Chapter 15. Pewter City Gym
Natsume rubbed his chin and fell into deep thought.
In reality, the Master Ball's function is not as overpowered as in the games.
If you capture a Pokémon directly without the process of battling to gain its acknowledgement, then not to mention Legendary Pokémon—even a Pokémon with some strength has a high chance of "abandoning" its Trainer later on.
But even so, because the real-world Master Ball is extremely expensive to produce and strictly controlled by the League in limited quantities, and because of the gimmick that it can "capture" a Pokémon with a 100% success rate, its price is driven up to a sky-high figure.
After all, if you get lucky and catch a Legendary Pokémon and use special means to seal it away, then even if you can't command it and cannot use it, it still remains something the rich can brag about to their friends, with extremely high collectible value.
Therefore, each Master Ball is generally hyped on the market to around 50,000,000 Pokédollars.
Originally, Natsume planned to tighten his belt and scrape by for a few months to buy a Master Ball from the League.
After all, if he wants to develop a Rotom Poké Ball, then naturally the optimal final vessel is the best-performing ball—the Master Ball.
"Natsume, what are you thinking about?"
Misty sat down across from Natsume, propped up her chin, and looked at him curiously.
Only now did she realize that this unreliable grown-up Natsume was actually a Pokémon researcher.
And not only that—he was a researcher at Professor Oak's laboratory.
Professor Oak's standing in Kanto's research circles is very high.
Anyone with even a little connection to the League has basically heard his name.
"I'm thinking about Ash."
Natsume turned his head and looked at Misty.
Hearing that, Misty was stunned.
"Fine, as a companion, I actually hope Ash can win."
Misty seemed a little embarrassed about not having much faith in Ash earlier.
"No, I hope he hurries up and loses."
"???"
Misty looked at Natsume with a baffled face, but he had already stood up, walked straight over to Flint, patted him on the shoulder, and said:
"Let's go, mister.
Let's pick up Ash."
"Eh?
But he just set out."
Behind them, Misty followed in confusion.
"Three."
Natsume glanced at her and, just like before, said a number.
"What do you mean?
Ash loses in three minutes?"
"Mm.
You finally guessed right."
Misty: "…"
"System, open the random Technical Machine."
Natsume recited silently in his heart, and in the next moment, a crisp mechanical voice rang out in his mind:
[TM randomizing.
Congratulations to the host on obtaining Technical Machine—Grass Knot.
Below is the Grass Knot description under the game-arena rules; reality can be taken as reference:]
[Grass Knot: Grass, Special.]
[Power: varies; Accuracy: 100; PP: 20 (30); Priority: 0]
[Makes contact; blocked by Protect; not affected by Magic Coat; cannot be Snatched; affected by Mirror Move; affected by items such as the King's Rock.]
[Effect: Tangles the target with grass and trips it.
The heavier the target, the greater the move's power.
No effect on Dynamax Pokémon.]
Grass Knot?
Natsume's steps paused, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.
This is a very interesting move that exerts power based on the opponent's weight, with a top power six times the minimum.
If Natsume remembered correctly, for Pokémon weighing over 200 kg, Grass Knot can exert maximum power, almost on par with the Grass-type big move Solar Beam.
"System, teach Grass Knot to Pikachu."
Natsume did not hesitate in the slightest and tossed this Technical Machine to his own Center-Parted Pikachu.
"Pika?"
Inside the Poké Ball, a Center-Parted Pikachu who had been sprawled out and dozing suddenly jolted upright.
[Due to the game-arena rules, it is recommended the host have Pikachu forget one move to replace it with Grass Knot.]
"Forget Tackle."
Natsume waved his hand without a shred of hesitation.
To be honest, some battle-arena setups—aside from allowing you to win unexpectedly—feel less fun to him than real-world battles.
Take Pokémon moves, for example.
Under the arena's rules, a Pokémon can only carry four moves.
But in reality, the vast majority of Pokémon have more than four moves—things like Tackle and Tail Whip are not going to be "forgotten."
However, judging from the literature Natsume has read up to now, Pokémon do have a learning ceiling for certain complex moves.
This relates to a Pokémon's innate talent and effort.
The poor ones cannot even reach the four-move standard of the games, while the most gifted can learn seven or eight complex moves.
Among them, learning capacity also varies by type, with the Psychic type being the strongest at learning.
Natsume briefly recalled some papers he had read years ago.
The Center-Parted Pikachu he chose is a Pikachu he carefully bred, with each stat at the absolute top among Pikachu.
Its final move set had long been planned by Natsume: Thunder, Protect, Grass Knot, Rain Dance, Qicao, Electro Ball, Fake Out, and so on.
Among these, aside from the inherited Fake Out and the newly obtained Grass Knot, the rest of the moves—it knows none of them.
Can't be helped.
The Center-Parted Pikachu is only at level 21 right now.
Many moves require reaching certain levels to learn, and as for TMs, that's even more out of the question—he can only wait for the system to produce them.
While walking, Natsume took out the red-and-white ball containing his Center-Parted Pikachu.
Through the system's function, Natsume easily saw what his Pikachu was doing—the Center-Parted Pikachu suddenly sat up as if it had been shocked.
But in less than two seconds, it yawned and flopped back into a sprawl, with the small blanket it had swiped from Natsume's tent still covering it.
"No wonder I grabbed the wrong one that day.
So you swiped it."
Looking at the utterly lazy Center-Parted Pikachu, Natsume felt his temper rising.
At this age, with a Pikachu this talented and with such a perfect Trainer, how can you sleep so soundly?
Ash's Pikachu next door is already more than ten levels ahead of you!
"We're here—hey, Natsume, why are you walking inside?"
Outside the Pewter City Gym, Misty stopped, just about to call out to Natsume as he headed in.
"Ah?
Natsume, you came too?"
As Natsume entered, he happened to run into a dejected Ash coming out from inside.
"Of course—to challenge the Gym."
Glancing at the listless Pikachu in Ash's arms, Natsume casually tossed him two Potions.
"Oh!
I want to watch!"
Ash took the Potions, sprayed them on Pikachu as he followed Natsume back into the Pewter City Gym.
"What's with those two?"
Outside, Misty held her head, took two steps forward, then turned and looked at Flint again.
"Hey, mister, aren't you going in to take a look?"
"Uh… I'll just wait outside."
Flint scratched his head, looking a bit flustered.
Misty narrowed her eyes.
She felt this mister was even more suspicious, but she didn't say more and turned to catch up with Natsume and Ash.
"Natsume, Natsume, do you want to enter the Pokémon League tournament too?
I've got one more strong rival!"
Seeing Natsume acting like he was about to challenge the Gym, Ash was overjoyed, as if he'd found a kindred spirit.
"Of course.
The prize money for the League is quite generous."
"Huh?
Natsume, you're entering for the prize money?"
Ash scratched his head, seeming not to understand.
Their pace was quick, and in just a few minutes they reached the interior of the Pewter City Gym.
The arena Ash had battled on earlier had not been cleared away yet, and a narrow-eyed young man in a green vest was standing in the middle of the field.
Noticing the group approaching, Brock gave Ash a surprised look, then set his gaze on Natsume at the front.
"A new challenger?
Perfect—I've already warmed up!"
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