Chapter 10. Battle Domain, Activate!
"Brat, what are you doing!"
"Damn it, only Team Rocket snatches other people's Pokémon, and no one has ever had a Pokémon snatched from us!"
"Who's your Pokémon, huh?
We're teammates, teammates!"
Even while being hoisted high, Meowth didn't forget to correct Jessie and James's mistake.
"Doesn't matter.
Let's teach this inexplicable brat a lesson first."
James finished speaking, then jumped down from the hot-air balloon with Jessie and chased in Natsume's direction.
They had checked with the higher-ups, and the organization hadn't sent any executive to conduct an inspection at all.
As for why the other party knew there was a Koffing inside his Poké Ball, James just assumed this kid was making a random guess.
"Stop right there.
We won't just stand by and watch!"
Ash pulled Misty along and blocked the two of them.
"You hold them off.
I'll go save Meowth!"
Jessie waved her hand, signaling James to chase Natsume.
Team Rocket having their Pokémon—cough, teammate—snatched away like this was simply a humiliation of the highest order.
With new hatred piled atop old grudges, James quickly caught up to Natsume.
"Meow!
There's a creep, meow!
Hurry and save me!"
Just as he stopped Natsume, James heard Meowth's wail.
Looking ahead, Natsume was prying at Meowth's hind legs, incessantly examining something.
"Mm.
Judging from the fecal residue at the anal opening, this Meowth's diet doesn't seem very good."
"And whether it's physique, strength, or coat luster, they all seem below the average for a Meowth of the same skeletal age."
"This shouldn't be caused by diet."
Natsume muttered to himself, then finally pulled out his Rotom Phone, tapped the evaluation app, and pointed it at Meowth.
What appeared on the screen were Meowth's miserable Individual Values.
"You're the deadweight among Meowth!"
Natsume reached a conclusion and carefully recorded it in his little notebook.
"Meow, what nonsense are you spouting, meow!"
Meowth flew into a rage.
This lunatic not only groped randomly on arrival, he even flipped its hind legs, and now he had to attack Meowth's character.
"Whatever you're trying to do, let Meowth go!"
James arrived in time and stopped Natsume, who was about to take out a syringe to draw Meowth's blood.
"Mm?"
Natsume looked back at James in puzzlement.
"Go, Koffing!"
Without hesitation, James threw a Poké Ball.
A battle?
Seeing the Koffing floating opposite, Natsume's eyes lit up.
He had almost forgotten that he hadn't used that so-called game battle field yet.
Might as well take this opportunity to familiarize himself with it.
"Domain Expansion!"
With Natsume's loud shout, a hurried and forceful BGM began to play.
"What?
What's that sound?"
James looked around in a daze.
He didn't see any speakers anywhere.
"Go, Center-Part!"
Natsume threw a Poké Ball.
With a flash of red light, a Pikachu with a center-part hairstyle slicked with hair gel appeared on the field.
[LV 20.]
Above Center-Part's head, a string of numbers appeared.
That was its level.
"What is that?"
It was James's first time seeing such a thing, and he couldn't help but be curious.
He noticed that there was also a string of numbers above Koffing's head.
[LV 32.]
In an instant, James realized that might represent a Pokémon's level.
To be able to visualize a Pokémon's level like this—what kind of technology was that?
James was shocked.
At this point in the timeline, such technology didn't exist yet.
A Trainer could only roughly know their Pokémon's level based on its condition and traits.
If you wanted to know the exact level, you had to go to a research lab and undergo a series of evaluations.
"Whatever the tech is, we'll seize it and present it to Boss Giovanni!"
James was fired up.
His Koffing's level was a full ten levels higher than that Pikachu's.
"Koffing, use Tackle!"
"Koffing!"
At James's command, Koffing slammed hard into Center-Part.
Though it was an ordinary attack, due to the huge level gap, Center-Part's HP immediately dropped to the bottom.
Off the field, Meowth watched the long red bar above Center-Part's head instantly hit the bottom and became thoughtful.
"Meow?
Is this a health bar like in a video game, meow?"
"This tech is way too interesting, meow.
If we present it to Boss Giovanni, it'll definitely be great, meow!"
"James, this brat seems to be a researcher.
He must know what this tech is.
Grab him and take him to Boss Giovanni!"
Escaping the clutches, Meowth rummaged through Natsume's backpack and fished out a Pokémon Researcher's ID card.
Meowth was overjoyed and immediately shouted encouragement to James.
"Don't worry.
Taking down a brat like this is no problem for me!"
James glanced at the HP bar above Center-Part's head that was about to bottom out.
The visualized Pokémon HP bar filled his heart with confidence.
"Go, Koffing.
Use Tackle again."
"Koffing!"
Just as James thought this Pikachu would collapse before his eyes, Koffing, however, stood strangely in place and didn't move.
"What's wrong, Koffing?"
James looked at his Pokémon in confusion.
"Koff, koff!"
Koffing seemed a bit anxious too and turned its head to cry out to James.
"He says there's a strange force restraining him and he can't move, meow!"
From the sidelines, Meowth served as interpreter.
A strange force?
Looks like it really is turn-based?
Natsume also heard Meowth's words and raised his brows slightly.
In that case—
[Trainer Natsume used a Super Potion.
'Center-Part' recovered!]
As the system voice sounded in his mind, a sphere of light rose from Natsume's body and sank into Center-Part.
Visibly, Center-Part's condition improved greatly, and the HP bar above its head instantly refilled.
"What is going on here!?"
James also noticed the change in the HP bar above the opposing Pokémon's head.
You can use medicine in a Pokémon battle?
No, and your medicine is acting way too fast!
Looking at the lively Pikachu, James realized the crux of the issue.
In real Pokémon battles, no one administers medicine to a battling Pokémon.
In reality, medicine takes time to take effect.
Obviously, your opponent won't give you that time.
However, Natsume's attitude was clear:
Reality is reality.
What's that got to do with my game?
"Center-Part, Quick Attack!"
After roughly understanding the rules of the game battle field, Natsume no longer hesitated and issued the command directly.
"Pika!"
Center-Part turned into a white streak and slammed hard into Koffing.
"Koffing!"
Koffing cried out in pain, but the HP bar above its head only dropped a sliver.
About one-fifth, by the look of it.
Seeing this, James didn't rejoice.
Instead, a bad premonition grew stronger in his heart.
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