Chapter 147: Return to Pallet Town

Natsume recalled the Rotom in the sludge truck form.

Under Archer’s intense gaze, he left the courtyard.

Back at the Pallet Town Pokémon Center, Ash came running over, holding a green badge with a big smile.

“I got the Earth Badge!”

He held up the pine-tree-shaped green badge and handed it to Natsume.

“Natsume, now we both have eight badges,” Ash said proudly.

“And there are still more than two months until the Indigo Plateau Conference begins!”

Seeing Ash so excited, Natsume instinctively looked for Gary but didn’t see him.

“Where’s Gary?” Natsume asked curiously.

“He got a call from Professor Oak and left in a hurry,” Misty appeared from behind.

“Let’s not waste time. Let’s head back to Pallet Town now.”

Giselle happily approached, hugging Natsume’s arm.

Pallet Town, Professor Oak’s Lab

“Ugh, really, why did Mom suddenly decide to travel to Kalos?”

In the lab’s living room, Ash lay on the sofa, looking a bit dazed.

“Yeah, I even bought lots of snacks for Aunt, now I have to eat them myself,” he said.

Brock took out a box of small cakes, preparing them for breakfast.

“I was smart to buy clothes; they don’t expire,” Misty said proudly.

Mime

A Mr. Mime holding a broom suddenly appeared and started cleaning the lab.

“Mr. Mime, no need to clean here; Natsume would get mad,” Ash quickly stopped it. Papers were scattered across the tables, some of which might be important.

Mime?

Mr. Mime froze for a moment, then started working even faster.

Seeing this, Ash had no choice but to push it outside.

“Alright, just sweep up the fallen leaves around here,” Ash said.

This Mr. Mime was from a circus he had encountered along the way. It followed him and was eventually caught.

He had originally planned to have it help with chores for his mom.

But when he got home, he realized Mom was on a trip—far away in Kalos!

“Mom, really, and I’m about to start competing…” Ash sighed in disappointment.

“Yo yo yo, someone came back a few days ago shouting about special training, and now haven’t even started,”

“Going on a trip was the right choice, or you’d have driven her crazy,” Gary suddenly appeared, teasing Ash.

“What did you just say!” Ash clenched his fists.

“I said you’re lazy—thinking you can be my rival like this!” Gary scoffed.

“Rival? Don’t be so full of yourself,” Ash retorted.

“Wanna fight? Come on!”

“Hey hey hey, stop it you two!”

The scene became chaotic. Misty tried to intervene, but it had no effect.

Creak~

The door opened. Natsume walked in, wearing a sunhat, durable work clothes, and carrying a notebook.

Behind him, Giselle was similarly dressed.

She carried a large bucket, looking exhausted and drained.

“Huh?”

Seeing the two boys wrestling, Natsume froze for a moment, then stepped over them with one foot.

Behind him, the exhausted Giselle didn’t want to deal with anything and stepped over as well.

“Natsume, those two are fighting!” Misty reminded him.

“I know,” Natsume replied, opening a nearby communicator.

“They’re fighting—aren’t you going to stop them?” Misty was shocked by his attitude.

“I know. They’ve been fighting since they were kids,” Natsume said, fingers tapping the keyboard as he prepared to contact Professor Oak.

Misty was speechless.

Bang bang! Misty couldn’t take it anymore and delivered a punch to each of them.

“You’re grown-ups! If you want to prove yourselves, do it in Pokémon battles! Why fight here?”

Ash and Gary each clutched a big bag and stood up, thinking Misty was right.

“By the way, I haven’t battled you yet, Gary!” Ash’s fighting spirit ignited.

“Hmph, get ready to beg!”

The two bumped shoulders and walked out the door side by side.

Brock acted as the referee, and Misty went to watch the spectacle.

For a while, only Natsume and Giselle remained in the lab.

“Mr. Natsume, I’m so tired.”

Giselle lay on the sofa, rubbing her sore arms. She realized that managing Pokémon researchers was far more work than she expected.

Just feeding the lab’s Pokémon once with Natsume was already a huge task.

Most of the Pokémon ran at the sight of people, as if a flood or wild beast were behind her.

Every time, Giselle had to expend a lot of effort coaxing them back to feed them.

And that was with Natsume helping—without him, she shuddered to think how exhausting it would be alone.

“If you’re tired, go to a workstation and help me organize and sort the data,” Natsume said, pointing to five neatly separated cubicles not far away.

Each cubicle had a computer.

One was a laptop Aunt Delia had forgotten to bring back.

The four remaining cubicles belonged to Professor Oak, Bill, himself, and Aunt Delia.

The extra cubicle became Giselle’s.

Soon, Professor Oak appeared on the communicator.

After months on the island, the sun and wind had darkened his skin considerably.

“Ah, Natsume, is there something you need?”

Professor Oak stood by the beach, the strong sea wind making him squint.

“Are you about to leave?” Natsume asked, surprised to see Oak boarding a ship, seemingly ready to leave the deserted island.

“No, Professor Magnolia made progress and asked me to help,” Oak replied.

“This kind of place is for young people like you to handle. Too bad Bill went to the Giant Tentacruel Waters,” he said, winking at Natsume, hinting heavily.

“I also think Gary is very suitable,” Natsume nodded.

After a brief silence, Professor Oak continued:

“I wrote a resource survey. Surprisingly, this island has quite a few Gigantamax Mushrooms, replacing your previous junior publication.”

“But you’re the second author.”

Natsume froze. Gigantamax Mushrooms too?

That would definitely count as a top-tier journal second author.

According to League policy, three top-tier second-author papers equal one first-author paper.

Giselle’s second-author paper was also his; now he just needed to pair with Bill for one more.

Suddenly, Natsume realized he was short one paper again.

At least the pressure over the past two months had decreased sharply.

“All right, this major breakthrough, if everything goes smoothly, the spread of Dynamaxing could happen within the next few years.”

Saying this, Professor Oak was about to hang up.

“Wait, I want to use the lab, but it’s locked,” Natsume said, revealing his purpose.

He discovered the lab was actually locked, with all kinds of protections—he couldn’t even enter with Instant Teleport.

To upgrade the Ultra Ball Rotom and to develop the matured transformation system for Mecha Rotom, Professor Oak’s lab was indispensable.

Moreover, the central AI that connects all the institute’s equipment was inside.

If he couldn’t get in, he wouldn’t even be able to use the simple instruments outside.

“Oh, that? Mainly worried about thieves.”

Professor Oak thought for a moment, still uneasy.

“All right, you guys go find Professor Westwood. He went on a trip, but promised to watch over the lab for the next few months.”

“He knows how to get into the lab.”

“With Professor Westwood keeping an eye, no worries about thieves.”

Professor Oak laughed and ended the call.

Professor Westwood?

Natsume was surprised. The man seemed to be a Pokémon theory PhD, participated in the Pokédex production, and just retired last year.