Chapter 24. Rescuing Clefairy
When Natsume arrived at the rest area, he was startled.
The summit of Mt. Moon was covered with injured Clefairy.
As he passed by, he saw several researchers weaving through them, all busy to the point of chaos.
Natsume halted where he stood, and his memory flashed back to last night.
There did seem to be some commotion outside, but he had been at a critical point in etching a circuit and didn't dare get distracted, so he hadn't paid it much attention.
"I remember now. In the original plot, Team Rocket tries to snatch the Moon Stone here."
Only now did it dawn on Natsume that these injured Clefairy were likely Team Rocket's handiwork from last night.
"I'll help."
Suppressing his urge to go find someone to battle, Natsume stopped a staffer who was carrying an injured Clefairy.
"Please don't get in my way."
Seeing Natsume block him, the man's tone was a bit sharp.
"I can help."
As he spoke, Natsume produced his credentials.
The man was taken aback for a moment, then handed the Clefairy to Natsume and instructed, "I'll leave this patch to you. I'm going to look for the Clefairy that got hurt and hid themselves."
Natsume took the Clefairy into his arms.
This Clefairy was already unconscious, with many bruises on its body.
It looked like one of the ones that had been badly hurt in a fall.
"Rotom, Poké Ball Form!"
Natsume tossed a custom Poké Ball into the air, and a yellow flash merged into it.
"Use Heal Ball on this Clefairy!"
Natsume had given those three [???] skills the names Curse Ball, Heal Ball, and Extinction Ball.
As soon as he finished speaking, a green beam shot from the core of the Poké Ball Rotom and enveloped the Clefairy.
Whish!
As if being captured, the Clefairy was drawn into the green light and absorbed by the Poké Ball Rotom.
The scattered Poké Ball fragments fused back together, faintly glowing green from within.
After a short while, the Clefairy was released in a green flash.
"Clef?"
When it reappeared, the Clefairy was already awake.
It curiously examined the Poké Ball Rotom floating in the air.
"Let me see how this move works in reality."
Natsume perked up, crouched, pulled out a small notebook, and began carefully observing the Clefairy's condition.
After all, the biggest reason Natsume wanted to find someone to battle was to learn what effects these three game-rule "super skills" would have in the real world.
Reality is reality, games are games, and he could only use his Rule Battle Field once per day.
Driven by a researcher's natural curiosity, Natsume recorded every detail.
"Mm… as for the healing effect, it's already beyond that supposed fifty percent."
Natsume arched a brow, then pointed at the Clefairy lying all over the ground behind him.
"Rotom, use Heal Ball on these Clefairy one by one."
One green pillar of light after another appeared.
One Clefairy after another was absorbed and released.
Very soon, the space behind Natsume was filled with Clefairy—nearly ten of them, big and small.
"Mm… in reality, it seems the lower the level, the easier the healing?"
Based on these Clefairy's levels, injuries, and treatment results, Natsume drew a preliminary conclusion.
"Clefairy, clef, Clefairy, clef."
At some point, the rescued Clefairy began circling Natsume and dancing a strange dance.
More precisely, they were circling the Poké Ball Rotom floating at Natsume's side and dancing, as if holding some kind of ceremony.
"Hm? What are you doing?"
Natsume looked at them in puzzlement.
Clefairy do hold ceremonies, but only at night, and on nights of the full moon.
"I think these Clefairy have taken that peculiar Pokémon of yours as a moon god."
A hearty voice sounded from behind.
Turning back, Natsume saw a man in a red battle cloak, with flamboyant, fiery red hair.
Behind him loomed a very familiar, chubby dragon.
"Oh, you're—you're that guy!"
Natsume pointed at him, as if suddenly realizing.
"Yes, that's me."
Lance nodded with a smile.
"That Flying-type Elite Four—Lance!"
Natsume blurted it out.
Lance: "…"
"Natsume, Mr. Lance is the Dragon-type Elite Four."
Ash's voice followed close behind.
Brock and Misty appeared just after him, each cradling a Clefairy in their arms.
It seemed they had been helping with the rescue as well.
"Ah—my bad, it just slipped out.
Allow me to introduce myself.
I'm Natsume."
Natsume nodded to Lance.
He couldn't help it—before crossing over, he had spent a period as a Pokémon content creator.
As the creator who most respected the Dragon-type Elite Four on the whole net, Natsume had gotten very used to calling Lance by that nickname.
"…"
What kind of person "slips up" and calls him a Flying-type Elite Four member?
Lance didn't buy it.
He took a long look at Natsume and committed the young man's face to memory.
"Mr. Lance, once we finish rescuing these Clefairy, may I challenge you?"
While spraying a Potion on the Clefairy in his hands, Ash looked to Lance with great expectation.
"Mm… this is…"
Lance seemed a little torn.
He never hesitated to teach League newcomers who challenged him.
When traveling, Lance would even carry a few low-level Pokémon that he had just begun training.
But this time was different.
He was on League business, and a very important mission at that.
He had to remain on high alert and keep maximum battle strength.
As such, almost all the Pokémon on him right now were his aces.
Ash would get crushed.
Concerned that Ash's resolve might break, Lance pointed at the Rotom floating by Natsume's side and tried to change the subject:
"Aren't you curious?
Such a mysterious Pokémon—why don't we have Natsume give us an introduction?"
Misty and Brock turned in unison to look at the Poké Ball Rotom.
Only Ash kept staring fixedly at Lance.
Rubbing his brow, Lance was on the verge of a headache—when, luckily, an anomaly erupted.
"Clefairy, Clefairy, clef, Clefairy…"
The Clefairy's voices grew louder and louder.
At some point, Clefairy had begun to gather here with Natsume at the center.
These Clefairy bounced in unison in a strange dance, as if carrying out some secret ritual.
"Ah, the hidden Clefairy are coming out too!"
Ash was pleasantly surprised.
The task Lance had given the three of them was to find the injured Clefairy that were hiding.
After what happened last night, most of the Clefairy had become very skittish and were extremely hard to find.
But now, they were all gathering on their own.
"Looks like it really is as Mr. Lance said—the Clefairy have taken Natsume's Rotom as a moon god."
Brock spoke with a touch of emotion.
Rotom…
Off to the side, Lance keenly seized on the keyword in Brock's words.
As far as he knew, Rotom didn't have this form—
Wait, this person seemed to be named Natsume!
"Why would they take Rotom as a moon god…"
It couldn't be as simple as Rotom helping them, could it?
Rubbing his chin, Natsume let his thirst for knowledge guide him to think through the oddities unfolding before his eyes.
"Enough thinking—Rotom, first use Heal Ball on the injured Clefairy!"
Natsume swept his arm out grandly, and dozens more green pillars of light shot forth.
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