Chapter 90. Face My Jeep Head-On!
"Great Ball Rotom, Heal Ball!"
A beam of light absorbed the muddle-headed center-parted, and in a moment, a wide-awake center-parted was released.
"Pikachu!"
No, don't!
Center-parted was strapped to the Seventh-Gradient Revelry Chair.
It didn't struggle; it only grabbed its own head quickly.
As if that could ward off Natsume's telepathy invading its brain.
Compared to the Revelry Chair, it feared Natsume's mental link even more.
However, center-parted's actions had no effect at all.
Center-parted's mental world.
A jeep constructed from telekinesis appeared once more.
"Don't be afraid, center-parted.
Face me head-on!"
Natsume sat in the driver's seat, slammed the gas pedal, and waited for center-parted's counterattack.
"Pikachu—"
Center-parted glanced once at the jeep charging to ram it, then bolted.
"Don't be afraid, center-parted.
Think about it—this is just the mental world.
It's only a nightmare.
Come on, face your fear!"
"Pikachu!
Willpower—bring out your willpower!"
The jeep roared, Natsume's voice mixed into the din and reached center-parted's ears, and its little legs churned even faster.
Yes, the first time it had trusted Natsume's advice, it had huffed at the speeding jeep.
And then—pain.
Too much pain!
Its body was sent flying.
Its will was battered black and blue.
Its whole brain felt stabbed by needles.
Agony to the crown of the head—center-parted never wanted to experience that a second time.
"Pikachu!"
Center-parted cried out.
Ahead, bluish light welled up.
A heavy truck was slowly constructed by telekinesis.
A pincer attack!
"Boom!"
Center-parted nimbly jumped clear, and Natsume's jeep hit the jackpot.
"Pikachu?"
Center-parted looked back, worried for Natsume.
Natsume's head was cracked open.
His entire mental avatar was crushed and squeezed, viscera splattering across the ground.
The squeezed-out innards began to glow with bluish motes, which drifted back to Natsume and slowly repaired him.
"Oh, that does sting a bit."
Natsume lowered his head and looked at his condition.
Suddenly, as if discovering something, he grabbed a still-glowing organ from the ground before it dissipated and examined it closely.
"My liver doesn't look too great.
I should stay up late less."
Natsume nodded to himself.
Center-parted, off to the side: "…"
Honestly, a lot of the time it felt like its Trainer wasn't human.
After a while, Natsume withdrew the mental link and returned to reality.
"Hiss… my head's swimming.
I need to rest."
Natsume rubbed his brow.
Even with powerful telekinesis, after experiencing a shattering of his mental avatar, he felt a bit spent.
"Hee-hee, Pika!"
Center-parted snickered on the side.
"What are you laughing at?
Your Divinity is incomplete.
Rotom's Heal Ball still works on you."
"So you don't need a break."
Natsume suddenly leaned in, making center-parted jump.
"I'm going to grab a nap.
You stay here and keep up the electric-current special training."
Natsume stretched and headed back to his room.
After his encounters with the giant Dragonite and the giant Tentacruel, Natsume had also discovered a limitation of Great Ball Rotom.
Its functions seemed ineffective on Pokémon possessing Divinity.
Maybe the performance wasn't enough.
He wondered whether a Poké Ball Rotom constructed with a Master Ball could break this shackle.
+1
Wait.
Natsume paused.
It seemed the Rob-the-Rich-and-Give-to-the-Poor Ball had worked on the giant Dragonite and the giant Tentacruel.
Was Divinity also a kind of energy similar to Mega Evolution, Dynamax, or Terastallization?
Natsume kneaded his brow, took out his notebook, jotted down his sudden inspiration, then pulled up the covers and fell into a deep sleep.
In the backyard, center-parted mulled over Natsume's words in earnest.
"Pika…"
It changed its mind.
If it found one of those strange big stones in the future, it wouldn't hand it to Natsume first.
It would eat it itself to complete its Divinity, so Rotom's Heal Ball would be useless on it.
That way, Natsume could at most persecute it once per day!
Natsume slept straight through to the next day.
Bang, bang, bang!
A soft knocking sounded outside the room.
"Mr. Natsume, are you up?
Breakfast is ready."
Honora's voice rang out.
"Coming."
Before long, Natsume had tidied up and headed to the Pokémon Center's first floor.
There, the group had already bought breakfast and were about to eat.
"Natsume, Honora, over here!
These are all specialties we bought yesterday at the food street!"
As soon as they stepped into the dining area, Brock waved them over.
Natsume and Honora came closer.
"Natsume, I've already earned the Rainbow Badge!"
Ash held up the Rainbow Badge and thrust it toward Natsume, brimming with fighting spirit.
"Now I'm a Trainer with five Badges!"
"Ah—very nice.
By the way, where's center-parted?"
Natsume yawned and asked Ash out of habit.
"Didn't center-parted go off with you yesterday, Natsume?"
Ash looked puzzled.
"Oh no!"
Natsume smacked his forehead and hurried for the backyard.
By the time he found center-parted, it was already fast asleep.
"Makes sense.
If it's just routine stimulation, a nap and it's over."
With center-parted fine, Natsume's thoughts drifted to the recent past.
Back when center-parted was undergoing electric-current training—and whenever Natsume delivered his lessons in love—center-parted would always answer with sleep.
It was very possible that center-parted had long since acquired the Divinity authority of the Land of Eternal Sleep.
"Hiding deep, aren't you."
Natsume pinched the back of center-parted's neck and lifted it up.
"Whew—"
Center-parted kept on snoozing.
Bluish light gleamed in Natsume's eyes as he slipped easily into center-parted's mental world.
"Honk—honk—"
"Honk-honk-honk—"
In the mental world, a raucous noise blared.
Center-parted blinked in confusion.
What filled its vision were two huge headlights.
"Pikachu!!"
"Everyone, this is a prize-winning entry from the creative contest on the food street yesterday.
Come try it!"
At the table, Ash mysteriously produced a strange cake.
The cake was shaped like a little car.
Caramel doors curled back, revealing blood-orange chiffon.
A chocolate bumper lay in crumbs.
Strawberry sauce cascaded like blood, and wobbly mango headlights were set into cracked frosting.
"What is this?
Why does it look like a car-crash scene?"
Misty eyed the cake Ash brought with open distaste.
"This is a third-place entry I drew with sky-high luck!"
Seeing no one eager to take a bite, Ash pushed the cake in front of gluttonous center-parted.
"Come on, center-parted, give it a try, then tell them it tastes great!"
"Pikachu—"
Dazed, center-parted saw the cake and sprang onto the next table in a stress reaction.
"Hahaha, see?
Even center-parted doesn't want to eat it."
Misty jeered.
"Huh?
Then Pikachu, let's dig in."
Natsume's gaze slid slowly to center-parted not far away.
Center-parted's body trembled with fear, yet its eyes were furtively darting to spy on Natsume.
A cake had sent it into a panic.
Surely its Trainer would feel sorry for it?
"Sigh."
As expected, Natsume sighed and shook his head.
It seemed center-parted's training load still wasn't enough.
Otherwise a tiny cake wouldn't have scared it.
"You need extra drills."
Natsume's voice floated over, low and calm.
"Pika?"
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