Chapter 38. Regrouping, Ash Adds a New General
Dawn broke in the woods, dew beaded on leaf tips, and chill mist soaked the morning light.
Natsume stepped out of the tent, yawned, rubbed his eyes, and in the corner of his sight noticed a figure lying by the campfire.
It was the Honora.
Her hair was a mess, she looked like she had been asleep for a while, and frost clung to her eyelashes.
She seemed cold, and in her sleep she was hugging the slumbering Misty tightly inside the same sleeping bag.
"Pikachu—"
Following the sound, Natsume looked over and saw Pikachu beneath a nearby tree.
One short paw held a syringe with the needle aimed at his tail, while the other paw pinched a cotton ball.
He braced the plunger against the tree behind him and shoved back hard.
"Pikachu!"
In an instant, Pikachu hopped down clutching his tail, and he pressed the cotton ball neatly onto the injection site.
"Pikachu, your dose control is getting better and better, already very close to the theoretical value."
Natsume picked up the Steel Reagent, held it under the sunlight, and checked the graduations.
Mm, very good.
Under his Amnesia training, Pikachu had already learned to administer his own dosage.
"Pikachu!"
Pikachu stuck out his little paw and angrily pointed at the Honora snoring by the fire.
Starting from the middle of the night, her eyelids kept drooping until she nodded off.
To avoid winding up with a steel-egg tail, Pikachu hadn't dared shut his eyes once in the second half of the night.
He gave himself a shot every hour and even tossed more firewood on the campfire while he was at it.
"You're right, Pikachu.
We should put a blanket over her."
"Pikachu?"
"Pikachu, Pikachu!"
At Natsume's willful mistranslation, Pikachu waved in protest.
"All right, go into my tent and find a blanket for her.
I'll go look for Ash and the others."
Facing the indignant Pikachu, Natsume rubbed his little ear.
"Pikachu!"
As if something occurred to him, Pikachu's eyes lit up, and he shot into Natsume's tent in a blur to rummage for who-knows-what.
Natsume glanced at the time on his Rotom Phone.
It was only six o'clock.
Normally, everyone woke up around eight.
So Ash should be asleep at this hour.
Natsume felt it would be a bit rude to bother Ash by walking over now—so he called him.
A village, by a small river.
A blue sleeping bag and a green sleeping bag lay side by side like two caterpillars beside the bank.
"Natsume, what are you doing!
Natsume, what are you doing!
Natsume, what are you doing!
Natsume—"
"Mm… what's going on?
I think I hear Professor Oak yelling."
Inside the sleeping bag, Ash pushed center-parted one off his head, sat up, and rubbed his eyes.
"Ah—maybe I'm not awake yet?"
Still groggy, Ash was about to flop back down for more sleep.
"Hold on, Ash.
This isn't an illusion."
Next to him, Brock wriggled out of his sleeping bag and pointed at Ash's backpack.
"The sound is coming from in there."
"What?"
Ash puzzledly rifled through his pack and quickly found the source of the voice.
His Pokédex!
"Natsume, what are you doing!
Natsume, what are you doing!
Natsume, what are you doing!"
On the screen, alongside Professor Oak's roaring voice, a big icon of Natsume's face popped up.
"This is… a video call?
Ash, your Pokédex even has this function?
Normal Pokédex models don't, as far as I know."
Brock took a glance and was surprised.
"Wasn't it only able to make calls?
Even I didn't know this."
Ash ruffled his hair and accepted Natsume's video call.
As expected, Natsume's image appeared on his Pokédex.
On Natsume's side, he was tossing more wood onto the fire.
"How is it, Ash?
Pretty great, right—the special Pokédex I gave you?"
"We?"
Ash seized on the keyword.
"Yeah.
This batch of Pallet Town Pokédex units uses software data I recorded.
How about it?"
"Oh!
That means I can video call Gary too."
Ash's eyes lit up.
He hadn't gotten a first partner, and Gary gave him an earful over it.
"Great!
I'm going to video call him and show off my new partner, Bulbasaur!"
"Of course you can.
Go find the manual.
The contact info for the Pallet Town Trainers is all in there."
Natsume's voice continued from the other end.
"Manual?
What's that?"
Ash looked at Natsume, perplexed.
"The booklet I gave you at the start."
"Oh, the booklet…"
Ash seemed to remember, but then Natsume's voice came again.
"I think I forgot to give it to you."
Ash: "…"
"But the next time you run into Gary, just check his Pokédex.
You can both look up your numbers."
"Hurry back.
Pikachu needs you."
With that, Natsume hung up.
Mm… that Charmander was abandoned on Route 24.
To avoid any accidents, it was only natural to get there early.
They had already been delayed at the Pokémon Research Academy this time.
If Natsume's group didn't make it in time and it died, that would be a huge problem.
As one of Ash's future key lieutenants, that Charmander's innate talent was extremely poor at first.
Even its body size would later be smaller than an ordinary Charizard's.
But the combat power it later showed was top-tier.
Natsume had a hunch there might be something here that could trigger a system project.
"For example, under Ash's protagonist aura, a Pokémon's innate talent gradually increases—isn't that right, system?"
[+1.]
Natsume earned one point.
"Ah—"
Suddenly, the Honora let out a startled cry.
Natsume looked back.
She stood there in fright, clutching the blanket that had been over her—a Rhyperior internal diagram.
"Hee-hee!"
By the tent, the culprit covered his mouth and snickered.
"Natsume, did you put that on me?"
The Honora looked around.
Other than Misty—who had been woken by the commotion, bleary-eyed—only Natsume was there adding firewood.
"Mm."
Natsume nodded and took the blame for Pikachu.
He had noticed that ever since he handed those ten volumes of his "life's work" to the Honora, her attitude toward him had been off.
In Natsume's original plan, he would apply pressure, their relationship would gradually deteriorate, and ideally she would be unable to take it and leave on her own.
Or at least, when he kicked her out in a month, he could save himself some words.
Mm.
This should lower her favorability quite a bit.
It was Pikachu's prank, but he would own it.
Natsume glanced at the Honora—and suddenly noticed that the panic on her face had vanished.
In its place, a red line swept across her cheeks, steam rose from the top of her head, and the blaze looked bigger than the campfire in front of her.
Natsume: "???"
"Thank you for your instruction, Mr. Natsume.
While I study, I will certainly not neglect the training of my own Pokémon!"
The Honora carefully rolled up the Rhyperior cross-section, stood, and bowed deeply to Natsume.
Natsume: "…"
All at once, he felt the Honora's imagination really did show some potential to become a researcher.
"Natsume!
We're back!"
In the distance, Ash and Brock's voices came.
Natsume looked up and was a bit taken aback.
"Pikachu!"
Pikachu hopped onto Ash's other shoulder.
"Natsume, I caught Bulbasaur!"
Ash couldn't wait to pull out a Poké Ball and send Bulbasaur out.
"Then you've truly fulfilled a dream, Ash."
Natsume clapped and offered his congratulations.
He remembered that before the journey even started, Ash often helped him feed Pokémon at his place.
And among them, the one Ash liked most was Bulbasaur.
"You're back just in time.
The meat broth I simmered yesterday is still—huh?
Where's my broth?"
Misty's puzzled voice rose.
She turned around, only to find she was holding an empty pot.
"Pikachu was greedy and snuck out to eat it last night."
As he spoke, Natsume threw Brock frantic winks.
"Pikachu?"
Pikachu scratched his head.
He clearly remembered Natsume getting up at midnight and dumping that unknown substance of a stew.
Still, since Natsume took a hit for him, he would take one for Natsume.
"Pikachu, Pikachu!"
Pikachu patted his own belly to say it was delicious and he loved it.
"Really, Pikachu?
I'll cook just for you next time!"
Not only was Misty not angry, she was actually happy.
"Aw, Pikachu, you sure are a glutton."
Ash rubbed Pikachu's head.
"Ahaha, in that case, leave breakfast to me today."
Reading Natsume's signal, Brock took up the thread at once.
"Okay, once we eat, we set out straight for Vermilion City!"
"Idiot, we have to go to Route 24 first!"
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