Chapter 142: Go, Rotom, use Explosion!

The tone of the voice was strange, like the way some old men with white beards spoke in tutorials that Natsume had been searching through.

Clearly, this was not Natsume.

When Midchu realized it was Mewtwo speaking, he froze.

“I’m Midchu. I sleep in my mind, and after we finish this fight, I’m going to take a nap.”

Every sentence mentioned sleep. Mewtwo paused.

“Why do humans command Pokémon to battle?” Mewtwo’s voice continued.

“No reason. You can just ignore me and go sleep,” came Midchu’s indifferent reply.

Mewtwo tilted its head, seemingly starting to understand.

“What do you think your relationship with your Trainer is?”

Mewtwo’s voice persisted.

“Being spoiled, and sleeping on his head,” came the answer.

Mewtwo was momentarily stunned, then asked:

“Do you have dreams?”

Mewtwo had read many books with its psychic powers, and this topic had often been mentioned.

“My dream is to take a nap later,” Midchu replied.

“I mean grand, far-reaching dreams that benefit most people and Pokémon,” Mewtwo echoed the phrasing from the books.

“Take a good nap later,” Midchu said.

Midchu thought this dream was grand, far-reaching, and mostly beneficial to himself.

Mewtwo frowned, confused. It couldn’t understand.

Finally, it had encountered a being somewhat like itself, but the other’s thought process was on a completely different wavelength.

Perhaps it was a misunderstanding of Midchu’s words. Mewtwo allowed for that possibility, but mostly, it felt Midchu’s mindset was low, almost illiterate.

It had read many books—Giovanni had shown it many books—but it still did not know the purpose of its own existence.

“What are you doing?”

Suddenly, Natsume’s mind connected.

Midchu had been speaking to Mewtwo, and he felt like he had missed out big time.

“Continue,” he urged.

Mewtwo had little tolerance for humans; the instant Natsume connected, it severed the link on its own.

> Mewtwo used Psystrike. Due to the effects of the Realm of Eternal Sleep, Pikaremon took no damage.
> The additional effect of the Divine Authority activated. Pikaremon is Gene Locked!
> Pikaremon’s Mega Evolution, Dynamax, and other enhancements will be disabled; all buffs will be removed after two turns.

Divine Authority with added effect?

Natsume froze.

Although the Divine Authority inside Mewtwo seemed only like half of Mewtwo itself, it was still a complete Divine Authority.

Not the incomplete version inside Midchu that could be brushed off.

Pi!

Midchu’s brow furrowed, his whole body trembling, as if experiencing a terrifying nightmare.

This Mewtwo was very high level—Level 75.

Though Natsume didn’t know the true power of the Divine Authority, he clearly understood Midchu’s will.

He could take at most two more hits.

“Go, Gengar!”

This was a team battle. Natsume didn’t hesitate to send out his second Pokémon.

Outside the arena, Giovanni’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing.

Only under sufficient pressure could he gather more data.

“Boss, we should follow the clues left by the Divine Authority,” a staff member whispered into Giovanni’s ear.

“Gengar, use Destiny Bond!”

Natsume waved his hand decisively.

> Gengar used Destiny Bond. The two fates became tightly linked.

This was Natsume’s first real encounter with a true Divine Authority of a Legendary Pokémon.

In this battle, he planned to fight as long as possible and exert full strength to gather as much information as he could.

Soon, the next turn arrived.

> Divine Authority: Gene Mastery activated!
> Mewtwo adapted and evolved: Attack +1, Special Attack +1, Defense +1, Special Defense +1, Speed +1.
> Mewtwo used Psystrike on Gengar with extraordinary effect!

Genga

Gengar tilted its head and collapsed.

Mewtwo’s health bar above its head also began to drop.

> Due to the Divine Authority’s effect, Mewtwo’s HP recovered!

The next second, the health bar was full again.

Just as Natsume considered using a Revive on Gengar, Giovanni acted.

“Go, Kingler.”

A red light flashed, and a massive crab with one enormous claw and frothing mouth appeared behind Mewtwo.

Natsume paused, then looked at Giovanni.

“2v2. That’s fair,” Giovanni sneered.

“Alright, you’re playing dirty, huh?”

Natsume smiled and nodded.

At this moment, he knew the battle was effectively over. Without another turn’s advantage, even if Gengar revived, it couldn’t strike first with Destiny Bond.

Natsume waved, canceling the Battle Arena effects.

Giovanni looked slightly surprised.

“Oh? Planning to give up?”

Giovanni toyed with the situation, slowly swirling his wine glass.

Natsume remained expressionless and simply pulled out a new Pokéball.

“Go, Rotom, use Explosion!”

A red light flashed, and Natsume vanished instantly via teleportation.

Rotom in its Truck Form… using Explosion? That was unusual.

Giovanni froze for a moment, staring at the rusted tanker. Through the grime, he could just make out the words for sewage on the tank.

“No!”

Giovanni’s expression changed drastically.

“Mewtwo, stop it!”

But it was already too late.

Boom

A violent roar shook the arena. The Roman-style Gym now felt even more intense.

Outside, Natsume’s figure appeared before the waiting crowd.

The second Rotom abandoned its body and instantly teleported into Natsume’s arms.

“Hurry, let’s go,” Natsume said.

Using full psychic power, Natsume whisked everyone back at blinding speed to the junkyard station.

Above, a Meowth-headed hot air balloon drifted by.

“According to the map, Giovanni’s Gym should be right here.”

“You sure, Meowth? It looks just like a public restroom,” Meowth said, pointing at the Roman-style underground building.

“Who has a public restroom this fancy?” Jessie asked, puzzled.

“The idiots in the League love this style. Think about the Celadon City restroom—it’s the same Roman-style architecture,” Meowth explained, gesturing dramatically.

When Meowth had studied human society, it had always been baffled by humans’ bizarre obsessions with certain things.

For example, luxurious public restrooms, or a three-hundred-million-dollars stone placed on a park lawn.

“Yeah, and it stinks. Looks so fancy on the outside, but they can’t even light incense inside,” Jessie said, waving his hand in disgust.

“Let’s try to catch up to those kids. I think Natsume’s Rotom looks like an easy target,” James said.

“You’re crazy, Meowth!”

Meowth was shocked that James would even think of provoking that researcher.

“No, look at that Rotom over there. It’s crawling into all kinds of vehicles at the junkyard—easy to handle!” James said excitedly, handing his binoculars to Jessie.

“Seems so, and that Rotom is far from the kids. Might as well take a shot,” Jessie said, his voice filled with excitement.

“Still, let’s not provoke him. Meowth, I have a bad feeling about this,” Meowth shivered.

“If you’re such a coward, don’t join in!”

“And then you won’t get any of Giovanni’s rewards either!”

With one kick each, the two sent Meowth tumbling away.