Chapter 11. The Potion Elite Four Begins to Take Shape
"Koffing, use Tackle!"
James frowned slightly and issued another command.
"Koffing!"
"Pika!"
Center-Parted cried out, and its HP dropped below half again.
Then, under James's wide-eyed stare, a glowing orb welled up from Natsume's body once more and flowed into Pikachu.
[Trainer Natsume used a Super Potion. "Center-Parted" recovered!]
Center-Parted sprang back to life, vigorous again.
"Center-Parted, Quick Attack!"
The Potion Elite Four Natsume used the old trick, landing a head-on blow against Koffing.
A critical hit!
"Koffing!"
With a pained cry, Koffing's HP bar fell below half.
If Natsume repeated the same trick twice more, he could win.
"Whew."
Seeing this, James took a deep breath, as if his heart were in turmoil.
He looked straight at Natsume and said, "You really are something, kid."
There was no sarcasm in it — just genuine praise.
By now, James had more or less figured out the battle system this brat had cobbled together.
Its rules were not much different from many video games.
That meant whoever possessed this system could do things ordinary people couldn't.
As long as you carried enough medicine, you could defeat many otherwise unbeatable Pokémon far above your level.
Maybe even Legendary Pokémon.
In that instant, James thought about a lot.
Born into a top-tier noble family, he at least had that much discernment.
He was curious how a mere researcher like Natsume had come up with such a thing.
"Center-Parted, use Quick Attack!"
"Pika!"
With a full-throated "Pika," Center-Parted turned into a streak of white and struck Koffing again.
"Koffing!"
After another cry of pain, Koffing's HP dropped by another sixth.
This time, James's expression didn't waver at all; instead, he looked at Natsume with victory in hand:
"Hmph. Brat, I've figured out the rules here. I don't know how you do it, but—"
"Koffing, use Sludge!"
The power of Sludge is almost twice that of Tackle.
But whether it could take out this Pikachu in one go was still uncertain.
Two Tackles definitely would, but Sludge is slightly weaker than two Tackles.
"Boom!"
A large mass of purple sludge spewed from Koffing's mouth and slammed hard into Center-Parted.
With James's tense expression, Sludge successfully hit Center-Parted the Pikachu!
Unfortunately, Center-Parted's HP bar plummeted like a roller coaster — it even hit rock bottom.
Yet Center-Parted still didn't fall.
"Pika!"
Center-Parted staggered back to its feet.
Hung on with 1 HP — hung on with 1 HP!
Natsume triggered "toughed it out with 1 HP!"
"Hm?"
Without giving James any time to wonder, Natsume pressed the advantage:
"Heal—Quick Attack—got it?"
"Pi!"
Center-Parted became a bolt of white lightning and dashed at Koffing again.
"Boom!"
The white lightning pierced Koffing without any resistance.
"Koffing!"
Koffing's HP hit the bottom, on the brink.
"Tch!"
Looking at the opponent's fully healed Pikachu, James felt stifled.
He swore that from now on he'd always carry Super Potions whenever he went out — as many as he could carry!
"Koffing, use… huh?"
James suddenly noticed a purple light shimmering on the opponent's Pikachu.
["Center-Parted" was poisoned and took damage from the poison!]
Pikachu was no longer at full HP; it lost one-eighth of its health instead.
Seeing this, James realized what had happened.
Sludge has a 30% chance to poison the target it hits!
The opponent's Pikachu was no longer at full health, and now it was his turn again.
All he needed was one more Sludge to defeat Natsume!
"Hooray, James! The heavens are smiling on us, meow!"
From the sidelines, Meowth's excited voice rang out.
"Good! Koffing, use Sludge again!"
A miracle in dire straits, light at the end of the tunnel.
Without hesitation, James swept his arm down, and another wave of purple sludge hurtled toward Center-Parted.
"Boom!"
A guaranteed hit. Dust billowed across the field.
"We did it, meow!"
Meowth jumped for joy.
Strangely, though, the battlefield didn't fade out.
As the dust settled, a small figure still stood there, firm and unyielding.
[It toughed it out so its Trainer wouldn't feel sad! Pikachu endured the hit!]
"Huh? What is going on here?!"
James stared, dumbfounded, at the Pikachu that had once again hung on with 1 HP, his scalp tingling.
"So James counts as an NPC, huh?"
Natsume had his answer.
In game rules, this "bond" Easter egg only appears when you face an NPC leader.
"All right then. In that case — Center-Parted, flash him!"
With one last white streak, Koffing's HP bar finally emptied.
"What even is this!?"
James collapsed to the ground, powerless.
"You're a pretty good opponent yourself!"
Just then, a Super Potion was tossed onto James.
He blinked.
After spraying Koffing down with the Super Potion, James stood up and looked at Natsume walking toward him.
A touch of emotion stirred in James's heart, and he slowly spoke:
"Kid, you—"
"Five thousand Pokédollars."
Natsume stuck out his hand, shamelessly asking for the moon.
"What is wrong with people like you!?"
James started to hand the Super Potion back, only to realize he had already used it.
"Relax. If you don't have money, you can owe it. As for the 100,000,000 in allowance you were supposed to pay after losing, I'll let you owe that too."
Natsume ostentatiously jotted it down in his little notebook and had his Rotom Phone record a snapshot.
Yes — Natsume now unilaterally announced that a certain top-tier noble family in Kanto owed him money.
"What 100,000,000 allowance? You're going too far, meow!"
Meowth came over, about to stand up for James, when Ash's voice came from the distance.
"Go, Pikachu — use Thunder Shock!"
"Boom!"
A thick yellow bolt struck James and Meowth dead-on, blasting the two of them away in an instant.
Even though Natsume had been standing within the attack's range, only James and Meowth went flying.
(What a wondrous anime world.)
So Natsume wrote in his notebook.
"Natsume! Are you okay?"
Ash hurried over to check on him.
Looked like Ash and Misty had already dealt with Jessie, who'd been blocking the path.
"Of course I'm fine."
Natsume waved it off to show he was unhurt.
"Rotom — trim out the part where they get blasted off."
Natsume spoke to the Rotom Phone quietly recording nearby.
That video would be his leverage for, ahem… paying a visit to James's parents in the future.
"Roto!"
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