Chapter 141. Sludge Truck Rotom
Viridian City.
In a large private estate, a private jet slowly descended.
"Miss Honora, Young Master Natsume, and the young lady and young master's friends, this way, please."
The butler greeted the group and gathered everyone's luggage.
Natsume rubbed his nose, wondering why the butler was looking at him so strangely.
"Wow, having Honora around is really convenient!" Misty's eyes sparkled.
After everyone finalized the plan to return to Pallet Town, Honora had her family's private jet come pick them up.
"Natsume, when are we heading back to Pallet Town?"
Honora stood beside Natsume, her cheeks a little flushed.
She had never visited the place where Natsume worked.
"I'm going to browse the used car mart first."
"My family has every kind of car!" Honora grabbed Natsume's sleeve.
"Do you have a sludge truck?" Natsume turned his head.
"Uh… we don't." Honora shook her head blankly.
Natsume understood.
"Natsume, why a sludge truck?"
Honora sounded curious.
She knew Natsume had been developing Motorbike Rotom lately.
But a city-utility sludge truck obviously wouldn't perform as well as her family's custom luxury cars.
"I want to verify something."
Natsume seemed a bit absent-minded.
He had found that almost every kind of motor vehicle Rotom No. 2 integrated into ended up Electric/Fighting in typing.
There was no way there weren't other typings, and Natsume was stuck in a loop.
A researcher's nature made him itch all over.
He was desperate to know whether Motorbike Rotom's typing was locked.
Thinking it over, he felt that Sludge Truck Rotom was the likeliest to break that loop.
In theory, that thing's typing should be Electric/Poison.
"Then let's hit the used car mart first.
And Ash, you're buying me a new bicycle."
Misty grabbed Ash by the collar.
"Ah—" Ash wilted on the spot.
He had wanted to rush to challenge the Viridian Gym.
Honora's family estate was huge.
The butler drove them for nearly an hour just to get out of the grounds.
"My goodness, that girl's family is loaded!"
"Feels like if we kidnapped her—no, wait, we can just kidnap James instead, meow!"
Above the sedan, a Meowth Balloon tailed them.
Meowth spoke, then turned to James.
"By the way, James, is your family estate this big, meow?"
"Uh… depends which estate you mean." James rubbed his nose.
"Which estate!"
Jessie and Meowth's voices shot up as they each hoisted James into the air.
"Hold it.
Don't forget why we're here.
Boss Giovanni is in this city.
If we don't present him with a rare Pokémon, our performance this month will be zero again!"
James hurried to change the subject.
"James is right.
We're the Super Team Rocket Special Operations Unit now!" Jessie raised a fist.
"Makes sense, meow.
The Boss's Persian is here too, meow."
Two hours later, the group finally reached downtown Viridian City.
"Miss Honora, Young Master Natsume, please contact me anytime."
The butler bowed to everyone and withdrew.
"The used car mart is this way, and it's on the way to the Viridian Gym.
Let's go."
Brock glanced at the map and pointed down the road.
As they walked, a "clatter-clatter" sound reached their ears.
A tractor in the middle of downtown?
While they wondered, a flashy red sports car stopped in front of them.
"Gary!"
Ash spoke first.
"Hahaha, if it isn't Ash—" Gary took off his sunglasses and swept his gaze over the group.
"I'm about to get—"
"What's that to brag about?
I've already got ten!"
Gary held out his hand, and a small metal case was passed up from the back seat.
He opened it.
Inside were ten Badges lined up in neat rows.
"Just watch.
I'll beat you to the Viridian Gym too, hahaha!"
With that, Gary started working the stalk on his steering wheel.
"Rumble—rumble—rumblerumble—"
In a blink, he was gone.
"Are you coming with me to the used car mart, or do you want to watch Gary get clobbered?"
Natsume's voice sounded.
"Natsume, is the Viridian Gym really that hard?"
Ash was surprised.
Annoying as Gary was, his strength was undeniable.
"You'll know when you see it."
Natsume said simply.
"Okay, then I'm going to take a look too."
Seeing Natsume so serious, Ash nodded and ran after Gary.
"Wait for us!" Misty and Brock took off after him.
"Natsume, I'll stay with—ow!" Honora yelped as something tapped her on the head.
"Go record the battle video for me."
"Okay…" Honora covered her head, pitifully turning to leave.
"Hold on." Natsume called her back.
Thinking Natsume had changed his mind, Honora turned around happily.
"Give me your bank card."
"Oh."
Viridian City, used car mart.
"Sir, see anything you like?"
"We're the biggest used car mart in Viridian City.
We guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
A suit-and-tie salesman hovered at Natsume's side.
"Got any sludge trucks?" Natsume got straight to the point.
"Excuse me?
What did you say, sir?" The salesman thought he'd misheard.
"Got any sludge trucks?" Natsume asked again.
"Uh… no."
"Then do you have any vacuum trucks?" Natsume settled for the next best thing.
"Uh… also no…"
"Then what kind of used car mart are you running?"
Natsume rolled his eyes and walked out, leaving the salesman dumbfounded.
Who buys that kind of thing secondhand?
Leaving the first lot, Natsume started combing the whole used car mart.
He was getting a headache.
For a sludge truck or a vacuum truck, it had to be something used for a long time to produce an Electric/Poison Rotom.
If it was a brand-new sludge truck, Rotom would fuse into it and end up Electric/Fighting again.
If Natsume's verification worked, it would prove something.
The host machine for Rotom could, through post-manufacture modifications, influence the typing Rotom gained on fusion.
It wasn't necessarily decided purely by materials.
Once that theory held up, things would get fun, and the Rotom–Natsume Law could add another rule.
Only, Natsume had run into a small problem.
New sludge trucks were no good, and used car lots didn't stock used sludge trucks.
Besides, sludge trucks were typically under direct League municipal management and used straight through to retirement.
As for applying to the League… due to his… less than stellar past reputation…
Natsume's access had been limited.
Aside from essential laboratory equipment, nothing else would get approved.
Unless he got promoted to Pokémon Professor, he'd stay marked as "in default" in the League registry.
Leaving the used car lot, Natsume decided this wasn't going to work.
He headed for the scrap yard to try his luck.
Fortunately, Natsume's luck was always good.
The old man at the yard led Natsume to a large truck fitted with a big tank.
"Here, a sludge-and-vacuum two-in-one.
You can have it for free.
Just get it out of here already."
As he spoke, the old man even stuffed some cash into Natsume's hand, afraid he'd refuse.
"I'll take it."
Natsume looked it over twice.
No obvious damage.
Most likely scrapped for end-of-life.
Driving the sludge truck out, Natsume called out Rotom No. 2.
"Try fusing with it.
No transformation circuit this time.
It should be a lot easier for you."
Natsume had found that as long as he didn't install his modded transformation circuit, Rotom No. 2 could perfectly integrate with a vehicle.
But most moves would only be good for striking people, and not a single Fighting-type move would work.
That was why Natsume was in a rush to develop a non–Fighting-type Motorbike Rotom.
There had to be at least one usable move, right?
Just as Rotom No. 2 fused in, Honora sent over a video.
On-screen was an ancient Roman–style hall.
Inside, two armored staff members stepped forward and clashed their spears, the clang signaling the start of battle.
The recording showed Gary battling an unknown Pokémon.
The Pokémon was humanoid, its body sheathed in steel armor.
With a mere wave of its hand, Gary was defeated.
"Mewtwo…" Natsume thought for a moment.
The authority over genes should belong to Mew.
Mewtwo shouldn't have Divinity.
As long as there was no Divinity, Natsume dared to mess with it.
But Mewtwo not only had all Pokémon genes like Mew, it also had human genes on top of that.
In theory, Mewtwo's authority over genes should exceed Mew's.
And who knew if Giovanni had gotten his hands on some mutated gene fragments to spice Mewtwo up.
If so, its authority over genes would be markedly higher than Mew's.
That was what worried Natsume.
[Sludge Truck Rotom, Electric/Poison.]
Before the thought even settled, a system pop-up flashed before his eyes.
Success.
Electric/Poison, as expected.
Its base stats were really lousy, probably because there was no chip installed and the vehicle's performance was poor.
Natsume skimmed past that and fixed his eyes on one move.
[Explosion]
A big reason the scrap-yard geezer was so eager to get rid of this sludge truck was that he'd forgotten to empty the sludge before towing it here.
If this thing blew…
Natsume lowered his gaze back to the Armored Mewtwo on his phone.
Mm.
You'd better not put too much pressure on me.
I'm very fragile.
Enjoyed the story? Support me and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at: Patr*eon*.com/Resium
Free members can read 10+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Paid member can read 150+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Stories Available
Honkai? No, This Is Daily Life
Hogwarts Pet Master
Pokémon: Who Let Him Leave Pallet Town!
Scrolling Yu-Gi-Oh! Shorts