Chapter 138. Blaine
"So, Natsume, did you finish raising that Crystal Onix?"
In the hot spring, Ash looked at Natsume with curiosity.
Hearing that, Brock also looked over.
"How did you know?" Natsume turned his head, and center-parted, who was sleeping soundly under a blanket on his head, slipped into the water.
"Pikachu!"
The center-parted flailed for quite a while before Ash fished it out.
"This place is for people!"
An irate voice rang out, and when they turned, it was that blond old man.
He was the owner of this struggling hot spring inn, going by the name Mr. Summerwhite.
In the spring, a Big-Chunk Dragon was pouring out blood and sweat like crazy, almost dyeing the entire hot spring red.
Beside the spring, a Diglett gnawed at the pale red soil, while Squirtle and Bulbasaur behind it watched, completely absorbed.
"Gengar—" "Gastly—"
Not far away, a Gastly was kneading Gengar's shoulders, and they had been using Smog nonstop!
"Cough, cough—" Mr. Summerwhite glanced, surprised, at that Gengar, then walked over through the haze.
"You're going to affect other customers like this!" Mr. Summerwhite wore sunglasses, so his expression was hard to make out, but his tone was clearly angry.
"But Grandpa Summerwhite, we're the only ones here."
Ash waved a hand.
This blond old man was down on his luck too.
He had built his hot spring inn halfway up the mountain, and the inns at the foot had sucked away almost all the tourists.
"You… ugh, fine, do whatever you want." Mr. Summerwhite was crushed.
After a moment, he suddenly snapped his head toward Natsume.
"Why did you come here?" His voice turned wary.
"I'm looking for Blaine.
Do you know where he is?" Natsume asked knowingly.
"Blaine is already dead." The blond old man didn't hesitate.
"Good."
As he spoke, Natsume produced some kind of tunneling device from who-knows-where.
He set it down.
Its clawed bit drilled into the rock beside the spring, planted itself at the edge, and immediately began boring a hole.
In just a few seconds, a huge amount of heat steamed up out of the opening.
"What are you doing?
There's magma down there!"
The old man tore off his sunglasses, mustache, and blond hair in a panic, revealing his true face.
"Take this Badge and get out of here!"
Blaine hurled a fiery red Badge over.
Natsume caught it cleanly.
"Grandpa, so you were Blaine all along!"
Ash cried out in surprise, and in response, another Badge came sailing his way.
"You get out too," Blaine said as he reached to shut off Natsume's device.
"Hey, I want to challenge you and earn the Badge fair and square!" Ash's face flushed red.
Misty had been laughing at him all the way here.
If he took another free Badge, how could he live it down?
"Don't touch it.
The volcano might erupt in the next second."
Natsume's voice drifted over, and Blaine's hand froze in midair.
"Hmph, do you take me for a fool?
How could it erupt just because you poke at it?"
Blaine puffed out his beard and glared, but he still stopped his hand.
"What is that thing for?"
Blaine eyed Natsume uneasily.
"Look at my Diglett."
Natsume pointed at the Diglett that was devouring volcanic soil.
Next to it, Squirtle and Bulbasaur each held a plate of Berries, watching with relish.
"Diglett eating soil… so what?" Blaine didn't see anything strange.
"Diglett—" The little Diglett noticed Blaine's gaze, balanced a sweet Berry on its head, and toddled over to him.
"Ah, thank you."
Blaine took the Berry from the Diglett, thinking its temperament hadn't been spoiled by Natsume after all.
The next second, three claw marks appeared on Blaine's face.
"Diglett!" The little Diglett angrily snatched the Berry back.
Blaine didn't get mad.
Instead, he nodded as if he'd expected it.
"My Diglett here likes sour, sweet, and spicy," Natsume said.
"I know that." Blaine nodded, still not seeing what this had to do with a volcano.
"But it isn't eating any sour Berries." Natsume pointed at the Diglett.
It mixed a sweet Berry and a spicy Berry into the volcanic soil, then happily gulped it down in one bite.
"That means your volcanic soil here is already very sour.
Extremely sour."
"Nonsense.
Volcanic soil is slightly acidic by nature." Blaine disagreed, but he still crouched, scraped a bit of soil with a fingertip, and put it in his mouth.
The instant it touched his tongue, an intensely sour taste hit his taste buds, and Blaine shuddered from head to toe.
This sour?
That wasn't normal.
"Beep—beep—"
Natsume's device stopped and vented a mass of steam.
"Let me see."
Natsume yanked the joystick, pulling the screen over.
"Mm… acidic magma.
If it erupts, it'll be quite violent, but it might only be a minor surface breakout."
"Isn't that your fault!" Blaine grabbed Natsume by the neck and shook him back and forth.
"Don't panic.
Soil analysis is just a simple auxiliary method.
Maybe it won't be a minor breakout at all, but a major eruption."
Blaine really wanted to sock Natsume, but years of self-control told him—
"Bang!" Natsume took a punch to the top of the head.
He clutched his head, and before he could say anything, Blaine turned his back.
"I'm old.
You're going to handle this, or I won't register your Badges."
Blaine put on the full "shameless old man" act.
"What do you mean, 'won't register'?" Ash climbed out of the spring.
"To prevent criminals from counterfeiting Badges, Badges issued by Gym Leaders are all registered with the League, and they're cross-checked at the tournament."
Brock explained.
Criminals.
"Why are you looking at me?" Natsume turned Ash's head to face Blaine.
"Right, Grandpa Blaine, I want to challenge you!"
Ash remembered his original purpose and hurried to speak up.
"No.
You have to resolve this first." Blaine shook his head.
"It should just be a minor breakout, not a major eruption," Natsume said.
"I noticed the League's volcanic geology survey team stationed here has already moved out."
"That suggests there shouldn't be any major eruptions for decades."
"As for a minor breakout, it should be halfway up the mountain—" Natsume said, then paused.
"It's not serious.
At worst, it'll just burn down your inn."
"How is that not serious?" Blaine clenched his fist, but years of self-control told him—
"Bang!" A big lump rose on Natsume's head.
He didn't use psychic power to block it.
Blaine had treated him quite well.
Thirteen Gyms blown up, and after the eruption he'd be the one cleaning up…
"Hmph, I don't care.
If my inn can't be saved, then take those Volcano Badges as souvenirs!"
Blaine said, turning to leave, only to find he couldn't budge.
He looked back.
The boy named Ash had grabbed his arm.
"Grandpa Blaine, please, battle me!"
"Pikachu—"
Pikachu looked up at him pitifully together with Ash.
Blaine's expression turned strange.
Weird.
Why did his arm feel like it didn't belong to him?
"Actually, this isn't necessarily a bad thing," Natsume said.
"If there's a small-scale lava emergence at the surface, the volcanic mud it forms could make you a lot of money."
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