Chapter 144: Giovanni’s Courtyard

“What about our badges?”

At the Viridian City Pokémon Center, Ash waved his hand and looked at Natsume.

“Go get two from Gary; he happens to have ten,” Natsume replied.

As soon as he spoke, Gary covered his badge case.

“Hey, hey, hey! These badges are already linked to my identity in the League. Taking them won’t help you,” Gary said, putting the case away.

“That’s strange. When I passed by Viridian Gym, it was closed again,” Brock, Misty, and Giselle said as they entered, carrying a bunch of things.

They were headed back to Pallet Town next and didn’t want to go empty-handed; they planned to buy something for Aunt Delia.

“Yeah, and so many people keep going in and out, plus it stinks inside,” Misty said, setting down her items and waving her hand in distaste.

“By the way, Ash; Giselle and I bought two nice outfits for your mom. When are we going back to Pallet Town?”

Misty held up the elegantly wrapped packages.

“Don’t talk about going home yet. I still don’t have my badge,” Ash groaned, resting his head on the table.

No one could beat the Viridian Gym Leader.

“Hey, kid?”

Jessie’s buzzing voice called out.

“Your badges,”

James added.

At that moment, a green badge shaped like a pine fell onto the table.

Everyone turned and saw Team Rocket.

However, Jessie and James had thick bandages wrapped around their heads, and Meowth had bandages on its rear.

“Did someone beat you up?” Misty asked curiously.

“That’s not important right now,”

The trio glared furiously at Natsume, who had already picked up the badge.

“Natsume, Boss Giovanni wants to see you, Meowth!”

Meowth handed him an invitation.

Natsume opened it casually, glancing at it with a flicker of sharp focus in his eyes.

Although he sensed Giovanni’s intentions were not friendly, he seemed compelled to go.

“Natsume, it’s not a trap, right?” Ash grabbed his arm.

“No worries. If it is, I’ll blow him up first.”

The trio shivered violently.

“Mr. Natsume, please!” A figure stepped out from behind Team Rocket.

It was Archer, whom they had briefly met in HopHopHop Town.

Natsume gave the others a reassuring glance and followed Archer.

“Do you still have badges?” Ash asked, curious, looking at Jessie, James, and Meowth.

“Ahem, of course,” Jessie replied.

“We’re trusted by Boss Giovanni. For the next two months, we’re acting Gym Leaders of Viridian Gym!” Jessie coughed, nearly letting something slip.

“Fine, I’ll challenge you!”

Ash pulled out a Pokéball.

“No way, unless you bet Pikachu!” James jumped in, pointing at Pikachu.

“Then I won’t fight,”

Ash said, hugging Pikachu and turning away.

“Refusing an innocent Trainer’s challenge—we could report you,”

Giselle’s voice echoed ominously.

The trio froze.

They didn’t care at first, but thinking about Boss Giovanni’s scowl from yesterday made them change their minds.

“Wait! We accept your challenge, Meowth!”

Meowth hurriedly blocked Ash.

Clearly, the trio didn’t want to cause any more trouble.

Natsume followed Archer to a private plane.

“Ah!” The pilot was flung out by Natsume’s psychic powers.

Natsume scanned the entire plane with his psychic abilities.

“Mr. Natsume, what are you doing?” Archer asked, forcing a smile.

“I’m worried you might sabotage it,” Natsume said, taking a seat in the cockpit.

Archer froze but quickly followed.

After a while, the helicopter lifted off.

It hovered in midair for a long time with no visible movement.

“What’s going on?” Archer peeked in, puzzled.

“How do you fly this plane?” Natsume fiddled with the control panel, pressing buttons at random.

“What?” Archer blinked.

“Mr. Natsume, you’re joking, right? How did you even get it to hover here if you didn’t know how to fly it?”

Archer thought Natsume was joking.

“I don’t know, I just pressed a couple of buttons,” Natsume said, pointing at the dense array of switches.

“Give me the manual. I learn fast. This should be the ejection start,” Natsume continued, pressing one button.

The next moment, both of them were launched out with parachutes.

Bang!

The helicopter crashed, flames and explosions bursting violently.

Archer: “...”

In midair, their parachutes slowly opened.

The wind roared as Archer turned to look at Natsume.

“I think the icon design on this plane is wrong. That ejection symbol should show a person, not the plane,” Natsume said seriously.

He had thought it was a plane ejection, but it was actually a person ejection.

Beep, beep, beep

The communicator clipped to Archer’s ear rang.

“Why is it taking so long? Aren’t you there yet?” Giovanni’s voice came through.

“Uh… we lost a helicopter,” Archer stammered.

Giovanni’s side was filled with question marks.

After many twists and turns, they finally arrived at a private estate.

“Go, go! This area doesn’t allow—Director Archer, what happened?”

The guard at the gate was shocked.

Before him stood a filthy, ragged figure that looked like a beggar—but it was Archer, Boss Giovanni’s right-hand man.

Pfft

Archer spat out rotting leaves, glaring at the indifferent Natsume.

“So, Mr. Natsume, safe enough now, right? We can go in?”

All along, Natsume felt like he was under constant paranoid threat.

When their parachutes landed, the driver sent to pick them up was thrown aside by Natsume, who took the wheel himself.

Archer dared not comment on Natsume’s driving skills.

They went into ditches three times, hit two trees, totaled four vehicles, and even took a long detour.

Thanks to his psychic powers, Natsume wasn’t affected at all—not a drop of mud touched him.

“How did you even get your driver’s license?” Archer wanted to ask.

“Driver’s license? I don’t have one.”

A rumbling sound came from behind. Realizing Archer’s thoughts were being read, he immediately stopped thinking and turned around with a serious expression.

The moment he turned, his face froze.

Summerime, Natsume had somehow climbed into the driver’s seat of a large tanker truck.

The vehicle looked old, with a pair of golden inverted triangle eyes on the front.

Gripping the steering wheel, Natsume called out to the guard:

“Open the gate! Hurry, open it!”

The guard, stunned, swung the gates open.

Rumble—rumble

Natsume slammed the accelerator, smashing through the adjacent wall and barreling into the courtyard.

“Archer, you finally—”

As Giovanni stepped outside, he saw a massive truck crushing bricks, heading straight toward him.