesn't mean it'll be impossible later.
In fact, Natsume already had a grand plan in mind.
He would pair the highest-performance supercomputer with the highest-performance motorcycle made of top-tier materials.
Finally, he would let Rotom fuse with it and use the supercomputer to control the entire bike, becoming Gundam Rotom!
Autobots, transform!
It was feasible—at least when combined with Natsume's current research data.
Theoretically, it held up completely.
Indeed, real life is real life; the ways to use Rotom are that rich, and they simply can't be compared one-to-one with the games.
At the same time, Natsume named this discovery—that Rotom's base stat total changes with the appliance's performance—"Natsume's Law of Rotom."
Likewise, according to Natsume's Law of Rotom, the better the motorcycle's performance, the stronger Rotom would be after fusing with it.
Natsume already had a simple, detachable motorcycle computer module on him, and all he lacked was the bike.
After this research funding came in, what motorcycle should he buy to run an experiment?
Natsume absentmindedly fiddled with his coin pouch while thinking.
It would be great if he could run into Gary Oak halfway.
He could borrow Gary's sports car for a quick test as a reference.
Very soon, the minutes ticked by, and when he looked up, it was already noon.
Natsume turned to look for Ash.
"Smack!"
A clear slapping sound rang out in a clearing in the woods.
Natsume looked over and saw Misty had slapped Ash.
Tsk, these two kids were playing this behind his back.
"Hey, why did you hit me?"
Ash clutched his face and looked at Misty, unconvinced.
"Idiot, who sends Caterpie to battle Pidgeotto!"
"Pidgeotto is a Flying-type, which is strong against Bug-type. You should send out Pikachu, which counters it."
Misty drew her hand back, having lost her patience.
"Ah? Is that so?"
"In that case, go, Pikachu!"
"Pika!"
Very soon, with Misty's correction, Ash successfully captured one of his future mainstays.
Looking at the red-and-white Poké Ball in his hand, Ash beamed with a broad smile.
Just then, a familiar voice sounded behind him.
"Ash, come here."
He turned around, and it was Natsume.
As he stepped closer, Ash took a slap to the face.
Left and right, perfectly symmetrical with Misty's.
"Natsume-bro, do you have some instruction for me too?"
Ash held his face and looked up at Natsume, confused.
"No. I saw how much she was enjoying it, and my hand got itchy."
Ash: "…"
Just as the air fell silent, a familiar chant suddenly sounded from the sky.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To protect the world's peace!"
The three, having noticed the commotion, looked up and found that, at some point, a Meowth-head hot-air balloon had appeared over their heads.
"It's those two from the night before!"
At the sight of Team Rocket, Ash and Misty immediately pulled out their Poké Balls, tense.
"…White hole, a white tomorrow is waiting for us!"
James finished, then struck a pose with Jessie, freezing on the balloon with no follow-up line.
"What are they doing, performance art?"
Misty looked at James and Jessie, baffled.
"Meowth, Meowth, where are you!"
James lowered his voice, trying to locate Meowth.
"Meowth! Help! There's a creep, meow!"
Not far away, Meowth's cry for help came.
They looked down, and it was Natsume.
He hoisted Meowth high and bolted off at top speed.
James and Jessie: "???"
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