Chapter 189: See That? This Is What Happens When You Follow Humans!
"Here, your partner is right here."
A red light flashed, and a Pokémon Egg appeared on the field.
Primeape's previously irritable expression froze on its face. After a while, it shook its head.
This isn't my brother. My brother isn't this round.
"Kraa—"
Only when a faint Zapdos cry came from inside the shell did Primeape finally confirm that the Pokémon Egg in front of it was indeed Zapdos!
"Raaah!"
Startled, Primeape turned around and yanked the basket off Drowzee's wrist. In the basket, a Jigglypuff stared back with big, curious eyes.
"Raaah, raaah!"
See that? This is what happens when you follow humans!
"Jiggly?" Jigglypuff nodded blankly.
Taking advantage of the brief exchange between the Pokémon, Natsume sized them up. They had been away for many days, and perhaps thanks to the nutritious food at the Laboratory, the three Pokémon were in excellent condition.
Natsume focused on Jigglypuff. There was still a B-rank project associated with it. The move Sing has only 55% accuracy, yet this Jigglypuff's Sing lands 100% of the time.
For some moves whose presentation isn't singular, the League has actually conducted research. Unlike fixed-form moves like Flamethrower and Thunderbolt, for moves like Sing, different Pokémon produce different presentations when they use them. The most obvious differences are tone color and technique. Different Pokémon sing in completely different ways.
Maybe the vocal technique this Jigglypuff has mastered just happens to be the most optimal for the move Sing?
Natsume had read many papers recording the Sing accuracy of Pokémon that learned the move. That 55% is only an average. Some Pokémon can raise Sing's accuracy through vocal training. The League's world record is a Kricketune with an 82% Sing accuracy.
But as things stand, this Jigglypuff might be able to break the world record. And if he studies its vocal technique and, through repeated experiments, sums up a method to raise Sing's accuracy, Natsume feels he can publish another paper. The ceiling is high; that's a guaranteed top-tier journal.
A move that ignores Substitute and puts the foe to sleep in a single turn has immense strategic value in battle. It's just that because the accuracy is usually pitifully low, very few people use it in actual battles.
Natsume stared intently at Jigglypuff. Feeling a trace of fear, it quickly ducked back into the fruit basket.
"Raaah!"
Primeape swung a fist at Natsume, asking where Ash was. Zapdos had switched sides, and it was deeply disappointed. But that would only motivate it more. It would take this as a warning, steel its will, keep getting stronger, and keep going until it defeated Sun Wukong!
"Sun Wukong?"
Natsume blinked, pulled out a paper map, and tossed it to Drowzee.
"They went to the southern islands. Here's the map."
"Mmm—" Drowzee nodded and put it away carefully.
Watching the three Pokémon leave, Natsume felt a bit wistful. It wasn't time yet; he could talk about Jigglypuff later. What mattered most right now was setting up his own research institute.
Funding wasn't a problem. Once he became a Pokémon Professor, the League would cover everything. His paper had been approved yesterday. Professor Oak's letter of guarantee and his own application were submitted, and Natsume only needed to await good news.
As for the exact location, Natsume had roughly decided on the other side of the snow-covered mountain. Once he surveyed the site for a couple of days, he could nail it down precisely. He planned to go with the construction crew when the time came, so Mewtwo wouldn't give them trouble.
While waiting for the professor credentials to come through, Natsume planned to study that Mewtwo Ball and check in on Motorcycle Rotom's progress.
Inside the laboratory.
The modified Mewtwo Ball sat quietly on the deconstruction rig. On a small tray nearby lay several perfectly round, silver-white spheres.
With unlimited trial-and-error in the Inner World laboratory as a safety net, Natsume had smoothly reproduced the Mewtwo Ball in reality. He simply hadn't bothered to paint them or make proper outer shells.
"Wow, Natsume, if you can combine this thing with a Poké Ball, that'd be a major breakthrough."
Professor Westwood V picked up an inner core of a Mewtwo Ball, eyes sparkling.
"Inside the Mewtwo Ball, the original space can be partitioned. Besides letting a Pokémon live inside, it can also store travel supplies."
Professor Westwood V laughed heartily.
"The interior of an Ultra Ball is already spacious. This would be perfect. In the future, you could head out with just one ball!" Honora added.
"No, I can't combine them," Natsume shook his head.
He had indeed reproduced the Mewtwo Ball. But there were minor defects. They all had two separate spaces, yes. However, some of these Mewtwo Balls could only hold a Pokémon, while others could only hold supplies, and Natsume had labeled them A1 and A2.
Natsume had absolutely no idea how Mewtwo found the balance point.
"Actually, a ball that can hold two Pokémon would also have a market," Honora said, picking up an inner core labeled A1.
"Not necessarily," Professor Westwood V said, shaking his head. "The current Poké Ball transport system is set on a one-ball-one-Pokémon standard. If there are two Pokémon inside, who knows what could go wrong."
Natsume nodded along. That was exactly why he had halted the research. Originally, he had also wondered if he could follow the Mewtwo Ball's concept and mod the Master Ball so that the future Master Ball Rotom could also carry a "predatory nature."
But now it seemed things weren't as easy as he thought, yet not as hard as he feared, either. All he had to do was bring Mewtwo back onto the scientific path, and everything would fall into place. It's not like the guy just rubbed this out on pure luck, right?
"Forget it, there are other matters," Natsume said, opening his computer and sorting the files on it.
"Mr. Natsume, what's this?"
"Meowth's translation data. I plan to outsource it to a software company, make a translation app, and then take it public."
"Wait a second."
Honora clasped Natsume's hand on the mouse. The cursor froze over "Send."
Natsume looked up, puzzled.
"Ahem…" Honora's face flushed red, and she yanked her hand back like she'd been shocked. "Here's the thing, Mr. Natsume."
After organizing her thoughts, Honora finally said, "My family actually has business in this area. You don't have to hand it to other people at all."
"Really? Isn't your family a pharmaceutical company?" Natsume looked confused.
He had initially considered working with Giovanni or Toyama. After all, he didn't understand this stuff at all. If an outsourcing company leaked it and a bunch of pirate apps hit the market, Natsume would be crying without tears.
Unfortunately, neither Giovanni nor Toyama had anything similar under their umbrellas. Helpless, Natsume could only look for outsourcing.
As for working with the League… if he turned it in, it would probably become freeware, promoted across the board by the League. Of course, if Natsume developed a paid app himself, he'd have to face piracy.
The best approach was for Natsume to develop it himself and then partner with the League. Given how the League does things, anything that benefits most Trainers would be happily folded into Trainer benefits programs. Then the League would foot the bill for Trainers. For most people it would still be free, there'd be no piracy problem, and Natsume could still earn some money.
Blushing furiously, Honora hurried out with her phone. After a while, Toyama called Natsume to say they had set up a software development subsidiary.
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