Chapter 18. Flint's Request, Wishing Star
The group quickly returned to the Pewter City Pokémon Center.
After they finished eating, Flint, weighed down by worries, pulled Natsume aside.
"What do you want with me?"
Natsume looked at Flint.
There was a big bag of Berries in Flint's hand.
"I want to ask you for a favor."
"No time."
Natsume waved his hand and was about to go back to his room to study that follow-up S-rank task.
"Wait, you might be interested in this!"
Flint stopped him.
When Natsume turned back, something the size of a fist was already floating in Flint's hand, giving off a faint glow.
"Huh?"
Natsume leaned in curiously, and only then did he see clearly what Flint was holding.
It was an irregular meteorite fragment.
Its surface was rough but edged with a well-defined crystal structure.
The main body was golden, with a weak orange-red light seeping from within, like flowing lava.
Faint star-shaped lines could be seen on its surface.
It hovered in the air, detached from Flint's palm, with tiny starry motes circling it like a miniature star.
"A Wishing Star!? Isn't that a specialty of the Galar region?"
Natsume's voice was full of shock, as if he had seen something incredible.
"Galar region?
Hahaha, so it's not from Kanto.
No wonder I didn't recognize it."
Seeing Natsume take interest, Flint looked at him earnestly and said it straight:
"Help me with something, and this is yours."
Natsume glanced at the Wishing Star in Flint's hand and thought for a moment.
The Wishing Star is the material used to make a Dynamax Band.
According to Professor Magnolia's research in the Galar region, if he could borrow Professor Oak's laboratory, Natsume felt he should be able to hand-craft a Dynamax Band.
But the reason a Dynamax Band can let a Pokémon Dynamax is that the Wishing Star channels Galar particles through the band, thus granting a Trainer the ability to Dynamax a Pokémon.
Outside the Galar region, you can't Dynamax.
Wait!
Natsume's gaze sank.
He suddenly recalled those abnormally large Pokémon that had appeared in the original storyline.
A gigantic Tentacruel.
A huge Dragonite.
Could it be that Kanto also has something similar to Galar particles?
"Okay, I agree, as long as you give me the Wishing Star."
With that thought, Natsume didn't even care what Flint's request was.
He agreed in one breath.
As expected, for those giant Pokémon the main cast would later encounter, the system would assign research topics.
Following the system's guidance to research them—if not popularizing Dynamax across Kanto—then at least giving himself a way to Dynamax would be excellent.
"Deal.
This is yours.
Come with me."
Flint didn't waste words.
He handed the Wishing Star to Natsume and turned to head outside.
Stowing the Wishing Star, Natsume did not forget to call into the Pokémon Center:
"Misty, remember to wash my clothes.
I'll treat you to a meal later."
"Hmph, that's more like it."
Inside, Misty held an armful of clothes, cheeks slightly puffed as she huffed.
Night.
A small dirt slope in the suburbs.
Flint carried a big bag of Berries and hurried along.
Soon, he brought Natsume to the stall from earlier in the day.
"Pi?"
A faint sound drew Natsume's attention.
Looking up, he saw a Pichu standing on Flint's stall.
The moment it saw Flint, the Pichu was visibly overjoyed.
"Here, eat."
Flint handed the Berries to Pichu.
Pichu gobbled them down while curiously sizing up Natsume.
Natsume crouched down.
The little one was startled, clutching its Berry and backing far away from him.
"Everyone, come out and eat."
Beside him, Flint's voice sounded.
Very soon, Pokémon emerged from all directions.
Especially from the hole Flint had covered during the day—most of them came from there.
Pikachu, Pichu, Magnemite, Electrode, Electabuzz.
Without exception, they were all Electric-type Pokémon.
Natsume asked curiously, "These are—"
"These are the Electric-type Pokémon that were abandoned.
Many found their way back here by memory.
I took them in."
After that, Flint fell silent and handed out Berries to them.
Standing behind him, Natsume felt a little wistful.
A long time later, under the moonlight, Flint finished distributing the Berries.
He stood up and looked at Natsume with a pleading expression:
"I want to ask you to help me find a way to eliminate the side effects of electric-current training."
Looking at the happy Electric types munching on Berries, Natsume, unlike usual, nodded with unusual seriousness:
"Don't worry.
Even without your request, I would have done it."
"Then thank you.
These are some of my raising notes.
I hope they help your research."
Natsume accepted the notes.
Right after, Flint felt a light pressure on his shoulder.
Natsume had placed his hand on it.
"Do you really want Brock to manage the Pewter City Gym all by himself?"
"Give these kids a better environment, and Brock's younger siblings will be happier, too."
"...Think it over."
With that, Natsume's figure vanished.
Pokémon Center, Natsume's room.
Swoosh!
A streak of ghostly blue light flashed, and Rotom's Teleport brought Natsume back.
He tossed the Wishing Star into the system space for the time being.
Natsume opened Flint's raising notes and began to read diligently.
There was a lot in those notes—really more like casual daily logs.
Natsume would need to extract the useful bits first.
It would probably take quite some time.
The next morning, at dawn.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
Downstairs, Ash's full-throated training voice faintly drifted up.
In his room, Natsume stretched.
He hadn't slept all night, but he looked unusually refreshed.
On the right side of the desk were two notebooks, both crammed with writing.
One was Flint's raising notes.
The other was the useful information Natsume had distilled.
Flint had done electric-current conditioning with many different species, or with many individuals of the same species with different innate strengths.
From the threads he pulled together, Natsume found a pattern.
For Electric-type Pokémon of the same species, the better the innate strengths, the better the effect of current-conditioning training.
But when comparing different species, it was the opposite.
It seemed that the weaker Electric-type species benefited more from the conditioning.
As for the so-called side effects mentioned therein—
Natsume already had a preliminary idea.
It should be related to the number of current exposures and the intensity of the current.
After all, the first time Pika-god recharged at the Pokémon Center, there was a boost.
But even after Natsume observed for several days, he never saw any sign of a level drop.
Do it in batches, at varying intensities, and over staggered time spans.
Approach it from these three angles, and they should be able to derive a current-conditioning method without side effects.
But that would require a lot of time and repeated experiments.
As for Natsume's test subject—
"Come out, center-parted."
A red beam flashed.
A Pikachu with hair wax and neatly parted fur appeared in the room.
Unlike the diligent, hard-working Pika-god outside, his own center-parted was still under a tiny blanket.
Its little legs poked out from the blanket as it slept sprawled in all directions, a snot bubble on its nose swelling and shrinking, one big, one small.
Natsume stood behind it, a black line on his face, staring.
The Trainer unleashed Glare.
"Pi!"
As if sensing Natsume's death stare, center-parted jolted awake from its dreams.
All its fur stood on end like a little hedgehog.
It turned to look at Natsume and felt a bad premonition in its heart.
"Heh-heh."
"Your good days are over."
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