Chapter 83. Which Executive Is That?
"You were looking for this, weren't you?"
Sabrina's voice sounded.
Natsume looked over, only to see a Q-style mini Sabrina standing on her shoulder.
The moment its eyes met Natsume's, the Q-style mini Sabrina instinctively hid in Sabrina's hair.
"Huh?" Natsume exclaimed.
He took out his phone, opened an app, and aimed it at the Q-style mini Sabrina.
[????????]
The Pokédex showed nothing but question marks.
At the same time, the system's voice sounded in Natsume's mind.
[Detected a new species of Pokémon. Begin system survey?]
A new species?
Natsume froze for a second, then agreed on reflex.
[Surveying this world: information search 1%… Surveying remaining parallel worlds… Information on the Pokémon found!]
In the next second, a transparent frame appeared in Natsume's view.
[Stand-in Doll, Psychic + Ghost.]
[Born from a Psychic's main world, it likes to possess dolls and will display an appearance and habits similar to its host.]
Natsume frowned.
Stand-in Doll?
He thought of Banette.
A poor abandoned doll that, under certain special conditions, becomes a Pokémon.
Of course, those conditions are extremely strict, and in the vast majority of cases, Banette evolves from Shuppet.
This so-called Stand-in Doll sounded very similar to the naturally born Banette that emerges under harsh conditions.
"One is resentment, the other is emotion?"
Natsume picked up the Q-style mini Sabrina.
The latter panicked, squealed, and bit down on Natsume's finger.
Natsume pushed his finger inward, poking its throat.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
The Stand-in Doll let go.
You little thing, trying to bite him?
Does it not know how many Pokémon bite him every day at Professor Oak's Laboratory?
"That Pokémon is—!"
Sage Hart leaned closer, a trace of shock in his eyes.
"Uncle, you know it?" Natsume looked at Hartmont Sage.
"I don't," Sage Hart shook his head.
Natsume: "…"
"But it's very similar to what my family's secret manual calls a telekinesis incarnation."
"Secret manual?" Natsume suddenly leaned in, eyeing Sage Hart with suspicion.
"Uh—well, mainly, our family can't pass this outside the bloodline, and the one I gave you really is everything except the secret manual for Psychic training."
Sage Hart stammered, clearly feeling guilty.
"Let me see the secret manual," Natsume reached out his hand.
"That won't do, it truly can't be passed to outsiders."
Hartmont Sage's face twisted with a conflicted look.
He went on, "Even if you learned it, it's useless.
A telekinesis incarnation requires reaching the peak of the main world."
"Even without the secret manual, once you reach that realm, it will form on its own."
"Is that so…"
Natsume glanced at Sabrina.
After seven or eight years of accumulation, it didn't seem surprising that she could condense a telekinesis incarnation.
"Here."
Sabrina suddenly spoke and handed a small booklet to Natsume.
"What's this?" Natsume blinked.
"My family's secret manual," Sabrina said with a smile to Natsume.
"???"
Sage Hart stood to the side, eyes wide.
"Father, didn't you say that in the future, when I meet the right person, I can give them the secret manual?
I think Natsume's talent is pretty good."
Sabrina spoke, then looked strangely at Hartmont Sage.
"Little Sabrina, what I meant was—"
Sage Hart was at a loss for words.
"Thanks!"
Natsume waved to Sabrina, recalled Dragonite, then sat atop Gengar's head and flew off from the Gym.
"Natsume, all settled?" Ash ran up, excited.
"Settled.
I'm heading back to the Pokémon Center first," Natsume nodded to the group.
"Okay, if that's the case, I'm going to challenge Sabrina again!" Ash declared, charging toward the Saffron Gym.
"I want to see what Sabrina is like when she's normal, too!" Brock got excited.
"Hey, wait for me!"
Shaking his head slightly, Natsume took Honora and returned together to the Saffron City Pokémon Center.
Back in his room, Natsume couldn't wait to leaf through the so-called family secret manual.
"Telekinesis Incarnation."
The manual was very thin, and in under an hour, Natsume had basically finished it.
"So humans really are a kind of Pokémon too?"
Natsume sat there, dazed.
A Pokémon born from the human mental world… by classification, Natsume felt the Stand-in Doll should count as a Mythical-class type.
Its rarity was far too high.
Among human Psychics capable of reaching the peak of the main world… isn't Sabrina basically the only one?
Natsume dispelled the notion of casually publishing a paper.
The discovery of a new Pokémon species must pertain to a population.
An individual this exceedingly rare could only be categorized as a Mythical-class and filed in the Pokédex collection.
[Ding—S-rank task "The Opposite Curse" complete.
Host receives x1 Master Ball-class scratch-off.]
Just as Natsume was musing, the system's voice chimed in.
Natsume scratched off the Master Ball scratch-off.
[Ding—Congratulations to the host, you obtained x1 Master Ball.]
Another guaranteed minimum?
Well, fine.
At least he now had two Master Balls in hand.
In the future, when researching a Master Ball-Rotom setup, he could afford to scrap one.
Right now, his Ultra Ball-Rotom research was burning through dozens per day.
If he switched to the exorbitantly priced Master Ball, the family fortune required was something Natsume didn't even dare to imagine.
"I'm exhausted!"
Natsume flopped onto the bed like a corpse.
A lot had happened in these last few days.
He needed rest to digest it all.
As for using telekinesis to engrave an Ultra Ball, there was no rush.
The road ahead was still very, very long.
By evening, Ash and the others returned to the Pokémon Center.
Seeing Natsume sound asleep, they didn't disturb him, and quietly went back to their own rooms.
The night passed without incident.
That night, everyone in Saffron City breathed a sigh of relief.
It was because that terrifying Gym Leader had suddenly undergone a dramatic change in personality, and even held a Gym exhibition match in the central park.
That night, the reporters were all holding back their frustration.
Darn it—no big, juicy headlines at all.
Forget it.
They could only make an article out of Team Rocket to out-compete their peers.
Overtime, extra hours—go.
The next day, at Team Rocket's base, Giovanni sat on the sofa, blowing on the hot coffee in his cup.
"Boss!"
The secretary opened the door and came in, handing Giovanni a newspaper.
"What is it?"
Giovanni reached for the paper to see if anything noteworthy had happened lately, but the secretary snatched it up first.
A trace of awkwardness flashed across her face.
"Uh, Boss Giovanni, I think I just caught a glimpse that there's some offensive content in this paper."
"Offensive?
Hmph."
Giovanni took a sip of coffee, a hint of disdain on his face.
"I'd like to see exactly what kind of 'offense' it is."
Thinking it was someone trying to use public opinion to make trouble for Team Rocket, Giovanni yanked the newspaper from the secretary's hand.
With a casual glance, a bold headline leaped out.
"Boss Giovanni Night-Raids an Octogenarian—The Shocking Reason!"
"Pffft—"
Coffee splattered the paper yellow.
The secretary looked toward the ceiling.
She had told him not to read it.
And that wasn't the only one.
There were lots more.
"Team Rocket Executive Burgles Saffron Gym—Rumor Has It Giovanni Withheld Wages and Was Forced Into It!" — "League Economy, My Take."
"Sabrina's Lover Is Actually a Team Rocket Executive!" — "Kanto Gossip."
"The Reason Giovanni Prefers Male Secretaries—Found!" — "Kanto Rich List."
Giovanni: "???"
What even is all this…
And hasn't his secretary always been a woman?
"Unconscionable."
Giovanni's gaze dropped, a chilling light flashing in his eyes.
He couldn't rein in a few big media outlets, but he could absolutely make an example out of some small ones.
Suddenly, Giovanni's eyes narrowed, fixed on a photo.
In the picture, a Team Rocket executive had his rear stuck up in the air, sprawled over the Saffron Gym's skylight.
Giovanni frowned.
So the media weren't firing completely blindly.
"Go find out—which executive is that?"
"Understood, Boss."
The media photo was blurry, and Giovanni could only make out the general outline.
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