Chapter 14. Professor Oak, I Wrote Your Name as First Author
Pewter City, Pokémon Center.
"Rest first, then head to the Gym."
"Go to the Gym first, then rest!"
Ash Ketchum and Misty's bickering echoed.
They had argued the whole way, and Flint's head was pounding.
"Hey, hey, hey, you're Ash Ketchum, right?"
Flint looked at Ash, and his expression suddenly turned very serious.
"What is it, Uncle Flint?"
Ash stopped arguing with Misty and turned to Flint.
"At your current level, if you challenge Pewter City Gym Leader Brock, you definitely won't win. I suggest you go to another Gym first."
Flint looked straight at Ash and spoke bluntly.
"No way. Pikachu and I are both very confident."
"Pika!"
As Ash spoke, Pikachu chimed in with full vigor.
"Idiot. Pewter City's Gym is known for Rock-type and Ground-type Pokémon. With the Pokémon you have, there's no way you can win."
At the side, Misty didn't forget to twist the knife.
Seeing this, Flint added, "She's right. Pewter City Gym isn't suited for a newcomer like you. You should head to the neighboring Cerulean City Gym. They're the weakest."
Misty: "…"
Ignoring Misty's sudden silence, Ash was still unconvinced.
"Natsume, you tell me—eh?"
Looking for Natsume to back him up, Ash suddenly noticed he was on a call with someone.
A closer look showed it was Professor Oak.
"Professor Oak, it's you."
"Ash, how's the journey going?"
"Great. But why are you at my house again?"
"Ah? Ahem. Natsume, let's talk business first."
The Rotom Phone automatically tilted its screen to face Natsume perfectly.
"Professor Oak, did the paper I sent you last night get accepted?"
"Oh, that. I've already submitted it for you."
As he spoke, it seemed the Professor had received a message on his end and was clicking something on his computer with a mouse.
At the side, Misty and Flint also noticed the commotion and leaned over, curious.
"Oh wow, didn't expect it. Little brother, you're a Pokémon researcher? And such a young researcher!"
Flint was a bit surprised and offered genuine praise.
"Natsume, what did you send?"
Misty glanced at the Rotom Phone's screen with curiosity, and inside came Professor Oak's amused voice.
"Oh? The editor over there just messaged!"
After a short while, Professor Oak set down the mouse, looked back at the camera, and showed a congratulatory expression.
"Congratulations, Natsume. Your paper has passed the initial review of Cerulean City's special——grade children's periodical. It won't be long before it's published."
"What, that children's periodical from Cerulean City."
At the side, Misty couldn't help but gripe.
She hadn't liked that thing since she was three.
To become a Pokémon Professor, five special-grade papers must be published without exception, and every one of them must meet top-tier journal standards.
Natsume had only published one that met the requirement so far.
"On the Fusion of Rotom and Appliances: An Evaluation Framework for Competitive Applications at a High Level" had been indexed by three top-tier journals—the All-Regions Pokémon League Academy of Sciences, Pokémon Iteration Journal, and Viridian City Morning News—as well as countless second- and third-tier journals.
It was on the strength of this article that he was able to become Professor Oak's student.
As for that so-called Kanto special-grade children's periodical, even though the words "special-grade" were in the name, Natsume's impression was that it was a kid-focused, third-rate journal.
Natsume wasn't flustered in the least.
He merely blinked and spoke with utmost sincerity.
"Professor Oak, I wrote your name as first author."
On the other end, Professor Oak, who had been laughing heartily, froze, and then a panicked voice burst out.
"You! Said! What!!?"
"Hold on. I think this paper has the potential for a top-tier journal. I'm withdrawing it to help you revise!"
As if the sky were falling, Professor Oak hastily terminated the call.
"Huh? What's wrong with Professor Oak?"
Ash asked curiously.
"No idea. I'm not really knowledgeable about that stuff."
Misty scratched her head.
"It's nothing. It just means Professor Oak is going to start pulling all-nighters for the next few days."
Natsume took a sip of water.
Mm. If Professor Oak pulls it off, that will be one less paper for Natsume's professor-track requirements.
He would only need three.
Flint, who had been watching from the side: "…"
"All right, Ash. What did you want from me?"
Hearing Natsume's voice, Ash came back to his senses and immediately resumed his battle-ready look.
"Natsume, do you think I can take the Pewter City Gym?"
"No."
Natsume was direct and to the point.
"Ah—"
Ash clutched his chest like he'd been struck a severe blow.
"Is he going to be okay?"
Misty looked at Natsume, a bit worried.
"3."
Natsume let a number fall from his lips.
"Three? What does that mean?"
Misty looked at Natsume, confused.
"2."
"1."
"0."
"I'm never giving up!"
As the "0" popped out, Ash sprang up like he'd been injected with pure adrenaline, his fighting spirit blazing in his eyes.
"Okay. Saying it a hundred times isn't as good as taking action once. I'm heading out now!"
With that, Ash took the fully recovered Pikachu and two Poké Balls from the counter and bolted toward Pewter City Gym.
"Sigh!"
Flint tried to stop him but was held down by Natsume's hand on his shoulder.
"Let him go. That's just how Ash is. He won't lie down unless he takes a fall."
"And if he does fall?"
At the side, Misty sounded unconvinced.
"He'll get up and keep running."
Natsume said it as a matter of course.
"With that kind of idiot? Hmph. I'm not buying it."
Seeing Natsume "exaggerate" so much, Misty turned her head away.
Natsume shrugged and said nothing.
After all, Misty had only joined the group a few days ago, and her impression of Ash was merely that of a kind-hearted boy who loved Pokémon.
At the side, Natsume's words seemed to touch Flint, and the man fell silent.
Watching Ash's figure grow smaller in the distance, Natsume stretched.
Mm. Though high morale was great, Natsume didn't think Ash had even a sliver of a chance.
Type matchups and level gaps were right there in front of him.
Especially since Onix is immune to Electric-type moves.
Natsume would just wait for Ash to lose, and then Flint could take him to grow stronger.
Thinking this, Natsume glanced out of the corner of his eye at the slightly melancholy Flint, shrugged, and found a seat.
As for the feelings of this old father, Natsume wasn't interested at all.
He only remembered he had one scratchcard left unused last time.
Now that he could get one scratchcard per daily battle, Natsume wasn't so sentimental about them anymore.
Taking that scratchcard out of the system's storage, Natsume paused.
The scratchcard in his hand wasn't patterned like the red-and-white ball from before.
Blue lid, white base—Great Ball.
Natsume raised an eyebrow, scraped the card open, and a small disc-like thing was revealed inside.
[Ding! Consumed Great Ball scratchcard ×1, obtained a random TM ×1.]
A TM.
Sensing the extra disc that had appeared in the system's storage, Natsume didn't rush to check it and instead asked in his mind.
"System, why is the pattern on this scratchcard different?"
[Completing research topics of different levels yields scratchcards with different patterns, namely: Poké Ball pattern, Great Ball pattern, Ultra Ball pattern, Master Ball pattern.]
After the explanation, Natsume nodded in understanding.
Complete a B-grade research topic to get a Great Ball scratchcard, with a guaranteed minimum reward of a Great Ball.
Complete an A-grade research topic to get an Ultra Ball scratchcard, with a guaranteed minimum reward of an Ultra Ball.
Complete S-grade or above research to get a Master Ball scratchcard, with a guaranteed minimum reward of a Master Ball.
Natsume's eyes lit up.
His ten Poké Ball-pattern cards had produced a Rules Field for battles—didn't that mean he was absurdly lucky?
Seems like Koffing's "aroma" really did its job.
Thinking this, Natsume let his gaze return to the system panel before him.
The guaranteed minimum rewards for A/B/C/D-grade topics were just consolation prizes at best.
But for S-grade and above topics, even the consolation prize was a Master Ball.
Natsume's eyes burned a little.
In reality, a Master Ball actually isn't all that useful.
A Master Ball is a guaranteed catch, but whether a Pokémon is truly captured still depends on whether it acknowledges you.
Even if you use a Master Ball to catch a Legendary Pokémon, if it doesn't accept you when sent out, it won't listen and will just run off.
It might even give you a thrashing before it goes.
Otherwise, with the League's ability to manufacture Master Balls, they would have caught every Legendary long ago, and the villainous organizations wouldn't need to go to such lengths.
You have to remember, almost every villainous organization's ultimate goal has never been to "catch" a Legendary, but to control one.
"System, if I catch a Legendary Pokémon with a Master Ball inside the Rules Field, does that count as capturing it?"
Natsume's eyes brightened.
He remembered that the Rules Field strictly followed the game's rules.
In the games, catching is capturing—there's no such thing as "not acknowledging."
[Under the blessing of the Rules Field's game rules, the host may command that Legendary Pokémon.]
Hearing this, Natsume pursed his lips.
So even if he used the Rules Field to capture a Legendary, he could only use it for one battle per day.
And at all other times in reality, the moment he let it out, it'd be gone.
More precisely, the moment he took that Master Ball out of the system's storage, it'd be gone.
After all, there are plenty of Legendary Pokémon capable of breaking Poké Balls—especially certain Psychic-type ones.
Even so, a Master Ball still held high value for Natsume, because it concerned another hypothesis he had for Rotom forms—Poké Ball Form Rotom.
Even without the system, he'd still have to figure out a way to get a Master Ball.
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